The River Nile
I can describe where and when the Ancient Egyptians lived and explain why the River Nile was important for them.
The River Nile
I can describe where and when the Ancient Egyptians lived and explain why the River Nile was important for them.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- At one time there were two Egyptian kingdoms: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, but around 3,000 BCE they were united.
- The civilisation known as the Ancient Egyptians began over 3,000 years before the birth of Christ, 3,000 BC or BCE.
- They lived near a large river they called the Nile, in North Africa, protected from enemies by dry land to their sides.
- The River Nile was long, deep and filled with a dark black mud.
- When the Nile flooded, this mud made the land the Egyptians live on turn black, and become very fertile.
Keywords
Civilisation - a civilisation is a well organised group of people that has their own language and way of life
BC - BC is short for 'Before Christ' and refers to the time before the year 1, in which people believe Jesus was born
BCE - BCE is short for 'Before Common Era' and refers to the time before the year 1
Fertile - soil or land that can produce farm crops or other plants is fertile
Common misconception
Pupils may think that the River Nile is a river found only in Egypt.
The River Nile does flow through Egypt, but it also flows through 10 other countries in east Africa. It is Africa's longest river.
To help you plan your year 3 history lesson on: The River Nile, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 3 history lesson on: The River Nile, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the Ancient Egypt: what stayed the same across 3,000 years? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Licence
Starter quiz
6 Questions




Exit quiz
6 Questions
a desert surrounding the River Nile
where the River Nile starts
where the River Nile ends