Lesson 9: The Big Picture: Putting it All Together!

Activity 9.1: Reading a Timeline

Time flies,so how do you measure it?How do you show other people the events that happened over the past fifty or one hundred years?Well, that’s where timelines come in handy!

Timelines are a great way to understand how a series of events happened and timelines are even better when you create them yourself.However, before you can build your own timeline you need to know how to “read” a timeline.In this activity, you will be learning how a timeline works and how to understand what a timeline is showing you.

Benchmark:

5.4.1.1.1: Explain the construct of an era; interpret the connections between three or more events in an era depicted in a timeline or flow chart.

Learning Target:

I can...understand the basic functions of a timeline.

I can...analyze the information on a timeline for significant information.

Essential Question:

How may I interpret the connections between three or more events in the era of North American Colonization through the construction of a timeline or flow chart?

To complete Activity 9.1 please follow the steps below:

STEP 1: Go to the Understanding Timelines website. On the next page (click “next”) you will see a series of hyperlinked terms. Click on them and define each of them in your own words. You will be submitting your work as a text submission file.

STEP 2! READ THIS! The timeline that you will be analyzing covers the history of Ancient Egypt. That’s over 4000 years of history! We measure the years of ancient history before the birth of Christ as B.C. or Before Christ.These years count DOWN from an older year to a more recent year. For example, in B.C. if you start with year 500, then the next year would be 499. The next after that would be 498 and so on. The years would count down all the way to the year 1 B.C.THERE IS NO YEAR ZERO. After 1 B.C., the next year is A.D. 1. A.D. stands for Anno Domini or in the year of our Lord. Now, this is a very old fashioned way to refer to period of time. Many historians today use B.C.E. (before common era) to refer to B.C. and C.E. (common era) to refer to A.D.

STEP 3: Read through the each of the website’s activities and use the the questions from the website to help you answer the questions below. You will be submitting your work as a text submission file.

1. What is the time span of this timeline?
2. How many years does each part represent?
3. What does the writing above the timeline represent?
4. How do you know when the event occurred?
5. When did Queen Hatshepsut rule Ancient Egypt?
6. What event occurred in 3200 B.C.?
7. In 2990 B.C., the first great king of Ancient Egypt, King Menes, died. In order to answer this question in words, respond to this: Between which two events would you place the death of King Menes?
8. The Ancient Egyptian timeline is divided into what historical periods?
9. What could have caused these kingdoms to end?
10. What conclusion can you make concerning how Ancient Egyptians ruled themselves?
11. What conclusions can be made concerning the conflicts or wars that the Ancient Egyptians faced?
12. Timelines would be useful in which of the following situations?

STEP 4: Now, submit your responses to these questions through the text submission box.