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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 3 of 9

Time & Evidence

BCE and CE, artifacts and sources

What your child practices

Counting years in BCE and CE, centuries and calendars, artifacts and archaeology, and judging primary and secondary sources about the ancient world.

Alaska content standards learning standard: SS.6-8.2.3; SS.6-8.2.2 · telling primary from secondary sources and judging where information comes from, and counting time in BCE and CE

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. BCE years count down toward year 1; CE years count up. A bigger BCE number is older.
  2. For two BCE dates, subtract the smaller from the bigger to find years between.
  3. Archaeologists use artifacts and remains. An era is a long period, like the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages (in that order).

Example: How many years passed from 3000 BCE to 1000 BCE? Both are BCE, so subtract. 3000 − 1000 = 2000. Answer: 2000 years

Time & Evidence in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 3 of 9 in 6th grade Social Studies, after World Regions and before Alaska's Physical Regions.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    The Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age are named after…

    • Famous kings
    • Rivers
    • The main materials people used for tools
    • Calendars

  2. Question 2

    Why do different cultures measure time differently?

    • They can't count
    • Time is different in each country
    • They base calendars on different events and cycles
    • Only one calendar is real

  3. Question 3

    What is a millennium?

    • 100 years
    • 1000 years
    • 1,000,000 years
    • 10 years

  4. Question 4

    Which is a primary source about ancient Egypt?

    • A papyrus written by an Egyptian scribe
    • A modern encyclopedia
    • Your textbook
    • A movie about pharaohs

  5. Question 5

    Which year is earlier: 500 BCE or 200 BCE?

    • They are the same
    • 200 BCE
    • 500 BCE
    • Neither

  6. Question 6

    How many years from 776 BCE (first Olympics) to 476 CE (fall of Rome in the West)?

    • 1252
    • 1251
    • 1250
    • 300

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