World Civilizations

Lesson Overview:
This lesson will be conducted in three parts.
Part 1: Students will play Civilization 4 and keep detailed records about the game. This will last 3-5 class periods.
Part 2: Students will transfer the factual information from the records into a written history. This will last 1-2 class periods.
Part 3: Students will post their history online and add multimedia, hyperlinks, and other online content.
Objectives:
-Students will be able to connect the value of resources to a world Civilization
-Students will be able to compare and contrast historical events
-Students will use Web 2.0 resources to create a collaborative online product.
-Explain how social institutions con¬tribute to the development and transmission of culture (IL 18.B.3b)
-Explain how physical processes including climate, plate tectonics, erosion, soil formation, water cycle, and circulation patterns in the ocean shape patterns in the environment and influence availability and quality of natural resources (17.B.3a)
-Explain how workers can affect their productivity through training and by using tools, machinery and technology (15.D.3c)


Part 1: Civilization 4
For this portion of the lesson, students will be divided up into several groups of two or three students. These groups will for the leadership or “government” of their in-game nation. One group member will handle the game (based on the decisions of the group) while the other two will keep records (using a teacher-created Google Form) for the nation. These roles can change as the game progresses based on comfort with the software used and student absences. This part will last for part/all of 3-5 class periods.

Part 2: Write the History
This component of the lesson will be the part in which students transfer the information recorded during gameplay to an actual written history. The requirements for the history are as follows:
Your history must have/be:
• 750 words minimum
• Correct writing conventions
• At least 10 specific facts about your nation
• 3 different ages in your history
• Identify 5 specific rulers (these you make up yourself)
• For each ruler identify: name, title, when they ruled, why they are important, and 3 specific events that happened in that ruler's reign
• Describe 2 major cities in your civilization
• At least 5 specific dates and events that occurred on these dates
• Resource list (if applicable)
This history will be written in Google Documents and shared between all members of the group, allowing them to work in and out of class both at school and at home. An off-line alternative would be Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer. This component should take students most of two class periods to complete.

Part 3: Post Online
The final component of the lesson will involve turning the history, written using a word-processor, into an interactive webpage. These histories will be posted on Wikispaces and thus viewable to all members of the class. At this time, students will embed images, create hyperlinks, and use other forms of interactive web content to make their history more interactive. This portion of the lesson should take one (or potentially two) class periods.