Mesopotamia Culminating Project
✓ Objective: demonstrate your knowledge of Mesopotamia by choosing one
Student Name: ____________________________________________
project below to complete with a partner or individually
✓ Due Date: Monday, Jan. 31st
✓ Total Points: 20
Geography:
✴
Make travel brochure for a trip back to a city in ancient Mesopotamia.
✴
Use Excel to make graphs like climographs, population density graphs, harvest record graphs, or whatever other
statistical data you can find on Mesopotamia
✴
Make a boy/girl scout handbook of ancient Mesopotamia showing how to survive in that environment.
✴
Create a game in which players have to travel through Mesopotamia, facing various geographical hazards,
challenges, etc…
✴
Compile a list of ancient Mesopotamian cities and the dates they were founded and make a timeline.
✴
Mesopotamian City Map – make an paper map of what a Mesopotamian city probably looked like. Make inset
pictures on the map showing close-ups of a ziggurat, market, houses, etc.
✴
Build a model/diorama of a Mesopotamian city including labels (*labels need to be typed!).
Roles in Mesopotamian Society:
✴
Write and deliver a speech convincing the citizens of ancient Mesopotamia that they should pay taxes to support
government projects such as city walls, irrigation canals, roads, etc…
✴
Day in the life of a Scribe journal entries – journal/diary entries that describe the daily tasks of a scribe or a
scribe student.
✴
Create and perform a skit or mime showing….Mesopotamian farming, scribing/writing, a priest-king ruling his
people, the role of priests/priestesses
✴
Hall of Fame Mesopotamia – biographical descriptions of important Mesopotamians (Sargon, Hammurabi, Moses,
Nebuchadnezzar, etc…). Maybe have the class or groups rank them based on importance and have a debate on who
should be in and who should be out.
✴Social classes of Mesopotamia Art/Diagram – make a graphic organizer showing the various social classes of
ancient Mesopotamia. Get “out there” if you choose and get really creative, metaphorical, and expressive in how you
make your diagram/organizer. (i.e. Inspiration is a GREAT graphic organizer program - see me if you need help!)
Mesopotamian Achievements:
✴
Write an extension story for one of the stories in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
✴
Build a model, diorama, sculpture or replica of: a ziggurat, a Mesopotamian invention, the Standard of Ur, the
Hammurabi Code, or any other famous Mesopotamian person. Include who/what the person is and why he/she/it
was important.
✴
Make a model/diorama of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
✴
Write and/or perform a radio, TV commercial, or print ad selling one of the many Mesopotamian inventions.
✴
Write a proposal to King Hammurabi explaining why you like/dislike certain laws in his code.
✴
Hammurabi’s Code Art – pick various laws from Hammurabi’s Code and depict them in visual form. As an extension/
alternative to the Social Classes Diagram. (*look above - it’s the last option under “Roles in Mesopotamian Society”) You could make
pictures to show how different social classes would be treated under the law according to Hammurabi.
Culminating Projects:
✴Mesopotamia Collage - Have students use the computer to find photos (or magazines, if available) to make a collage showing
different aspects of Mesopotamian civilization.
✴
Make a picture book of Mesopotamian life or a PowerPoint including everything from its geography to the rule of Babylon and
Assyria, etc…
✴
Make a timeline of Mesopotamian history
✴
Create a poster or PowerPoint explaining what plant and/or insect species your area and Mesopotamia have in common and
collect specimens.
✴
Write national anthems for each civilization (or even city-states) of ancient Mesopotamia and include who their God was.
✴
Write and perform a song or rap about how the rivers made life in Mesopotamia possible to how the Babylonians conquered
Mesopotamia, etc, etc… you can even dress up for your performance!
Student Name: ____________________________________________
USEFUL WEBSITES FOR YOUR PROJECTS:
1. Timeline Creator: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline/
materials/timelines/
OR http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/
2. Online Poster Creator: http://edu.glogster.com/ *Have your parents use their email to create an account for you - this site is AMAZING!
Once you have a login username - click “Create Glog” and go from there!
3. Mesopotamian Information and History for Kids: http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/
4. My Website has all these links too - visit: http://sorensenlouk.wikispaces.com/S.S.
Rubric:
Proficient
Nearing Proficient
Emerging
5 pts
3 pts
2 pts
Ideas
*Information is factual,
interesting, and related
to the assignment.
*Information is factual
and is usually related to
the assignment.
*Information is not
always factual and is not
always related to the
assignment.
Organization
*Project is wellorganized and easy to
follow. Information is
presented in a logical
way.
*Project is wellorganized, but can be
difficult to follow at
times. Information is
usually presented in a
logical way.
*Project is difficult to
follow due to poor
organization. Information
is not focused or wellorganized.
Creativity
*Information is presented
in a creative way.
Student effectively has
taken research
information and has
turned it into
something new.
*Student has effectively
taken research
information and has
turned it into
something new.
*Student has created
something new but it may
or may not be related to
information.
Presentation/
Conventions
*Presentation is clean
and visually enhances
the information, when
necessary.
*Presentation is clean.
*Presentation is messy,
with many spelling and
grammar errors.
*None or few spelling
and grammar errors.
Total: _______ out of 20
*18-20 A
*16-17 B
*14-15 C
*13 and below D
Comments:
*Some spelling and
grammar errors.