Unit Plan 23 (Grade 6 Social Studies): The Persian Empire and Cultural Exchange
Persian rule blended tolerance, satrapy governance, and powerful infrastructure—roads, relay posts, coinage, and qanats—to maintain order, boost trade, and spread ideas across a diverse, connected empire.
Focus: Describe Persian rule, tolerance, and connections through trade and infrastructure (roads, coinage, water systems) that linked diverse peoples.
Grade Level: 6
Subject Area: Social Studies (Civics • History • Geography • Economics)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students examine how the Achaemenid Persian Empire organized power across vast distances and cultures. Through maps, source snippets (e.g., Cyrus Cylinder), and an infrastructure lab (Royal Road, coinage, qanats), learners analyze how governance choices enabled movement, markets, and cultural exchange.
Essential Questions
- How did Persian government maintain order, security, and resources across many regions?
- In what ways did roads, water systems, and coinage support trade and cultural diffusion?
- How did tolerance and local autonomy strengthen (or strain) imperial control?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Describe purposes/functions of Persian imperial government (order, security, resource management) with concrete examples.
- Explain and compare governance structures (satrapies, bureaucracy, inspectors) to other systems studied (e.g., city-state).
- Map and analyze how roads, relay posts, coinage, and water engineering supported spatial connections and exchange.
- Construct a cause-and-effect explanation linking Persian policies to trade growth and cultural diffusion using cited evidence.
Standards Alignment — 6th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 6.C3.Civ.1 — Describe purposes and functions of governments (order, security, resource management) in historical contexts.
- 6.C3.Civ.2 — Compare structures of governance (city-states, kingdoms, empires, republics) and decision-making processes.
- 6.C3.Geo.5 — Describe spatial connections (migration, diffusion, trade networks) and how ideas/technologies move between regions.
- 6.C3.Hist.2 — Explain causes and effects for key developments (agriculture, urbanization, empires, belief systems).
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can show how Persian rule kept order and managed resources with specific examples.
- I can compare imperial structures (satrapies, inspectors) to another system we studied.
- I can map and explain how roads, coinage, and water systems spread goods and ideas across regions.