Idaho Social Studies 6-9.WH.1.6

Social StudiesGrades 6–9History

The Standard

Identify the technological advances developed by Ancient, Middle Age, Early-Modern, and Modern societies and civilizations throughout the world.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students name technological advances from different parts of the world. They place each one with the society and time period that developed it, then explain what people used it for.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student places Mesopotamian irrigation in ancient times, Song Chinese movable type in the Middle Ages, the Dutch telescope in the early modern period, and Japan's bullet train in modern times. They explain what each helped people do.
Common Misconceptions: Students may credit Gutenberg with inventing movable type, though Bi Sheng used it in Song China centuries earlier. They may confuse when a technology first appeared with when it spread to another place.
How to Assess It: Show a picture of movable type with the date 1040 CE. Ask students to name the society, era, and job it helped people do.

Lesson moves

Build a canal in a tray of sand, pour water through it, and explain why Mesopotamian farmers used canals.
Have students write two sentences explaining why Song printers might reuse type instead of carving a new woodblock for each page.
Have pairs sort cards labeled Mesopotamian canals, Song movable type, Dutch telescope, and Japanese bullet train into era columns.
Check a Tokyo to Osaka Shinkansen timetable and ask what travel problem Japan's engineers were trying to solve.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 6-9.WH.1.6, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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