Upton by Chester High School
History Department
Year 7 Homework Project
Castles
Name: ………………………………………………….
Teacher: ………………………………………………
Castles formed an essential part of medieval life. They provided
communities with protection, they were lived in and they became
more complicated and sophisticated over time.
You have to complete a number of tasks focusing on how medieval
castles developed over time. You will concentrate on the way that
the castles were built, how they were defended and the weapons and
techniques that were used to attack them.
You have a term to complete the project and there are seven
sections, so you should aim to complete one section a fortnight.
YOUR WORK WILL BE REVIEWED AT ½ TERM
You should spend between 30 minutes and 1 hour on this project a
fortnight.
The deadline for all work to be handed in is ___________________
You may use the internet to help you but I would also like you to use
the school library and your local library to do book based research
as well
The following two websites have information that may help you with
the different tasks:
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/middle-ages-castles.htm (follow the
links to the different types of castle as you scroll down the page).
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/castlessection.htm (follow the links
at the bottom of the page)
Fortnight 1: Motte and Bailey Castles
Use books and the internet to research information about motte and
bailey castles and complete the following activities.
1) You need to draw a picture of a motte and bailey castle, colour it
in and label it. On the diagram, you need to show the different
parts of the castle and what they were used for. This should be
done on an A4 size piece of paper.
2) On a piece of lined paper, put the title ‘Advantages and
disadvantages of a motte and bailey castle’
Underneath this, you need to draw a table and list as many
advantages and disadvantages of motte and bailey castles that you
can find or think of. I have given you one to start you off:
Advantages
Made of wood so cheap to build
Disadvantages
3) You should then write between 1 and 3 paragraphs describing how
you would attack a motte and bailey castle. You can use own your
ideas as well as any ideas that you have researched.
4) Finally, write at least one paragraph suggesting some
improvements you could make to a motte and bailey castle to make it
stronger and more difficult to attack.
The following websites may help you:
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/attackdefendcastle/motteba
iley.htm
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/gcse/castles/motteandbaileycastles.
htm
Fortnight 2: Stone Keep Castles
This week you are going to complete a similar set of activities on the
Stone keep castle.
1) You need to draw a diagram of a stone keep castle, colour it in
and label it. On the diagram, you need to show the different parts
of the castle and what they were used for. Include as much detail
as you can about the features that were designed to help defend the
castle. This should be done on an A4 size piece of paper.
2) Describe the major advantages of stone keep castles over motte
and bailey castles.
3) Put the title ‘Attacking a stone keep castle’
Under the title, you need to write out the examples given below and
write a definition to explain each one.
You should also try to draw or print to show at least some of them.
Finally you should try to add other ways of attacking castles that
you find out.
Mining the walls
Battering Ram
Scaling Ladder
Seige Tower
Trebuchet
Catapult
Fire arrows
The following websites may help you:
http://www.castles.me.uk/norman-medieval-stone-castles.htm
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/gcse/castles/stonekeepcastles.htm
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/attackdefendcastle/stoneke
ep.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/trebuchet/race.html
Fortnight 3: Concentric Castles
1) Firstly you need to research and find out what a concentric castle
was and what it looked like. You then need to draw and label a
concentric castle, showing as many of the ways of defending your
castle that you can find. This drawing can be done from a top down
view or from a side view.
2) You should then write one to three paragraphs doing the following:
a) describe what a concentric castle looked like;
b) explain why they were developed;
c) explain why a concentric castle was much easier to defend.
3) Your last task this week is to research a real castle (it can be
any type of castle) from Britain that was build between 1066 and
1400. You are going to make a model of this castle, so choose one
that you think you will be able to do. You will need to find pictures
of it, draw a plan of the castle and collect as many different
pictures of it as you can.
The following websites may help you:
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/concentriccastles.htm
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/attackdefendcastle/concent
ric.htm
Fortnights 4 and 5: Making a model castle
You are now going to make a model of the castle that you researched
as your last task for week 3.
You must aim to make it as historically accurate as possible, so use
your plan and pictures to help you.
You can make it out of whatever you want- wood, cardboard, paper
etc.
If you feel that you next some extra help, then use the websites
below to get some great ideas and plans to help you.
http://www.buildmodelcastles.com/html/castles.html
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/castle.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Motte-and-Bailey-Castle
http://artsedge.kennedycenter.org/content/3701/3701_castlescorners_motte.pdf
Fortnight 6: Planning a castle attack
You are now going to use the information you have learnt about
castles to plan an attack of a castle.
Over the page, you will find the plan of a castle which you have to
attack.
Your task this fortnight is to plan how you will attack the castle.
Think about:
1) What weapons you will use and explain how you will use them
2) What other equipment you will use
3) The positions and movements of your soldiers
You then need to formulate a ten point plan explaining how you and
your men will attack the castle and get inside it.
You then need to design a presentation eg. a poster etc showing your
plan and how it would work
Fortnight 7: Putting it all together
Fill in the evaluation sheet for your project
Put your project together, complete with a front cover and all the
written and drawn work, along with your model castle and
presentation on attacking a castle.
Evaluation: Look back through your work and answer the following questions.
1) Which task do you think is your best piece of work and why?
2) Which task did you most enjoy doing and why?
3) Briefly explain about at least three things that you have learnt from
this project.
4)
Look through your work. Briefly write about two or three things
that you could do to make your work better next time.
Historical Steps
Key Strands:
Historical Enquiry
Change and Continuity
Communicating about the Past
Steps
8
Success Criteria
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7
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6
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5
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4
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3
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I can evaluate if/or at which point an event/change became inevitable
I can evaluate the answers to different historical questions through
independent research and I can consider the accuracy of the information
I find and given reasons for this
I can write in continuous prose, using excellent punctuation, spelling,
grammar and paragraphs
I can analyse examples of rate of change and/or continuity across
several chosen time periods to consider the impact of change in depth
I can analyse the answers to different historical questions through
independent research and I can consider the accuracy of the information
I find
I can write in continuous prose, using good punctuation, spelling, grammar
and paragraphs
I can explain examples of change and consider the significance of
change/continuity across chosen time periods in detail
I can explain different answers to historical questions through
independent research and I am beginning to consider the accuracy of the
information I find
I can write in continuous prose, using some good punctuation, spelling,
grammar and paragraphs
I can describe examples of change and continuity within given time
periods/across different time period
I can describe answers to mainly structured historical questions through
independent research
I can mainly write in full sentences, using punctuation, spelling, grammar
and paragraphs
I can identify and begin to describe examples of change & continuity
across given time periods
I can identify and begin to describe different answers to structured
historical questions through research
I have started to write in full sentences, using some punctuation,
spelling, grammar and paragraphs.
I can identify change & continuity across a given time period
With support, I can identify answers to structured questions through
research
With support, I can write in full sentences, beginning to use some
punctuation, spelling and grammar