During the Egyptian Unit the students will:

* Discover the relationships between people and their environment during the Egyptian Empire.  The importance of the Nile river will be discussed including the various purposes it held for religious belief.

* Examination of the great pharaohs through a research paper.  This is a collaboartive effort with the English class where students will be given the choice of examining the life of a famous pharaoh or god. Students are encouraged to make modern day connections and comparisons to a famous modern day leader through oral debates and presentations.

* Recognize the Egyptian beliefs in religion and the afterlife.  A hands on mummification will be performed to look at the procedure and materials involved with this process. Special focus on the Egyptian belief in the afterlife as well as the importance of the Egyptian gods.

* Examine the Egyptian accomplishments and contributions to the world. The building of the great pyramids, works in astonomy, mathematics, and medicine will be disussed.

* Look at the lives of Nefertiti, Cleopatra, and Hatshepsut, three famous Egyptian women who made their own lasting impression on history.  This segways into an analytical approach regarding the role of women in ancient Egypt.

* This unit will overlap with a study of Greece and Rome, their infleunces on the Egyptian Empire as well as a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.