Date:
Where and When?
Objectives
That pupils will recognise where the Ancient Egyptian society was located.
That pupils will place this empire into a time frame.
Tasks
Ask pupils if they know where Egypt is – which continent?
Locate on a map; show on OHP.
Discuss features shown on maps and their possible impact.
-	desert – What do they know?  Type of use of land?  Likely way of life?
-	River Nile – what might we find here?  What will the land be like?
-	coast – what might this mean?
Give out maps.  On these, pupils can label Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, River Nile, White Nile, Blue Nile, Giza, Memphis, Thebes, Khartoum, Sakkarah.  Colour in Egypt, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, rivers.
Support: less able pupils can have copies of these labels which they can place in position; when these are checked they can then be stuck down.
  
Show OHP of Ancient Egyptian timeline.  Discuss, especially amount of time covered.  Compare Egyptian and Greek periods.  Make the point that the Ancient Egyptians were the longest continuous civilisation.  
Pupils can make a timeline on squared paper; if 7mm paper is used then one square = 200 years is an appropriate scale; colour in the Egyptian period. 
Resources: OHP, sheets, maps. (See next page for OHP timeline)
5000	
		Earliest farming communities.
4800
4600
4400
4200
4000	Farming communities developed.  People lived in tribes and established villages.
3800
3600
3400
3200		Tribes united under the first Egyptian king, Menes.
3000
2800
2600		Djoser; Khufu
2400		Chepren
2200
2000		
1800		Senusret III
1600
1400		Hatshepsut; Amenhotep; Tutankhamun
1200		Rameses II
1000
800
600
400
200		Alexander the Great
0		Cleopatra
200
400
600
800
1000
1200								Ancient Greece
1400
1600								Ancient Egypt
1800						Menes		Egyptian pharaohs
2000

Date:
What do we know?
Objectives
That pupils will create a “facts pyramid”.
Skills:  Enquiry – using sources, ask and answer questions.
Tasks
Ask pupils what they think they already know about the Ancient Egyptians – to work in small groups and create a brainstorm sheet.  Compare facts after 10 minutes, and list on board.
Tell them that they are going to use these facts to create a pyramid.  Give out triangles.  Tell them they are to choose one piece of information each, and then use the books which are available to check their theory – ie, find evidence.  remind pupils of the importance of evidence and give some examples.  Choose one statement and check it using available books – talk about using the contents and index to try to find the evidence.  When evidence is found, write the fact on the piece of paper, and at the bottom put the book title and page number where your evidence is found.  Add a suitable illustration if possible.  Cross out the statement on the sheet once it has been proved or disproved.  Stress that the fact must be written neatly and spelt correctly, and that the triangle may be used either way up (demonstrate on outline).  Then they colour their block in and bring their statement to stick it on the pyramid outline (stick these to resemble the blocks which make up the pyramid – makes an attractive display). 

Resources
Paper triangles.  All textbooks.  Library books if available.  Glue.  Pyramid outline.

Support
Less able pupils may need help reading the information.   

Lesson 3: The Nile.
Objectives
That pupils will understand the importance of the Nile to the Encient Egyptians (knowledge and understanding.)
Tasks
Look back at the map of Egypt.  Ask the pupils what they already know about the river Nile.  Tell them that today they will find out the importance of the Nile to the people in the region.
Watch Eureka Ancient Egyptians video 1 if available, or other video source eg Landmarks.  
Talk about the Nile’s seasons.
1.	Flooding.  The flood waters arrived by the middle of July.  The farmers could not work on their land so they worked for the pharaoh, labouring on the pyramids and temples, or improving the irrigation canals beside the river.
2.	Preparing land and planting.
3.	Harvesting.

Pupils draw a circle in their books (use maths templates) and divide this into three, each representing a season of the Egyptian farming year.  In each section, they can draw a picture demonstrating the activity, using textbooks for further information if necessary.  Round the outside they should write the name of the season.
Support:
Provide less able pupils with a predrawn diagram which they can cut out and fill in.
Extension:
Write an explanation of each season.  When did each season begin?  What jobs were done during each season?  What crops were grown?

Resources
Support sheets.  TV and video and Eureka video.

Lesson 4:  Homes
Objectives
That the children will learn about the home life of Ancient Egyptians.
That they will find out about hieroglyphics.
That they will use hieroglyphics to write their own names.
Tasks

Ask pupils if they can think of anywhere in this country where you might see modern hieroglyphics.  Explain that hieroglyphics are a sort of sign.  Compare with shop signs.  Make the link with Ancient Greece work – Egyptians also had a different alphabet, but ours is more closely liked to the Greek system than it is to the Egyptian system.
Give out hieroglyphics sheet – there are a variety available in resource books.  Go through the hieroglyphics and see what the children think the pictures are.
Ask them to write their own name in hieroglyphics – they may have to miss out some letters as the Egyptians didn’t have all the same sounds that we do.  Do this on tea-stained paper, these can be mounted and pupils can try to identify which one belongs to which pupil. 
Resources
Hieroglyphics sheet.  Tea stained paper.