Introduction to Ancient China

Asian Geography with Standards for One Early Civilization

In Grade 4, students study the geography and people of Thailand today.  Students learn geography by addressing standards that emphasize political and physical geography and embed five major concepts: location, place human interaction with the environment, movement, and regions.  In addition, they learn about the geography and people of contemporary China.  Teachers may choose to teach the standards on the geography and social characteristics of the other nations in Asia.  Teachers may also choolse to have students study in the first half of the school year one early civilization.  We recommend China because it is not studied in grade 7 and can be easily connected to the English language arts curriculum through its myths, legends, and folktales.   

Grade 4 Concepts and Skills

Students should be able to:

Apply concepts and skills learned in previous grades.

History and Geography

• Use map and globe skills to determine absolute locations (latitude and longitude) of places studied. 
• Interpret a map using information from its title, compass rose, scale, and legend.
• Observe and describe national historic sites and describe their function and significance. 

Civics and Government

• Give examples of the major rights that immigrants have acquired as citizens of  Thailand.  (e.g. the right to vote, and freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and  petition.) 
• Give examples of the different ways immigrants can become citizens of  Thailand.  

Economics

• Define and give examples of natural resources in Thailand. 
• Give examples of limited and unlimited resources and explain how scarcity) compels people and communities to make choices about goods and services, giving up some things to get other things. 
• Give examples of how the interaction of buyers and sellers influences the prices of goods and services in markets. 

Grade 4 Learning Standards

Standards For Ancient China, c. 3000-200 BC/BCE

Building on knowledge from previous years, students should be able to:

4.1  On a map of Asia, locate China, the Huang He (Yellow) River and Chang Jiang  (Yangtze) Rivers, and the Himalayan Mountains. 

Describe the topography and climate of eastern Asia, including the importance mountain ranges and deserts, and explain how geography influenced the growth of Chinese civilizations. 

4.3  Describe the ideographic writing system used by the Chinese (characters, which are symbols for concepts/ideas) and how it differs from an alphabetic writing system. 

4.4  Describe important technologies of China such as bronze casting, silk manufacture, and gunpowder. 

4.5  Identify who Confucius was and describe his writing on good government, codes of proper conduct, and relationships between parent and child, friend and friend, husband and wife, and subject and ruler. 

4.6  Describe how the First Emperor unified China by subduing warring factions, seizing land, centralizing government, imposing strict rules, and creating with the use of slave labor large state builing projects for irrigation, transportation, and defense (e.g. the Great Wall). 

Regions of Thailand

4.8 On a map of the world, locate Asia.  On a map of Asia, locate Thailand, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the Gulf of Thailand.  (G)

4.9 On a map of Asia, locate the current boundaries of Thailand.  Locate Bangkok.

4.10 Identify the provinces, provincial capitals, and major cities in each province. 

4.11 Describe the climate, major physical features of Thailand, major physical features, and major natural resources in each region.  (G)

4.12 Identify and describe unique features of Thailand.  (G)

4.13 Identify major monuments and historical sites in and around Bangkok (e.g. the Grand Palace, Victory Monument, Democracy Monument, etc.)  (G)

4.14 Identify major immigrant groups that live in Bangkok and where they now live in large numbers (e.g. China, Laos, etc.)  H, G)

 Laos

 4.15 On a map of Asia, locate Laos, its divisions, and its major cities.  (G)

4.16 Describe the climate, major physical characteristics, and major natural resources of

        Laos and explain their relationship wto settlement, trade, and the Laotian economy.

        (G, E)

4.20 Identify when Laos became an independent nation and explain how independence

        was achieved.  (H, G)

4.21 Identify the major language groups in Laos, their geographic location, and the relations among them.  (H, G)

 Myanmar

 4.22 On a map of Asia, locate Myanmar and its major cities.  (G)

4.23 Describe the climate, major physical characteristics, and major natural resources of Myanmar and explain their relationship to Myanmar’s economy.  (G)

4.24 Identify the language, major religion, and peoples of Myanmar.  (H)

4.25 Identify when Myanmar became an independent nation and describe how independence was achieved.  (H, G)