Sixth Grade Social Studies is an interdisciplinary course in which students expand their understanding of the people and events that encompass Prehistory and the following ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. Continued emphasis is placed on the geography, everyday lives, challenges, and accomplishments of people, their role in developing social, economic, and political structures, as well as in establishing and spreading ideas that helped transform the world. Students develop higher levels of critical thinking by considering why civilizations developed where and when they did, why they became dominant, and why they declined. Students analyze the interactions among the various cultures, emphasizing their enduring contributions and the link, despite time, between the contemporary and ancient worlds. We pay special attention to how societies evolved across this expanse of time—from fragmented and primitive agricultural communities to more advanced and consolidated civilizations. We rely upon various forms of media to provide historical overviews of particular civilizations, as well as utilize primary-source documents to illuminate the unique features of these individual societies.