BCE and CE

sudoku day!

9.09.24

Best way to cut

a sandwich:

EQ: What time is it?

OBJ: SWBT

Understand how timelines

are organized into BCE
and CE in order to make
connections to hew long
ago civilizations existed

Poll

Best way to cut a sandwich...

• No cut

• Verticle

• Horizontal

• Four Squares or Four Triangles

• Diagonal

What Time is It?

AN OVERVIEW OF
BC/AD AND BCE/CE

Reorder

Reorder the following.... check your Do Now

• Cuneiform writing was developed in 3000BCE

• The Olympics began in 776BCE

• The Sealing of the Magna Carta 1215CE

• The American Revolution Begins 1763CE

1

2

3

4

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Why study BC/AD + BCE/CE?

BC/AD and BCE/CE help us place events in chronological order. It
also helps us compare different points in history and determine
the time between events.

BC is the same as BCE AD is the same as CE

Take notes of Bolded and Underlined things in your notebook

BC: Before Christ
AD: Anno Domini (“year of the
lord”)

BCE: Before Common Era
CE: Common Era

Timeline is based around the birth
of Jesus Christ.

Timeline is secular (not based on
religion).

Current years are labeled AD.

We live in the Common Era (CE).

BC/AD

BCE/CE

THE RULES

●The year “ZERO” does not exist!

●BCE/BC: The higher the number, the earlier the event happened.
○Example: 1000 BCE happened BEFORE 500 BCE

●CE/AD: The higher the number, the later the event happened.
○Example: 2000 CE happened AFTER 1000 CE

●When discussing modern times in the Common Era, “CE” is
often assumed.
○Example: 2018 CE is simply written as 2018

SAMPLE TIMELINE

HOW TO DETERMINE AGE

Take the number of the older event (the larger
number) and SUBTRACT the more recent event
(the smaller number).

If both events are in BCE/BC...

Example: 545 BCE - 445 BCE = 100 Years

Multiple Choice

How many years separate the following two
events: the Battle of Marathon (490 BCE) and
the end of the Roman Republic (27 BCE)?

490 BCE - 27 BCE =

• 517 years

• 463 Years

• 465 years

• 400 years

HOW TO DETERMINE AGE

Take the number of the more recent event (the
larger number) and SUBTRACT the older event
(the smaller number).

If both events are in CE/AD...

Example: 2010 - 1910 CE = 100 Years

Multiple Choice

How many years separate the following two
events: the signing of the Declaration of
Independence (1776 CE) and when American
women get the right to vote (1920 CE)?

1920 CE - 1776 CE =

• 200 years

• 140 years

• 3696 years

• 144 Years

HOW TO DETERMINE AGE

ADD the numbers together and SUBTRACT 1.

If the first event is in BCE/BC and the
second event is in CE/AD…

Example: 50 BCE + 50 CE - 1 = 99 Years

Multiple Choice

How many years separate the following two
events: the invention of the first alphabet (1700
BCE) and the invention of the light bulb (1879
CE)?

1700 BCE + 1879 CE - 1 =

• 3578 Years

• 179 Years

• 3589 Years

• 2578 Years

Reorder

Order the following according to the timeline. What happened in BCE all the way to CE

• Kingdoms of Lower + Upper Egypt unite (3000 BCE)

  
  

• Construction of the Great Wall of China begins (221 BCE)

  
  

• Mexico receives its independence from Spain (1810 CE)

  
  

• You are born.

  
  

1

2

3

4

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

You do:

Classwork

Classwork:
What Time Is

It?

Practice
Activity