Understanding by Design Template: Middle East Unit for World GEO

Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)

Established Goals:
1. Examine places and regions and the connections between them (Geo Standard 2.3)
2. Develop spatial understanding, perspectives, and personal connections to the world (Geo
Standard 2.1, 2.2)

Understandings
Overarching Understanding
1. The Middle East is not isolated but connected to
the rest of the world, including the US, politically,
culturally, and economically.
a. most of the worlds oil reserves are contained
in the region; oil prices affect Americans directly
b. Israel occupies a niche within the ME as the
only non-Arab, non-Islamic nation and has a
special relationship with the US.
c. the US has supported Israel since its creation
and this has resulted in anti-Arab/anti-American
sentiments in both America & the ME.
2. The Middle East is the cradle of Islam which is
one of the most important and fastest-growing
religions in the world
3. The Middle East is the starting point of the
worlds urban civilizations.
a. Water is a scarce natural resource
b. Oil is plentiful, and fuels the modern ME
civilizations
Related Misconceptions

Essential Questions
Overarching

Topical

How have maps been used for

political purposes in the Middle
East?

How did the Israeli-Arab wars

change maps of the Middle East?
(Understanding 1b)

How do the division and control

of the physical, social, political,
and cultural spaces on Earth
cause cooperation or conflict?

How did European wars change

maps of the Middle East? (1b)

What would the Middle East

look like if physical geography
was the defining variable for
country boundaries?
Why do countries and cultures
struggle to maintain spatial
cohesiveness and national
identity?
What are the limits of human
activity that the environment
can withstand without
deterioration?
How does increasing
globalization influence the
interactions of people on
Earth?
How do cooperation and
conflict influence the division
and control of the social,
economic, and political spaces
on Earth?
What predictions can we make
about human migration
patterns in the Middle East?

How has ignoring geography

when creating maps caused
conflict in the Middle East? (1)
Why might both Israelis and
Palestinians want Jerusalem as
their capital? How would you
solve this problem? (2)
What are some of the issues that
make agreement over new
boundaries between Israel and a
Palestinian state difficult to
reach? (2)
How does US support for Israel
lead to cooperation or conflict?
(1b, 1c)
Why did Al Qaeda target the US
as a primary target? (1b, 1c)
How does US support for Israel
relate to worldwide oil prices?
(1a)
How has climate affected the
regions resources and
development? (3)

The Middle East is backwards and culturally

aggressive.

How do technologies result in

social change?

What would happen if water

resources in the Middle East
become scarcer? (3a)
What might happen when oil
reserves run low in the region?
(3b, 1a)
Why do Palestinians desire to
create their own state in the face
of resistance? (Why do most ME
nations unite in their opposition
to Israel?) (1, 2)
How has Islam manifested itself
as an entity in the region? (2)
How has increasing globalization
influenced the spread of Islam
historically and today? (2)
How much human settlement can
arid areas like Cairo, Jerusalem,
or Dubai withstand? (3a, 3b)
How does increasing
globalization influence Arab
nations and Israeli economies,
land, and culture? (3a, 3b, 1)
How did the Israeli-Arab wars
influence the division and control
of water, oil, and agricultural
resources of the Middle East?
How did they influence division
and control of social and political
spaces in the region? (1, 2, 3)
How does Arab nations
cooperation influence division
and control of water, oil, and
agricultural resources of the ME?
How do they influence division
and control of social and political
spaces in the region? (1, 2, 3)
Will people continue to migrate
into urban areas within the
Middle East? Will the Palestinian
population grow or decline in
relation to the Israeli population?
(1b, 1c, 3a, 3b)
How does access to the internet
and use of mobile devices
influence politics and culture in
Iran? In Syria? In Israel? (2, 3b)
How did new technologies relate
to the rise of the worlds first
civilization? (3)
How did the environment of the
Middle East affect the beginnings
of urban civilization in the
region? (3)

