Ancient Civilization

Flooding

Ancient Civilizations and in today’s society flooding and natural disasters cause many heartache and sorrow. You are a civilian living during ancient civilization times. Your assignment is to uncover the sorrows and gifts from flooding and natural disasters.

The proposed project was conceived because the concept of flooding reoccurs regularly within the social studies curriculum. It is most commonly found in the study of ancient civilizations as it is related to world history and the history of North and South America. In reviewing the social studies curriculum for the middle and high school levels, it has been noted that the ways societies have dealt with the prevention of flooding is an area of instruction in the sixth, seventh, and tenth grades. This concept is examined in the study of ancient civilizations and again as part of the Global History Regents examination administered at the end of the tenth grade. Allowing you to research information on floods and flood prevention promotes inferences about how life was lived prior to today’s life and how flooding still occurs today.

You will have the opportunity to virtually witness the destructive power of floods as well as the measures that communities can take to prevent future flooding through power point presentations. The use of visual demonstration will encourage your natural curiosity, thereby inspiring you to explore the themes of the project independently.

Goals: You will be able to

• demonstrate an understanding of measurement by creating floods
• become active participants in the creation and implementation of these activities
• write a report documenting the history and origin of flooding and what can be done to help prevent them
• create a civilization and use technology, math, science, English and social studies to incorporate their flood into the civilization
• create a timeline documenting how technology, math, and science have changed the lives of civilization

• create a power point presentation to show the destruction caused by floods and apply a virtual reality flood show

Step 1: You will be assigned to work in a group of four people. You will use the worksheets described in the Public Policy Analyst worksheets to record your research. These worksheets can be found using the links below and are to be used to complete your project. The worksheets can be found using the links below and are to be used to complete your project.

Use the following guidelines to prepare your presentations.

• Research information from websites, textbooks, class notes, and handouts given out to you in class
• Use the 5 step public policy approach to examine the gifts and sorrows caused by flooding to the ancient civilizations:

1. Identify the problem

2. Gather your evidence for the problem

3. Determine the cause for the problem

4. Evaluate the policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Comparative analysis

Step 2: In preparing your power point and research papers, each member of your group will contribute information on the following worksheets:

1. Identify the problem

2. Gather evidence

3. Determine causes

4. Evaluate the policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Comparative Analysis

As part of the Web Quest process, consider the following questions:

• When a river is running slowly how well does a riverbank contain the water?

• What happens to plains surrounding the river when the river rises above its banks?

• How did dikes and canals help prevent flooding?

• Why were the Tigris and Euphrates rivers called “rivers of sorrow and happiness?”

• How did ancient civilizations contribute to the development of preventing flooding?

Use the following sites in your research:

• How to manage flooding

http://www.parliament.uk/post/home/html

• List the bodies of water and rivers in the Mesopotamian region

http://www.crystalinks.com/sumer.html

• List the bodies of water and rivers in the Ancient Egyptian region

http://www.ancientnile.co.uk/nile.php

• Find evidence that Ancient civilizations were destroyed by flooding

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons2/Egypt/E3_22Review1GeographyAncientPlaceNamesFloodingNile.pdf

• Find evidence on how today’s societies suffer from flooding

http://www.nsc.org/ehc/ew/disaster/floods.html

	Not Acceptable 1	SATISFACTORY 2	Good Work 3	Exemplary Work 4	Score
Project Construction	Information is not displayed	Information is displayed in a confusing manner.	Information is displayed accurately	Information is displayed accurately and is easily interpreted.
Project Neatness	Project is messy looking.	Project is fairly neat	Project is neat.	Project is exceptionally neat and visually stimulating.
Project Organization	Project is missing two or more of the components	Project is missing two of the components.	Project is missing one of the components.	Project clearly shows all components listed in the activity prompt.
Individual Goal	You did not complete the project.	You were off task often.	You attempted to be on task, but needed to be more focused and less distracted.	You were on task and focused.
Punctuality: Submitting the Pamphlet on time	Project submitted more than 1 school day late	Project was submitted 1 day late.	Project submitted after class, but before end of the day	Project submitted at beginning of class

By working on this Web Quest project you will have learned:

• Life during Ancient Civilization Times

• The influence rivers and bodies of water had on the ancient civilizations

• The positive and negative effects of flooding on ancient civilizations

• The steps of the public policy analyst, and the internet to research a historical society.

Standard 2: World History

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

Standard 3: Geography

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live and in the way ancient civilizations lived.

English Standard 3: Comprehension and Understanding

Students will read for comprehension and understanding of the ancient civilizations and flooding

English Standard 5: Writing Process

Students will use the writing process when completing the project