Early Farmers Activity

Subject:          Early Farmers

Source:          One of my fellow history teachers came up with the concept and presented it to me.

Objective:      The learner will be able to define the environmental characteristics of an early farming civilization.

Prior knowledge:    Before project begins you need to discuss that different factors such as climate, landscape, sunlight, and water sources (rivers) all impacted where these early people located their farms.

Time Span:    30-40 Minutes

Location:       Outside

                       

Materials Needed:

§  4-5 solo cups (depending on number of students)

§  5-gallon bucket (filled with water)

§  Plastic Spoons (One per student)

§  Grassy strip of land

                       

Project/Activity:

                        Students should have finished learning about “Hunters and Gathers” and be transitioning to “Early Farmers.” The focus of this project is to help students see the role the environment had on the success of early farming settlements; in particular water. Although climate and landscape are important, it is fresh water that the early farmers absolutely had to be near. Not only did they need the water for the crops, but also needed it to survive.

Steps: (For this project we are going to assume you have 20 students)

1. Take 4 solo cups and put 5 spoons in each cup (one spoon for each student)
2. Split the students into 4 groups of 5.
3. Keeping the students in groups, go outside to a grassy area, and ask them to choose an area that they think would best support a farming civilization. Give the students a few minutes to decide and then tell them to freeze where they are.
1.      Make sure the students keep in mind the different environmental factors that play a role in producing a successful farm.
4. After the groups have found their spots, bring out the 5-gallon bucket (it should be filled about half way with water) and place it in a random spot near the students.
1.      Try to place the bucket where it is closer to some groups but further from others (it’ll make since here in a minute).
5. Next you will give one cup with 5 spoons to each group and tell them that one student is in charge of the cup and the rest get a spoon. 
6. Explain to the students their goal is to get water from the 5-gallon bucket to their cup while only using the spoons.
7. The group that fills their cup with water first wins.

Result:

What you and the students are going to realize is the group that is closer to the water is going to fill their cup up the fastest and, therefore, should win the competition. Explain to the students this same concept can be applied to the early farmers. The closer the settlers were to fresh water, the easier it was for them to survive since they could easily access the water for drinking and for growing crops. The groups that were further away took longer to fill their cups and would have had a more difficult time surviving if they had been a farming civilization. When we look at early farming areas such as the Nile Valley, Tigris-Euphrates Valley, and the Indus Valley this is why they were all positioned next to major rivers. The closer to fresh water, the easier it was to survive.

What I learned:

            Students LOVE this activity because they get to go outside and have a fun competition with their classmates. The downside to this is that it can end up getting TOO competitive and end up ruining the whole activity. There was one class I had to end the competition because students were cheating by using their hands, which also caused arguments to ensue.  I would advise that you have a serious talk with your students prior to starting the exercise to encourage them to play fair and keep it a lighthearted competition.

            I would also encourage you to make sure students take turns holding the cup. I have noticed most students want to use the spoons and not let the person holding the cup have a turn. I would possibly try a rotation signal ever few minutes.

            Besides those few problems, the activity went great and students still remember how much fun they had AND the importance of early farmers settling near rivers.

When I became a 6^th grade World History teacher on November 18^th, 2013 I thought I had it figured out. All I had to do was walk into the classroom, create a fun relaxed environment, set up a few rules, let the kids know I was the “cool teacher,” and everything else would be a walk in the park. In my mind, I already had all the answers when it came to being a good educator… boy was I wrong.

The 6^th grade only school that I work at is a Title I school with nearly 75% of students receiving a free or reduced lunch.  Many of the children come from homes where proper parental involvement is fairly non-existent, which overflows to school and can lead to a somewhat chaotic classroom environment. A good majority of my time as a teacher has been focused on mastering the ever so frustrating art of classroom management. After entertaining the idea that students would respond better to a one-one-one conference as opposed to handling the misbehavior in front of the entire class, I learned that classroom management was not as easy as I believed it would be. It quickly became apparent I was going to have to give up my “Mr. Cool Teacher” persona and go for a more…intimidating one. Long story short, after using the new semester to establish new rules, boundaries, and procedures I have managed to gain better control of my classroom (it also does not hurt that I went to a Harry Wong seminar).

All that being said, my constant battle with classroom management resulted in less time to focus on my lesson preparations. I found myself searching the Internet for any help I could possibly find with world history lessons and project ideas. After spending countless hours surfing I found there are a decent amount of lesson plans available but not really any project ideas that give enough detail to make it worthwhile. Sure we can use foldables and posters and other basic ideas, but how can we really apply these concepts and make them fun and productive for the students?

That is where I come in.

I created this blog in order to share project ideas that I come up with during my teaching career. I will share not only the project theme, but also how it applies to the lesson, how my students react to the project, how my students perform on the project, what I possibly could have done differently to make the project more effective, and pictures to show step-by-step instructions.

My goal is to help other teachers who are simply looking for a way to spice up the learning environment and bring in some project ideas that might encourage learning in the classroom. I welcome anyone who would like to return the favor my way!