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Cities, Societies, and Empires

Driving Question: How did complex societies develop and how did they impact humans inside and outside these communities?

Once people started growing their own food, everything changed. Small groups evolved into massive, complex societies with thousands—even millions—of people. Explore how some of these communities grew into powerful states and empires, and how those changes shaped life—for both for the people within them and the wider world.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Investigate the development of agrarian societies.
  2. Understand the causes and effects of the development of cities and states.
  3. Use close reading to analyze how and why complex human societies formed.

Vocab Terms:

  • dynasty
  • elite
  • empire
  • government
  • infrastructure
  • specialist
  • state
STEP 1

Opener: Cities, Societies, and Empires

Teaching Tools

The Comparison One-Pager explains how this important skill is addressed in OER Project courses.

Ancient cities may not look like the ones we know today, but understanding the defining characteristics of cities, societies, and empires is key to making sense of the past.

STEP 2

Looking Ahead

Teaching Tools

Get an idea of how other teachers use Unit Notebooks by checking out this conversation External link in the OER Project Teacher Community.

STEP 3

Cities, Societies, and Empires

people built governments and religions to navigate their new, more-complex world. Explore this transformation in the video, then dig deeper with the article.

Early Agrarian Societies (6000 BCE to 100 CE): Unit 3 Overview External link

Thanks to farming, humans built cities, empires, and long-distance trade routes. What can the story of a boy named Iddin-Sin tell us about these changes?

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 4

Framing Unit 3

Teaching Tools

Check out our Reading Guide to learn about the Three-Step Reading approach.

The frames can help us to see how communities grew into states, and how states became empires. Explore the growth of complex societies in the video, and then apply what you’ve learned in the activity.

Frames in Unit 3 External link

With the development of more-complex societies in the form of villages, cities, and the first states, this period saw massive changes in the ways we humans organized ourselves into communities.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 5

Closer: Cities, Societies, and Empires

Teaching Tools

Looking to deepen your understanding of frames? Take a look at this conversation External link in the OER Project Teacher Community.

Extension Materials
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Sharpen your understanding of claim and focus by reviewing it in a piece of writing—either your own or a sample essay.
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Essay Review