Tennessee 6th Grade Social Studies Standards

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Foundations of Human Civilization: c. 10,000-3500 BCE

• Students will learn proper time designations and analyze the development and characteristics of civilizations, including the effects of the Agricultural Revolution.
  • 6.01 Identify the meaning of time designations and abbreviations used by historians, including: BC/BCE, AD/CE, and circa (c. or CA), decades, and centuries.
  • 6.02 Describe the characteristics of the nomadic hunter-gatherer societies, including their use of: basic hunting weapons, fire, shelter, and tools.
  • 6.03 Explain the impact of the Agricultural Revolution, including: barter economy, domestication of plants and animals, emergence of permanent settlements, food surpluses, labor specialization, and new sources of clothing and shelter.
  • 6.04 Identify and explain the importance of the following key characteristics of civilizations: culture, government, religion, social structure, stable food supply, technology, and writing.

Ancient Mesopotamia: c. 3500-1700 BCE

• Students will analyze the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of the civilization of ancient Mesopotamia.
  • 6.05 Identify and locate geographical features of ancient Mesopotamia, including: the Black Sea, the Euphrates River, the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Tigris River, and the Zagros Mountains.
  • 6.06 Explain how geographic and climatic features led to the region being known as the Fertile Crescent.
  • 6.07 Explain how irrigation, silt, metallurgy, production of tools, use of animals, slave labor, and inventions such as the wheel, sail, and plow led to advancements in agriculture.
  • 6.08 Analyze how advancements in agriculture in Sumer led to economic growth, expansion of trade and transportation, and the emergence of independent city-states.
  • 6.09 Explain the basic concepts of monarchy and empire, and identify Mesopotamia as the regional location of the world’s first empire.
  • 6.10 Explain the concept of polytheism and its presence in Mesopotamia, with respect to beliefs about the relationship of deities to the natural world and their importance in everyday life.
  • 6.11 Identify important achievements of the Mesopotamian civilization, including cuneiform, clay tablets, and ziggurats, and identify the Epic of Gilgamesh as the oldest written epic.
  • 6.12 Analyze the impact of the introduction of written law in the Code of Hammurabi, and explain its basic principles of justice.

Ancient Egypt: c. 3000-700 BCE

• Students will analyze the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of ancient Egypt.
  • 6.13 Identify and locate geographical features of ancient Egypt, including: the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile Delta, the Nile River, the Red Sea, the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt, and the Sahara.
  • 6.14 Explain how agricultural practices impacted life and economic growth in ancient Egypt, including the use of irrigation and development of a calendar.
  • 6.15 Explain the structure of ancient Egyptian society, including: relationships between groups of people, how social classes were organized by occupation, the positions of pharoahs as gods/kings, and the role of slaves.
  • 6.16 Explain the polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt, with respect to beliefs about the afterlife, the reasons for mummification, and the use of pyramids.
  • 6.17 Analyze the impact of key figures from ancient Egypt, including: growth under the leadership of Queen Hatshepsut and her economic policies, Ramses the Great’s military conquests leading to growth of the kingdom, and the significance of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb on the understanding of ancient Egypt.
  • 6.18 Analyze the achievements of ancient Egyptian civilization, including: hieroglyphics, papyrus, and the pyramids and Sphinx at Giza.
  • 6.19 Examine the cultural diffusion of ancient Egypt with surrounding civilizations through trade and conflict, including its relationship with Nubia.

Ancient Israel: c. 2000-500 BCE

• Students will analyze the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of ancient Israel.
  • 6.20 Identify and locate geographical features of ancient Israel, including: the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, the Jordan River, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Sinai Peninsula.
  • 6.21 Describe the development of the ancient Israelites, and explain the reasons for their movements from Mesopotamia to Canaan (later called Israel), from Canaan to Egypt, and from Egypt back to Canaan.
  • 6.22 Describe the origins and central features of Judaism: key person(s) (Abraham and Moses), sacred texts (The Tanakh, i.e., the Hebrew Bible), and basic beliefs (monotheism, Ten Commandments, and emphasis on individual worth and personal responsibility).
  • 6.23 Identify the importance of Saul as the first king of Israel, David as the second king who founded Jerusalem as the capital, and Solomon as the third king who built the first temple.
  • 6.24 Summarize the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel, Babylonian captivity, and the return of the Jews to their homeland under the Persian Empire.

Ancient India: c. 2500-400 BCE

• Students will analyze the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of ancient India.
  • 6.25 Identify and locate geographical features of ancient India, including: the Ganges River, the Himalayan Mountains, the Indian Ocean, the Indus River, monsoon winds, and the subcontinent of India.
  • 6.26 Explain the emergence of the Harappan civilization in the Indus River Valley as an early agricultural civilization, and describe its achievements, including: architecture built with bricks, arranging roads into a series of grid-systems, and sanitation and sewer systems.
  • 6.27 Describe the social structure of the caste system, and explain its effect on everyday life in ancient India.
  • 6.28 Describe the origins and central features of Hinduism: key person(s) (origins in Aryan traditions), sacred texts (the Vedas), and basic beliefs (dharma, karma, reincarnation, and moksha).
  • 6.29 Describe the origins and central features of Buddhism: key person(s) (Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)), sacred texts (Tripitaka), and basic beliefs (Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, and Nirvana).
  • 6.30 Identify the long-lasting intellectual traditions that emerged during the late empire of ancient India, including: medical education, medical techniques, and mathematics (e.g., Hindu-Arabic numerals).

