Early Civilizations & the Foundations of Human Culture
Informational Sites
General Information/Covers Multiple Civilizations
Mesopotamia
Ancient Egypt
Indus Valley Civilization
- Timemaps: The Origins of Civilization
This site gives a good introduction to how and why civilizations developed. The linked "timemaps" - timelines with accompanying maps - and the in-depth information provided gives a unique perspective on how civilizations and cultures have developed and changed over time. The timelines also give information about what was happening in other cultures during the same time. Though the navigation on the site is a bit confusing, it is a great resource for learning about the development of human culture.
Rating: ★★★★☆ - USHistory.org: Ancient Civilizations
This site provides good information about ancient civilizations throughout the world. While not overly-detailed, enough information is included in order to give a student a good understanding of each of the different early civilizations. The information is laid out very clearly and it is very easy to navigate through the site. Links to sites with related information are included in a sidebar of the site.
Rating: ★★★★★ - Ancient Civilizations by the British Museum
This site allows visitors to compare several different aspects of life among ancient cultures including religion, technology, cities, architecture, writing, and trade. General information is provided about each theme and then visitors can access further information about this particular aspect of life in several different ancient cultures. For several of the themes, a timeline is also provided giving viewers the an understanding of when these civilizations developed in relation to each other. The information about each culture in relation to a theme is provided in different formats - for example: a slideshow or story. This keeps the information interesting as a person explores the site.
Rating: ★★★★★ - Collapse: Why do Civilizations Fall
This site explores the collapse of several ancient civilizations and how archaeologists have uncovered information about these civilizations. There are several "hands-on" activities to help further explore the field of archaeology. The site is easy to navigate and provides some great information, though not all of the civilizations examined would be considered ancient.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Mesopotamia
- Mesopotamia by the British Museum
This website covers several topics relevant to Mesopotamia. Each topic includes an overview of the topic, a story related to the topic, an opportunity for learners to further explore the topic and make connections with other information, and an interactive challenge activity that provides learners with further practice and experience with the topic. The multiple ways students may interact with the information could provide them with a deeper understanding of the topic than if the information were presented in a more linear, less dimensional way. The navigation of the site isn't always as clear as it could be, but once you figure out the structure of the site it's fairly easy. The site may be geared towards students younger than high school, but it does provide a good overview of Mesopotamia and some high-schoolers would enjoy the interactivity and other features of the site.
Rating: ★★★★☆ - Life in Mesopotamia
This site covers many cultural aspects of ancient Mesopotamia. Each topic is presented in the context of an analysis of an artifact that tells about this aspect of life. This provides an opportunity for readers to learn about Mesopotamia in much the same way an archaeologist might, by studying artifacts. While much valuable information is available on this site, it seems a bit more limited than some of the other sites. There are also several interactive archaeological activities as well as a number of lesson plans related to Mesopotamia and archaeology.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Ancient Egypt
- Ancient Egypt by the British Museum
This website covers several topics relevant to Ancient Egypt. It is structured in the same way as the Mesopotamia site by the the British Museum with each topic including an overview, a story related to the topic, an opportunity for learners to further explore the topic and make connections with other information, and an interactive challenge activity. The multiple ways students can interact with information, as well as a broad range of topics related to Ancient Egypt make this a good site for high school students even though it may be geared towards students a bit younger.
Rating: ★★★★☆ - History.com: Ancient Egypt
This website has several videos, a couple of photo galleries, and a couple of interactive activities related to Ancient Egypt. While the information in this site does not provide a complete picture of Ancient Egypt, there is quite a bit of information that may round out a student's understanding of a particular aspect of the history of that civilization.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Indus Valley Civilization
- The Ancient Indus Civilization
This site has information regarding the Ancient Indus civilization as well as many photographs that help to provide a picture of this culture. The pictures and accompanying essay are the most beneficial aspects of this site which is sometimes a bit difficult to navigate and includes sometimes distracting ads. However, there are not many sites about this civilization and the information included on this site is valuable.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Launchpads
- Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
This site provides a collection of primary source texts from ancient civilizations. These texts can be a valuable addition to the study of these cultures. The site is a bit dated, and a short annotation or explanation of the text would be useful. However, the collection of these resources is organized quite well.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Lesson Plans & Instructional Resources
- Hammurabi's Code: What Does It Tell Us About Old Babylonia?
In this lesson plan, provided by EdSITEment, students learn about life in Babylonia by studying Hammuabi's Code. This lesson would be a great addition to a unit on Mesopotamia and challenges students to learn about a society through a primary source document. The lesson plan is clearly laid out, includes some great opportunities for students to use higher-level thinking skills, and includes some great resources to use in the lesson.
Rating: ★★★★★ - Exploring the World of Ancient Civilizations
This video clip from the Teaching Channel shows a teacher using a Gallery Stroll strategy for her students to present posters showing what they learned about a particular aspect of an ancient culture. In this lesson, students worked in groups to learn about a particular aspect of an ancient culture and then had to share that information with other students in the class in a clear and effective poster. Though there is not a full lesson plan included, this is a great lesson idea, and seeing it in action through a video can give a teacher a clear picture of how they can engage their students in this type of learning.
Rating: ★★★★★