6th grade Social Studies
10 units matched to the California Content Standards.
Focus areas
- World history and geography: ancient civilizations
- Mesopotamia, Egypt, Kush, the ancient Hebrews, Greece, India, China and Rome
- How early governments, beliefs and trade shaped the world
Units
Unit 1
Time & Evidence
Counting years in BCE and CE, centuries and calendars, artifacts and archaeology, and judging primary and secondary sources about the ancient world.
Learning standard: 6.1 · what archaeology and other sources tell us about early peoples, and counting time in BCE and CE
Unit 2
First Farmers
The long story of early humans, how farming began about 12,000 years ago, domestication, food surpluses, and how settling down led to specialized jobs and the first cities.
Learning standard: 6.1.1; 6.1.3 · hunter-gatherer societies and the move to farming
Unit 3
Where Civilizations Grew
How geography shaped Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley and Shang China along their rivers, plus Greece, Rome and the Maya. Includes a reading passage about the Nile flood.
Learning standard: 6.1.2; 6.2.1 · where early human communities settled and why the first civilizations grew in river valleys
Unit 4
Mesopotamia & Egypt
Why civilizations grew along the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile, cuneiform and hieroglyphs, Hammurabi's Code, pharaohs and pyramids.
Learning standard: 6.2.1; 6.2.2; 6.2.4; 6.2.5; 6.2.9 · Mesopotamia and Egypt: river systems, farming, Hammurabi's Code, Egyptian art and early writing
Unit 5
Laws & Government
Hammurabi's code (with a reading passage), Athenian democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, the Mandate of Heaven, and Egypt's social pyramid.
Learning standard: 6.2.3; 6.4.3; 6.7.2 · how religion and the social order were linked, Athenian democracy and the Roman Republic
Unit 6
Ancient India & China
The Indus Valley and Yellow River, Chinese dynasties and the Mandate of Heaven, Confucius, Hinduism and Buddhism, and inventions such as paper and zero.
Learning standard: 6.5.1; 6.5.3; 6.5.5; 6.6.1; 6.6.3 · the Indus Valley, Hinduism and Buddhism, the Huang He and Confucius
Unit 7
World Beliefs
Where and when major religions and philosophies began (Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Christianity, Islam), their key figures, texts and ideas, described respectfully and factually.
Learning standard: 6.3.1; 6.5.5; 6.6.3; 6.7.6 · the origins and central teachings of Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity
Unit 8
Trade Networks
Specialization, barter and the first coins, the Silk Road and sea routes (with a reading passage and goods table), and how trade led to both cooperation and conflict.
Learning standard: 6.2.6; 6.6.7 · Egyptian trade and the silk roads
Unit 9
Greece & Rome
Athens and Sparta, direct and representative democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, and the Greek and Roman ideas found in US government.
Learning standard: 6.4.2; 6.4.3; 6.4.6; 6.7.1; 6.7.2 · early democracy in Greece, Athens and Sparta, and the Roman Republic and its influence on the US
Unit 10
Ancient Israel & Kush
The origins and central teachings of Judaism, key figures and the Diaspora, how Judaism endured, and the kingdom of Kush on the Nile: its iron, trade, pyramids and rule over Egypt. Religions are described factually and neutrally.
Learning standard: 6.2.8; 6.3.1; 6.3.2; 6.3.3; 6.3.4; 6.3.5 · the location and culture of Kush, and the origins, teachings, settlements and survival of Judaism among the ancient Hebrews
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