Grade 6 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 9, Lesson 3

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
A Message of Ancient Days

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 9, Lesson 3: A Unified China (pp. 276-280)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Culture China's first emperor unified the kingdom and created systems that have lasted throughout China's history.

Review Qin's rise to power, reminding students that defeating the Zhou ruler was just the first step. Discuss the ways he maintained control by reorganizing China after becoming emperor.

Make a class list of the new systems Qin set into place-bureaucracy, standard measurements and written characters, land reform, and censorship-and point out the ways these systems helped him govern a widespread empire.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Ask students to think of themselves as one of the "Three Dukes" in the Qin bureaucracy. As Emperor Qin's closest advisors, have students write a letter to him praising or criticizing his new system of government and the changes he brought to China.
Have students compare the maps on pages 265, 269 and 277. Ask them to use the scale to answer the following: Was the Qin empire larger or smaller than the two earlier empires? What geographic features formed the northern and eastern boundaries of the empire? Which rivers ran through the empire? Ask students to make their own map of the Qin dynasty with labels on the natural features and cities.

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