Nile geography

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Silently sit down in your seat and complete the warm-up as soon as you enter the room.

What are four different animals that you think may live in or around the Nile River?

Crocodile Hippopotamus Ostrich Falcon Baboons Ibis Jackal

Homework

1.Current Event 18 due tomorrow: Friday, February 1st.

Agenda for Today

1.Assessments for people who are less than level 16.

2.Go over the map of Egypt3.Geography of the Nile

notes

What would a social scientist from each of the five themes of social studies learn about Egypt?

Essential Question

I can…

Show how the Nile River creates an environment that promotes civilization in Egypt.

Explain why the Nile River is so important to life in Egypt.

Learning Target

Sinai PeninsulaRed Sea

Mediterranean SeaUpper EgyptLower EgyptGizaMemphisAswan

Eastern DesertSuez CanalSahara DesertNile RiverNile Delta

Lake NasserFirst Nile Cataract

The Nile River provides for Egypt in the

following ways: Fertile soil Water for drinking, cooking, and watering crops Transportation River plants and animals

Why is Egypt called the Gift of the Nile?

Egypt From Space

How did the Nile make land

in the middle of a desert fertile?

Every year, around the same date, the Nile would flood and cover the fields along its banks for about four months.

sediment

All rivers contain something called sediment.

Sediment is decaying organic material that floats in the water.

sediment

After the Nile’s flooding ended and the river level returned to normal sediment would be left behind in the fields along its banks.

This sediment acted as a natural fertilizer by replacing the nutrients that were sucked out of the soil by the last season’s crops.

How did the Egyptians move the water from the

river? They use irrigation

canals to get the water from the river to their crops.

To help with lifting the water they used a machine called a shadoof.

Transportation

The Nile served as the main transportation route in Egypt.

Boats could sail from the Nile delta in the north to Aswan in the south.

The southern part of the

Nile contains six cataracts that prevent boats from sailing past them.

Why couldn’t they sail further south than

Aswan?

What are cataracts?

Cataracts are areas of the Nile that are very shallow and rocky.

Some are rapids, meaning the water moves very quickly and violently through the rocky area.

Cataracts

Exactly where are they located?

River Plants

The most important plant that the Nile provided to Egypt was papyrus.

The First Paper

The plant used to make the first paper is also called papyrus. To make the paper, the inner stalks of the plant were cut into narrow strips. The strips were cut to the same length and placed side by side by side in one layer. Another layer of strips was placed crosswise on top to form a sheet. Papyrus makers wet the sheet, pressed it flat, and dried it in the sun. Sap from the plant glued the strips together. Pasted side by side, the sheets formed a long strip that could be rolled up.

Papyrus

What are some animals that can be found near

the Nile? Crocodile Hippopotamus Ostrich Falcon Baboons Ibis Jackal

On a sheet of lined paper,

completely answer the following questions:1. Why did civilization first develop

in the area that we call Egypt?2. Why was the Nile River so

important to life in Egypt?

Assessment