Warm Up

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Warm Up

• Based on your inferences from the maps you
  studied on Wednesday and Thursday, what do you
  know about Mesopotamia so far?
• Fertile Crescent
• Tigris and Euphrates River
• Great farming/agriculture
• Mountains/Desert Barriers
• Water sources for trade
• Flooding/ Silt
• Sumer

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Mesopotamia's Geography
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Learning Target

• I can evaluate how the geography in Mesopotamia
  led to permanent settlement.

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Vocabulary

• Topography
• Fertile Crescent
• Silt
• Irrigation Canals
• Flooding
• Tributary
• Tigris River
• Euphrates River
• Hammurabi Laws
• Sumer.

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Set up the following on page 36
Location Mesopotamia Silt and Soil Flooding Irrigation
How did the geography in Mesopotamia lead to permanent settlement? Make sure to include Fertile Crescent, Tigris and Euphrates River, flooding, silt, irrigation canals. How did the geography in Mesopotamia lead to permanent settlement? Make sure to include Fertile Crescent, Tigris and Euphrates River, flooding, silt, irrigation canals.
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Mesopotamia8,000 BC

• Start with a story imagine you are a farmer
  living near Southwest Asia. The yearly flood
  which makes farming possible has not come. Now
  the village is fighting for its life!

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Lets connect!

• Think of a time when youve seen pictures about a
  flood on TV or in the Newspapers. Floods cause
  destruction by washing away objects in their
  path. Do you think a flood can also have good
  consequences?

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Before Now..

• You have learned that
• As people became better farmers, they settled in
  large villages. Some settlements developed
  complex villages with NEW ways of life also known
  as CIVILIZATIONS!
• Today you will learn
• How the geography of Mesopotamia influenced where
  people settled and HOW they lived!

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The Land between Two Rivers

• The word Mesopotamia means the land between two
  rivers.
• Mesopotamia is between the
• Tigris River
• Euphrates River

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Where in the world are we???
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Lets ZOOM in!
Asia
Africa
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Tiny bit closer.
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The Tigris and Euphrates River
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The Tigris Euphrates River

• Located in Southwest Asia
• Provide Water
• Good for travel
• Easier to move by boat in Ancient times

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The Tigris Euphrates River

• Fertile Soil
• Every year it would rain and melt the snow in the
  mountains, this caused the river to overflow!

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Critical Thinking

• How does the snowmelt in Colorado affect other
  states?
• What would happen if Colorado decide to create a
  dame to save the water for Colorado residents
  only?

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• As the water flowed down the mountains it picked
  up soil.
• When the rivers reached the plains water
  overflowed onto the FLOOD PLAIN.
• A flood plain is flat land bordering the banks.

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• The fine soil picked up by the overflowed river
  created SILT
• Silt was fertile which means it was great for
  growing crops!

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Irrigation

• 6,000 BCE

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Floods and Droughts!

• A long period when too little rain falls is
  called a drought.
• Mesopotamia was ARID (dry)
• Drought is BAD because during a drought the
  Tigris Euphrates water level would drop making
  it hard for famers to water their crops!
• IF CROPS FAILthe people Starve!

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Irrigation

• As early as 6000BCE Mesopotamian farmers took
  steps to control water
• ? they built walls to control water during
  floods
• ? they built canals to carry water from rivers
  to the fields
• This system of watering dry land is called
  IRRIGATION!

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The downside to Irrigation Canals

• Water from Tigris and Euphrates was muddy and
  silt often clogged the canals
• Keeping canals clean was a big challenge for
  farmers

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What are the downsides of this great land
Mesopotamia?

• Lack of natural resources
• No forests for wood so they couldnt build
  advanced homes
• Limited protection- not surrounded by mountains
  or other natural barriers
• Built brick walls
• BUT they did trade because they had a SURPLUS
  of crops! This lead to a very diverse society.

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Complete the following question on the bottom of
page 36
Location Mesopotamia Silt and Soil Flooding Irrigation
How did the geography in Mesopotamia lead to permanent settlement? Make sure to include Fertile Crescent, Tigris and Euphrates River, flooding, silt, irrigation canals. How did the geography in Mesopotamia lead to permanent settlement? Make sure to include Fertile Crescent, Tigris and Euphrates River, flooding, silt, irrigation canals.
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Read up a little more

• Go to the following website and answer these
  questions http//www.historyforkids.org/learn/eco
  nomy/farming/irrigation.htm

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Current Events

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vDGpCjPOFTvg