6th grade Social Studies
9 units matched to the Maine Learning Results.
Focus areas
- World geography and regions
- Early peoples and ancient civilizations
- How early governments and trade worked
Units
Unit 1
World Regions
Physical and cultural characteristics of world regions, how people adapt to and change their environment, migration, and why geography helps us understand global issues.
Learning standard: Geography 1 · the major regions of the Earth, their physical features and their countries
Unit 2
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: History 1 · studying the past from primary and secondary sources, and counting time in BCE and CE
Unit 3
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: History 1 · early people, and how farming led to settled villages
Unit 4
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: Geography 2; History 1 · how rivers and land shaped where the first civilizations grew
Unit 5
Mesopotamia & Egypt
Why civilizations grew along the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile, cuneiform and hieroglyphs, Hammurabi's Code, pharaohs and pyramids.
Learning standard: History 1 · Mesopotamia and Egypt: rivers, farming, laws and early writing
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: History 1; History 2 · ancient India and China and the beliefs that began there
Unit 7
Greece & Rome
Athens and Sparta, the Roman Republic and Empire, the Twelve Tables and Code of Justinian, and the Greek and Roman ideas found in US government.
Learning standard: Civics & Government 1; History 1 · democracy in Athens, the Roman Republic and other early forms of government
Unit 8
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: History 2 · the origins and central teachings of major world religions
Unit 9
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: Global Connections; Economics · how trade between early cultures spread goods and ideas
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