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Unit 3 Lesson 2

River Valley Civilizations…the beginnings of a new era

7th Grade Social StudiesMason Middle SchoolMr. Crake

Mohenjo-Daro civilizationin modern Pakistan

Granary

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Great Bath

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Covered Drainemptying down slope on major street leading to the

Great Bath.

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House

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Well

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Toilet

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ACTIVITY

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River Valley Civilizations…the beginnings of a new era

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• By what time in Era 2 were all four river valley civilizations in existence?

• What do you think was going on in each of these places before their civilizations developed? For example, do you think there were people living in the Indus River Valley in 3000 BCE? If so, why wasn’t it considered a civilization yet?

Over thousands of years, human communities slowly grew and became more complex.

As communities grew, new problems emerged.

People came up with new technological innovations and creative solutions to solve the problems.

These innovations allowed people to produce more surpluses.

More surpluses led to more people.

More people led to more problems.

People came up with new technological innovations and creative solutions to solve the problems.

Civilization resulted from these innovations.

More people

New problems

New solutions

– creativity

, technolo

gy

More productio

n,More

resources

Stop and Jot- Why rivers?

• Food• Fertile soil for farming• Water for farming• Transportation

Yellow River

Tigris River

Indus River

Nile River

Stop and Jot- Why these rivers?

Yellow River

Tigris River

Indus River

Nile River

All of these rivers are surrounded by highlands or mountains that drain their waters into these rivers and thus provide them with a steadier water supply.

Yellow River

Tigris River

Indus River

Nile River

All of these rivers have large flat areas (like plains) along the shore. These provide space for farming.

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• What kind of picture do you think this is?

• What clues can you use?

• What does it show?

• What do you think the green and tan areas are?

• Where do you think most people live in this area?

DELTA

a low lying, watery area formed at the mouth of a river

• often triangular in shape and form where a river spreads out as it enters the sea, ocean, or a large lake

• often have lots of soil deposited by the river and can be good farming areas

• can also experience a lot of flooding

• resource rich areas full of plant and animal life

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Turn and Talk:

• What geographic features might have prevented this river valley from spreading northwest?

• How about to the southeast?

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• What modern country developed out of this civilization over centuries?

• Look at all the rivers in the middle. Why do you think civilization didn’t develop along one of these rivers?

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BTW…. People still live near these rivers… the cities have gotten a little bigger though!

Chongqing, Sichuan, Chinaon the Yellow River

Cairo, Egypt… on the Nile River

Ongoing development resulted in larger groups of people living in cities with social hierarchies and intensified agriculture. The first known examples of these were the river valley civilizations.

Tigris/Euphrates Nile IndusYellow

(Huang He)

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