During the Unit on Mesopotamia students will:

* Demonstrate an understanding, by completing textbook excercises and a written test, of what it means to be "civilized"; how Sumerian civilization developed; the importance of the Tigris and Euphraetes Rivers to Mesopotamian city-states; how religion, family life, and government influenced the civilization of Sumer; the importance of Hammurabi and his laws; and the impact of the Assyrians on Mesopotamia. 

* View the Films; Iraq: Stairway to the Gods, and the Time Life Series, Mesoptamia: the Search for Eden, to learn how ancient Mesopotamian city-states were rediscovered, how cuneiform writing was deciphered, and the correlation between stories from Sumer and that of the Bible. Students will practice note-taking while watching these films.

* Read and reenact the Epics of Gilgamesh to further to reinforce the notions that many of the stories from Mesopotamia correlate strongly to those in the Bible.

* Practice picture writing, in the style of cuneiform, by writing messages inclay tablets using authentic and ficticious symbols.