Mapping Ancient Greece

Overview

In this first lesson of the four-part unit Ancient Greece: Myths and City-States, students locate Ancient Greece, investigate how its physical environment influenced settlement, and learn that Greek-speaking communities lived in independent city-states. They use maps, a timeline and short reference texts as sources, then communicate what they have learned through comparison and written responses.

Learning intentions

• WALT locate Ancient Greece and important seas in south-eastern Europe.
• WALT use maps, timelines and texts as sources of information.
• WALT explain how mountains and seas shaped where people lived and travelled.
• WALT describe what a city-state was and compare Athens, Sparta and Thebes.

Success criteria

• I can locate Greece in south-eastern Europe.
• I can identify the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea on a map.
• I can explain one way mountains or seas influenced settlement.
• I can describe a city-state and give a difference between Athens, Sparta and Thebes.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences: using sources to learn about people, places and events, and communicating ideas.
• Social Sciences: understanding how people interact with places and environments.
• Social Sciences: exploring chronology, belonging, migration and exchange.
• Social Sciences: learning about people and places beyond students’ immediate experiences, including participation in multicultural communities.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and prior knowledge. Open with the opening map mystery slide showing a coastline, islands and mountains without labels. Ask: “What might be helpful about living here? What might be difficult?” Students think independently, share with a partner, then contribute ideas; record predictions without correcting them yet.

2. 5–13 min · Locate and build a timeline. Use the location and timeline slides to reveal a labelled map of Europe, Greece, the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea, followed by a simple timeline placing Ancient Greece approximately 2,500–3,500 years ago. Model the language “Greece is in south-eastern Europe” and clarify that “Ancient Greek” describes people and communities from the past, not one single country. Students locate each feature on their own map and use the timeline to explain whether Ancient Greece came before or after their grandparents’ childhood.

3. 13–21 min · Map exploration. Display the mountains, seas and islands slides and briefly explain that Greece has many mountains, narrow valleys, islands and surrounding seas. Distribute the Ancient Greece map and source worksheet. Students label and colour Greece, the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea, then use the map and reference text to answer: “How could mountains make it harder for communities to travel and communicate?” and “How could the seas help people travel or exchange goods?” Circulate, checking that students distinguish a physical feature from an influence on people.

4. 21–28 min · Partner human map. Show the human map instructions. Clear a safe space and assign students to represent Greece, the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, mountains and nearby regions; pairs may hold labelled cards or point from the classroom “map”. Students physically arrange themselves, then explain routes between places and identify where mountains might separate communities. Repeat once with a student directing the arrangement. Reinforce that this is a model, not an exact scale map.

5. 28–39 min · City-state comparison. Use the city-state and Greek influences slides to introduce the term city-state: an independent community made up of a city and the surrounding land, with its own rules and leaders. Explain that Athens, Sparta and Thebes were separate city-states, while many people shared the Greek language, stories and customs. Students complete the worksheet vocabulary match, timeline task and “What was a city-state?” response. In pairs, they compare the three city-states using the slide information, identifying one similarity and one difference. Briefly connect later Greek influences—stories and theatre, columns in buildings and the Olympic Games—to the idea that past societies can continue to influence people today.

6. 39–45 min · Share and exit ticket. Display the review and exit-ticket slide. Invite two or three pairs to share a map-based explanation and one city-state comparison. Students complete the final worksheet exit ticket: “Ancient Greece was shaped by its geography because…”, “A city-state was…”, and “One question I still have is…”. Collect responses to identify misconceptions before Lesson 2.

Resources

• Ancient Greece introduction and teaching deck
• Ancient Greece map and source worksheet
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Blank space for the human map
• Pencils, coloured pencils and rulers
• Optional labelled place cards for the human map
• Teacher reference texts about Ancient Greece

Assessment

• During map exploration, check whether students can accurately locate Greece and both seas, and whether their explanations connect a geographical feature to people’s choices.
• Listen during the human map and partner comparison for correct use of mountain, sea, settlement, city-state, independent and shared customs.
• Use the worksheet and exit ticket to assess location, chronology, source use, understanding of city-states and ability to explain continuity between Ancient Greece and the present.

Differentiation

• Provide a partially labelled map, a word bank and sentence starters: “The mountains may have…”, “The sea could help people to…”, and “A city-state was…”.
• Pair students strategically and offer place cards, gestures and repeated oral rehearsal before independent writing.
• Support multilingual learners with visuals, pronunciation of key place names, and opportunities to explain ideas orally before recording them.
• For students needing additional support, reduce the writing load and scribe or accept labelled diagrams and recorded explanations. Challenge confident students to explain how geography could create both separation and exchange between city-states.