Ancient Greece: life, achievements and its legacy

In this unit children use a range of sources to find about the life and achievements of the Ancient Greeks. 

Through their investigations they find out about the city states of Athens and Sparta, warfare and seamanship, everyday life, beliefs, culture, and through Greek mythology, some of the key events and individuals from this period. 

The second part of the unit focuses on the continuing legacy of Ancient Greeks, and the children explore their influence on education, language, architecture, government and the Olympic Games. Links can be made with other ancient civilisations and societies they have studied. 

The emphasis throughout the unit is on developing the children's skills of historical enquiry including how evidence is used to make historical claims, and on developing their understanding of historical concepts such continuity and change, similarity and difference, and significance.

This unit is structured around 2 sequential history enquiries:

1. How can we find out about the civilisation of Ancient Greece?
2. Can we thank the Ancient Greeks for anything in our lives today?

Please note: While this unit contains resource suggestions, it is not a fully resourced scheme of work, and the resources it refers to may in some cases only be available to full members of the HA. The majority of the HA schemes of work were produced between 2014-2019 by members of the HA primary committee and its affiliates. These schemes of work are designed to support your planning and should be moulded and adapted to fit the context and needs of your own school.  To view a free sample scheme of work, please refer to our Anglo-Saxons unit. We regularly check the hyperlinks included in the schemes but unfortunately every now and again some links may go out of date. If you spot a broken link, please let us know on enquiries@history.org.uk.