Civilization Project
Welcome to the Civilization Project.
I created this project in 1993 while teaching 6th grade social studies. It was my first year of teaching in public schools. I had six classes of about 30 students. Each class was about 50 minutes.
The original purpose of the Civilization Project was to help students access ancient civilizations, once describe as "dead white men." Further, how was I able to get students to grasp the challenges of developing a civilization within actually creating a civilization? My response: simulate the creation of civilizations. And so The Civilization Project was born.
As I learned more, read more, gathered data, and responded to student questions and requests, the project benefited from insights from Project Based Learning and Problem Based Learning. Yes, the project involves "Constructivism". Yes, I conducted "Action Research."
I have provided the resources and examples of the resources which I used. Often, I am asked about variations which might be possible within a readers own classroom situation. Honestly, much of the project when I taught it, developed because of student questions and requests. I typically replied to a student questions and request by saying, "How could that happen? or Does that make sense given the time period we are studying? or How could we make this a part of the Civilization Project?"
Please email me (chadwell.d@gmail.com) with any questions, ideas, or modifications. I would love to update this site with new ideas.
Contribution Sheets is the core specific content of the project and Development Sheets are the core elements for creating a civilization.
Unit Challenges.pdfChallenges are unit specific opportunities or problems tied to the content of the specific unit, either building from the learning or pointing to what will be learned.
disasters 1.docDisasters are opportunities for students to problem solve using their civilization's resources and what they have learned thus far. There are "consequences" and resulting learnings. Chance is incorporated.
6 Alliance.docOpportunities
Opportunities are anchors to the project. They evolve as students ask for them as a way to further develop their civilization. They can also be made available at the discretion of the teacher.