Unit 3 - Lesson 6: The Technology of Era 2 -- Spinning the Wheels of

the Bronze Age

Big Ideas of the Lesson

During Era 2, people in Afroeurasia developed and improved important technologies.

These technologies in turn transformed how people lived, worked, and interacted across
societies. Some significant technological advances included pottery, plows, irrigation,
woven textiles, metallurgy, and wheels and wheeled vehicles.
In general, people developed these technologies to solve new problems, such as how to
farm more efficiently, or how to better fight to defend a city. As these technologies
developed, people required more resources and thus faced new problems (obtaining,
using, and protecting resources) and these new problems led to further advances and
innovations in technology.
Technology and ideas were spread over large areas and expanses of time throughout Era
2 through the process of cultural diffusion.
Historical accounts of the past can be developed by analyzing multiple sources of
evidence using both historical and archaeological methods.

Lesson Abstract:
In this lesson, students are introduced to several technological innovations that changed the way
people lived, worked, and interacted during Era 2. Specifically, students explore pottery, plows,
irrigation, woven textiles, metallurgy, and wheels and wheeled vehicles. Through the use of maps
and images in a PowerPoint presentation, students engage in a series of informal writing and
discussion activities. They then extend their thinking by reading and analyzing secondary historical
documents to answer the question of how technology changed human lives during this era. They
read and think about the Bronze Age as they consider the ways in which metal technologies in
particular changed human societies.
Content Expectations:

7th Grade - H1.2.1; H1.2.2; H1.2.5; H1.4.1; H1.4.2; G4.4.1

7th Grade W2.1.1; W2.1.6;

Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies: RH.6-8.1, 2, 4, and 7;
WHST.6-8.4, 9, and 10
Key Concepts
conflict and cooperation
cultural diffusion
evidence
intensification
technology