Ancient China: c. 2500 BCE-200 CE

• Students will analyze the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of ancient China.
  • 6.31 Identify and locate geographical features of ancient China, including: the Gobi Desert, the Himalayan Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, the Plateau of Tibet, the Yangtze River, and the Yellow River.
  • 6.32 Analyze the influence of geographic features on the origins of ancient Chinese civilization in the Yellow River Valley, and explain how China’s geography helped create a unique yet diverse cultural identity that was isolated from the rest of the world.
  • 6.33 Describe how the size of ancient China made governing difficult and how the concepts of the mandate of heaven and Legalism emerged solutions to this problem.
  • 6.34 Identify the political and cultural problems prevalent in the time of Confucius and how the philosophy of Confucianism and The Analects emphasized the concepts of kinship, order, and hierarchy to address these problems.
  • 6.35 Explain the significance of the unification of ancient China into the first Chinese empire by Qin Shi Huangdi, beginning the Qin Dynasty.
  • 6.36 Explain how the implementation of the philosophy of Confucianism led to the political success and longevity of the Han Dynasty.
  • 6.37 Explain the major accomplishments of the Han Dynasty, including: the magnetic compass, paper making, porcelain, silk, and woodblock printing.
  • 6.38 Describe how the desire for Chinese goods influenced the creation of The Silk Road and initiated cultural diffusion throughout Eurasia, including the introduction of Buddhism into ancient China.

Ancient Greece: c. 800-300 BCE

• Students will analyze the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of ancient Greece.
  • 6.39 Identify and locate geographical features of ancient Greece, including: Asia Minor, Athens, Macedonia, the Mediterranean Sea, the Peloponnesian peninsula, and Sparta.
  • 6.40 Analyze how the geographical features of ancient Greece, including its mountainous terrain and access to the Mediterranean Sea, contributed to its organization into city-states, role in maritime trade, and colonies in the Mediterranean.
  • 6.41 Examine the concept of the polis in Greek city-states, including the ideas of: citizenship, civic participation, and the rule of law.
  • 6.42 Explain the basic concepts of direct democracy and oligarchy.
  • 6.43 Explain the characteristics of the major Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta, including: advantages of each geographic location, approaches to education, practice of slavery, status of women, and styles of government.
  • 6.44 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Persian Wars, including the role of Athens and its cooperation with Sparta to defend the Greek city-states.
  • 6.45 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Peloponnesian Wars, including how the growing political conflict between Athens and Sparta led to war and left the city-states open to conquest by the Macedonians.
  • 6.46 Explain the polytheistic religion of ancient Greece, with respect to beliefs about the humanlike qualities of the deities, their importance in everyday life, and the emergence of the Olympic Games to honor Zeus.
  • 6.47 Explain the historical significance of ancient Greek literature, including how the Iliad and the Odyssey provide insight into the life of the ancient Greeks.
  • 6.48 Examine the influence of ancient Greek philosophers (e.g., Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates) and their impact on education and society in Greece.
  • 6.49 Describe the purposes of major Greek architecture, including the Parthenon and the Acropolis.
  • 6.50 Explain the unification of the Greek city-states by Macedonia, and analyze the impact of Alexander the Great and the diffusion of Hellenistic culture.

Ancient Rome: c. 500 BCE-500 CE

• Students will analyze the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of ancient Rome.
  • 6.51 Identify and locate the geographical features of ancient Rome, including: Constantinople, the Italian Alps, the Italian Peninsula, the Mediterranean Sea, Rome, and the Tiber River.
  • 6.52 Analyze how the geographical location of ancient Rome contributed to its political and economic growth in the Mediterranean region and beyond.
  • 6.53 Describe the government of the Roman Republic, including: branches of government, checks and balances, civic participation, representative democracy, and the rule of law and the Twelve Tables.
  • 6.54 Describe the class system of ancient Rome, including the role of patricians, plebeians, and slaves in Roman society.
  • 6.55 Describe the characteristics of Julius Caesar’s rule, including: leadership in military, popularity amongst plebeians, role as dictator for life, and assassination.
  • 6.56 Analyze the influence of Augustus Caesar, including the establishment of the Roman Empire and its political, geographic, and economic expansion during the Pax Romana.
  • 6.57 Analyze how innovations in engineering and architecture contributed to Roman expansion, including the role of: aqueducts, arches, bridges, the Colosseum, domes, roads, and sanitation.
  • 6.58 Explain the polytheistic religion of ancient Rome, with respect to beliefs about the humanlike qualities of the deities and their importance in everyday life.
  • 6.59 Describe the origins and central features of Christianity: key person(s) (Jesus and Paul), sacred texts (The Bible), and basic beliefs (monotheism, sin and forgiveness, eternal life, and Jesus as the Messiah).
  • 6.60 Explain the expulsion of the Jews from their homeland by the Romans, which began the Jewish diaspora.
  • 6.61 Explain the division of the Roman Empire into East and West, and identify the later establishment of Constantinople as the capital by Constantine.
  • 6.62 Analyze the fall of the Western Roman Empire, including difficulty governing its large territory, political corruption, economic instability, and attacks by Germanic tribes, and identify the continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire as the Byzantine Empire.