1. After 5 minutes, you will “turn and talk” to discuss your answers
Warm Up
You will be given 5 minutes to answer the following question in a 3-5 sentence paragraph:
Think back to our lesson from yesterday, what can you recall about the geography of Mesopotamia?
After 5 minutes, you will “turn and talk” to discuss your answers

2. Academic Vocabulary Word of the Day!!
Cumulative:
Who can define this word for us?
Who can use this word in a sentence?

3. Objective- SWBAT understand how geography affected the way the Mesopotamian people lived.

4. “The land between two rivers” Why would people chose to build civilizations on a plain between two rivers? (Turn and talk)

5. Mesopotamia directly translates to “The land between two rivers,” and people chose this area to live because there would be plenty of water for crops, drinking and other uses, and the flat landscape was easier to build a farm on.

6. Come up to point and identify (highlight) the two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) we learned about during the previous lesson.
These two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) run parallel to each other and flow over 1,000 miles!!!!!

7. What do you think the Early Mesopotamians used these rivers for
What do you think the Early Mesopotamians used these rivers for? (Turn and talk)

8. Answer-The people of Mesopotamia used the water for their farms and fields.

9. The changing of seasons sometimes made it difficult for farmers
The changing of seasons sometimes made it difficult for farmers. Think about the summer, what is the weather like, how might this effect the water supply?” (Little or no rain, rivers were low, not enough water to plant crops in he fall). Visualize the end of winter, what do you think happens when the snow from the north begins to melt? (Rivers overflow, causing violent floods to sweep away their crops, homes, livestock’s). Just like we’ve seen in our previous lessons, these people had to learn how to adapt to their geography in order to survive.

10. Lets write the seasons on the board
Lets write the seasons on the board. As a class we will identify what geographic forces occur during each season and discuss how these affected the Mesopotamians.

11. Independent Practice
You will be given a reading on how farmers adapted to these natural forces. Answer the following questions:
What is silt?
Why did farmers create an irrigation system?
How did food surpluses lead to a change in people’s lives?

12. Group Work
You will work in your groups and be asked to think about life in the River valleys. Groups will be asked to identify either the drawbacks to living in the river valley, or the positives to living in the river valley. Group 1-Positives to living in River Valley Group 2-Drawbacks to living in the River Valley

13. Closure
What are some of the important geographic features of Mesopotamia? How did these features affect the lifestyles of these early people?

14. Homework
Complete a T-chart worksheet, where you will identify the positives of living in the river valley and the negatives of living in the river valley.