In this unit, students are expected to learn about the following:

• How people have responded to geographic opportunities such as the seasonal flooding of the Nile River
• Features of a civilization such as agriculture, writing, government, commerce and laws
• Origins of religions such as the Egyptian religion
• Interactions between past civilizations such as trade in the Indus Valley
• How and why money systems evolved from bartering in Mesopotamia and Egypt
• Agricultural development such as irrigation systems in Sumer and in Egypt on the Nile
• Types of goods that past civilizations used in trade such as pottery, textiles and beads in Indus Valley Civilizations

In addition, students are expected to increasingly work on these core skills in social studies:

• Assessing the credibility of multiple sources
• Explaining different perspectives on the topic of ancient civilizations
• Determining which factors lead to the fall of a civilization such as the one in the Indus Valley