The Middle East

Learning Targets / Standards Learning Targets: I will be able to use maps and charts to develop descriptions, theories and explanations about how people live in the Middle East. I will be able to define: gender inequality, imports and exports. Standards: Use geographic tools to gather data and make geographic inferences and predictions. Regions have different issues and perspectives.

Directions Read each slide. Use the maps, charts and images to answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper. Write your answer in complete sentences.

Part I: Ancient Mesopotamia & Geography Don’t forget to write your answers in complete sentences.

5 Use slides 6 and 7 to answer these questions: 1. What does Mesopotamia mean? 2. What are the two major rivers that flow through Mesopotamia?

6 Mesopotamia ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Greek mesopotamia, literally "a country between two rivers," from mesos "middle" + potamos "river.”

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8 Use slides 9 and 10 to answer these questions: 3. What geographic features that border Mesopotamia make human survival difficult? 4. How does the geography of Mesopotamia make it a good place for a civilization to rise?

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Modern Mesopotamia… Today Mesopotamia is called the Middle East. 5) Look at the maps below. Why do you think this region is called the “Middle East?” (The Middle East is circled in purple)

Part II: Economics Skip a line. Label this next section “Part 2: Economics.” Don’t forget to write your answers in complete sentences.

Economy Look at the map to the right (there is a larger one on the next slide) and use it to answer the questions. 7) List three types of goods Iraq produces. 8) Make a prediction—which of these goods do you think Iraq exports (sends out/sells) to other countries? Bigger version of map on next slide!

GDP GDP (or Gross Domestic Product) measures the wealth of a country. It is a total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a country. The darker red countries on the map have the highest GDP (more wealth). The lighter red have the lowest. 9) Name two Middle East countries with a higher GDP. 10) Name two countries with a lower GDP.

Economics of the Middle East Use the links on this page and the two graphs on the following slide to answer the following questions. 11) Write a definition for imports.imports 12) Name two countries that are oil importers. 13) Write a definition for exports.exports 14) Name two countries that are oil exporters.

Economy

Part III: Modern Geography The next few slides are about Iraq’s wetlands. Read the article on the next page and answer the questions that follow.

When you think of Iraq, you may think of desert land but it also once was home to wetlands. In the 1990s, Saddam Hussein (Iraq’s president) drained all the water out of the marshes. He did this to punish the people who lived there because they opposed his rule. Only 7% of the original marsh remains. All the people were forced to leave this area. Modified from Achieve 3000, Saving Iraq’s Marshes

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22 Use slide 27 – 30 to answer this question: 15. Create a caption for each photo of Arab Marshes. Be sure to reference the slide number. a. Slide 28 b. Slide 29 c. Slide 30

Mudhif – reed architecture of the marsh Arab – Tigris and Euphrates delta.

Part IV: Wrap it Up Now, let’s put everything you gathered from these maps and images together…

16) What resources made Mesopotamia/the Middle East wealthy in ancient times? 17) What resources make this region wealthy in modern times? 18) What geographic features make this region difficult for large populations to survive?