Knowledge

Skills

Students will know

Students will be able to

that Middle East maps reflect non-local political decisions

and conflicts, not local geographies and interests

Gather and interpret data from maps and visual tools

(2.1a)

that Israeli-Arab wars have driven the arrangement of

borders in Palestine

Identify physical and human features and evaluate

their ramifications for society (2.1d)

that US support for Israel has both boosted Israels

economy and inflamed tensions between it and Arab
countries

Investigate issues and justify possible resolutions for

people, places, and environments (2.2a)

that US support for Israel has affected world oil prices

.that water resources in the Middle East are scarce and
disputed
that oil reserves are the bulwark of Arab nations
newfound prosperity and their major bargaining chips in
world relations
that Islam originated in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and spread
quickly across the world
that Islam is the dominant religion in the region and takes
diverse forms across each Arab nation
that Islam originated among Arab peoples
that human settlement in the region is dependent on
balanced water and oil resources
that demand for oil relates to Arab nations economic
growth
that the spread of the internet has influenced Western and
Islamic mutual perceptions
that Arab nations cooperation has influenced the
worldwide price of oil
that Arab nations cooperation and conflict has influenced
the nation of Israels politics, culture, and boundaries.
that access to the internet and use of mobile devices has
led to reform movements within Arab nations and Islam
that innovations in technology led to the rise of
Mesopotamian civilizations
that the arid climate and rivers of the region influenced the
creation of concentrated civilization

Explain that the worlds population is increasingly

connected to and dependent upon other people for
both human and natural resources (2.3b)
Explain how migration of people and movement of
goods and ideas can enrich cultures, but also create
tensions (2.3c)
Explain how the uneven distribution of resources in
the world can lead to conflict, competition, or
cooperation among nations, regions, and cultural
groups (2.3a)

Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)

Performance Task Description:
1. Unit Pre-assessment; short, multiple-choice quiz
2. Map question exercises
3. Exit ticket w/ 3 questions (use to gauge what needs to be re-taught)
4. Learning Reflection; what did you learn yesterday?
5. Google Forms survey ME Checkpoint Quiz
6. Textual analysis with questions
7. Map Reflection: how would you draw the ME if you had the power? Justify
8. Short essay with proposed solution to ME conflict
9. Unit Summative Post-assessment; short, multiple choice quiz

Other Evidence
--Date, LT, and Q of the Day on whiteboard; pre-assess then post-assess (students answer the
question twice, once before and once after content presented)

Learning Plan (Stage 3)

Where are your students headed? Where have
they been? How will you make sure the students
know where they are going?
How will you hook students at the beginning of
the unit?

Periodic checks for learning, building off prior knowledge. Each

essential question in this unit leverages the prior to pave a
roadway for students to follow.
Visuals are an excellent way to hook students and usually showing
them something current or of intrinsic interest, say of US-Iraq,
Afghan wars, or current news story will grab them. Questions are
also a great way to begin, as in how many of you want a car?
then transitioning into a discussion about oil.

What events will help students experience and

explore the big idea and questions in the unit?
How will you equip them with needed skills and
knowledge?

How will you cause students to reflect and

rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing,
revising, and refining their work?
How will you help your students to exhibit and
self-evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and
understanding throughout the unit?
How will you tailor and otherwise personalize
the learning plan to optimize the engagement
and effectiveness of ALL students, without
compromising the goals of the unit?
How will you organize and sequence the learning
activities to optimize the engagement and
achievement of ALL students?

Connecting to current real issues that theyve heard about, seen,

and talked to peers and parents about. These can be: 911, Osama
bin Laden, Israel-Arab conflicts, oil prices, Islam and terrorism.
Map exercises, text analysis, discussion, questions via assessments
and activities can all build skills while conveying content at the
same time.
Learning reflections and peer analysis.

Performance on assessments, feedback from students themselves,

myself. fellow students?
Extra credit pieces

Backwards design within backwards design! Start current, work

backwards into history and landscape and pull back to the present.
1. Start with current events, conflicts, Islam
2. Explore land, climate, resources
3. History/Culture
4. Review current events, conflicts, Islam