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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 1 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.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 6.19(A); 6.19(B) · counting years in BCE and CE, artifacts, and primary and secondary sources

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 Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 1 of 9 in 6th grade Social Studies, before Trade Routes & Beliefs.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    How many years from 300 BCE to 200 CE (there's no year 0)?

    • 499
    • 501
    • 100
    • 500

  2. Question 2

    Which came first?

    • The Magna Carta (1215 CE)
    • The first Olympic Games (776 BCE)
    • The fall of Rome (476 CE)
    • The building of the Great Pyramid (about 2560 BCE)

  3. Question 3

    An artifact is…

    • A story told today
    • A map drawn yesterday
    • A kind of rock
    • An object made by people in the past

  4. Question 4

    Put in order, earliest first: Bronze Age, Stone Age, Iron Age. Which is first?

    • They happened at once everywhere
    • Iron Age
    • Bronze Age
    • Stone Age

  5. Question 5

    Why do historians compare several sources?

    • Each source shows only part of the story and may be biased
    • One source is enough
    • Sources are always the same
    • It wastes time

  6. Question 6

    Most surviving writing from ancient times was made by…

    • Farmers
    • Enslaved workers
    • Children
    • Rulers, priests and scribes

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