Mesopotamia Mini-Book Entire Book Due: Monday 26th November 2012 You will be working on a mini-book during the

next couple of weeks. We will meet in RH1 during the duration of this project. You will have all of our class time each day to devote to your book. Use your textbook as a reference. You will want to plan on completing approximately two activities each day. Your grade will be based on the following: 40 POINTS: PAGE COMPLETION AND ACCURACY OF INFORMATION 20 POINTS: USE OF CLASS TIME 20 POINTS: SPELLING, GRAMMAR, and PUNCTUATION 20 POINTS: PRESENTATION TOTAL PROJECT GRADE: 100 POINTS COVER PAGE: Should include the title of the mini-book, your name, your initials written in cuneiform writing. http://www.penn.museum/cgi/cuneiform.cgi Activity 1: VOCABULARY. Define the following terms from your textbook: Fertile Crescent (page 57), silt (page 57), irrigation (page 58), canals (page 58), surplus (page 58), division of labor (page 58). Activity 2: SKILL DEVELOPMENT, A FERTILE LAND: Complete the Map Activity, questions 1-4. Complete Analyzing Maps, questions 1-5. Activities 3, 4, 5, and 6: Refer to the British Museums website about Mesopotamia: http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ Activity 3 is about GEOGRAPHY. Write 5 facts about the Geography of the Fertile Crescent. Summarize the story of Gilgamesh and the Cedar Forest, and draw an illustration for your summary. Try the Challenge Activity, The Farming Year. Activity 4 is about GODS, GODDESSES, DEMONS, AND MONSTERS. Write 5 facts about Gods, Goddesses, Demons, and

Monsters. Read the Mesopotamian myth about how and why humans were created. Explore the different gods, goddesses, demons, and monsters of Mesopotamia. Choose three and write their details. Draw illustrations and copy their names in cuneiform writing. Try the Challenge Activity, The Cities of the Gods.

Activity 5 is about TIME. Write 3 facts about Time. Read the story of Time in Mesopotamia and write a short summary, including the parts of the story you found most interesting. Explore the Time Lines section; make a short time line that includes at least five important dates in Mesopotamian history. Play the Challenge Activity, Tell Archaeology. Activity 6 is about WRITING. Write 4 facts about Mesopotamian Writing. Read the story about one cuneiform signs trip through time. Write a short summary, including the parts of the story you found most interesting. Illustrate with three examples of cuneiform writing. Explore the world of a scribe; choose three items from this section and write a little about each item. Play the Challenge Activity, The Never Ending Puzzle. Activity 7: VOCABULARY. Define the following terms from your textbook: rural (page 62), urban (page 62), city-state (page 62), Gilgamesh (page 63), Sargon (page 63), empire (page 63), polytheism (page 64), priests (page 65), social hierarchy (page 65). Activity 8: ILLUSTRATED SOCIAL HIERARCHY. Create a list of the social classes in ancient Sumer, along with a short description of the jobs or responsibilities of members in each social class. Which classes do you think would have more people? Why? Which classes would have fewer people? Create an illustration using the shape of a pyramid that reflects within it the position of the members of these social classes; for example, with a crown at the top level to represent a king. Be sure to include: kings, craftsmen, merchants, priests, prisoners, scribes, and slaves. Activity 9: BIOGRAPHY OF KING HAMMURABI. Read the selection and complete What Did You Learn and the Activity questions at the end of the of the selection.

Activity 10: PRIMARY SOURCE, THE CODE OF HAMMURABI. Read the selection and complete What Did You Learn at the end of the selection. Activities 11, 12, and 13: Refer to the British Museums website about Mesopotamia http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ Activity 11: ASSYRIA. Choose either Palaces of Assyria OR Warfare as your topic. Read the story, explore, and challenge pages of your chosen topic. Put together a page summarizing what you have learned about Assyria. Include at least one illustration.

Activity 12: BABYLONIA. Choose either Astronomers of Babylon OR Trade and Transport as your topic. Read the story, explore, and challenge pages of your chosen topic. Put together a page summarizing what you have learned about Assyria. Include at least one illustration. Activity 13: SUMER. Choose either The Royal Tombs of Ur OR Ziggurats as your topic. Read the story, explore, and challenge pages of your chosen topic. Put together a page summarizing what you have learned about Assyria. Include at least one illustration. Activity 14: VOCABULARY. Define the following terms from your textbook: cuneiform (page 67), pictographs (page 68), scribe (page 68), epics (page 68), architecture (page 70), ziggurat (page 70) Activity 15: BIOGRAPHY OF KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR. Read the selection and complete What Did You Learn and the Activity questions at the end of the of the selection. Activity 16: VOCABULARY. Define the following terms from your textbook: monarch (page 74), Hammurabis Code (page 75), chariot (page 76), Nebuchadnezzar (page 77), alphabet (page 79)