Educational Websites for Ancient River Civilizations
ART
African Art Lesson Plans
http://members.aol.com/TWard64340/Africa.htm
Elementary art lesson plans on how to make masks, shields, and “kente” placemats.
Also features links to ancient Africa.
*I did not sign up for “Lifestream,” instead I typed “African art” as well as “African
Art lesson plans” in the search box for the website to access the links.
Cartoon Connections
http://www.cartooningbasics.com
A good place for students to visit, the Cartoon Connection offers lessons, tips, and
printables. There’s a nice cartoon gallery too. For teachers, the site offers
downloadable handouts.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
http://www.clevelandart.org/art/collections
Art from all areas of our ancient river civilizations is found on the online collections.
Metropolitan Museum of Art – Education
http://www.metmuseum.org/education/
This site provides educational resources as well as games and guides for students,
information on current and past exhibits (they have a fabulous Egyptian collection),
and a very nice art timeline.
Michael C. Carlos Museum
http://www.emory.edu/CARLOS/
The museum has art collections from ancient Egypt, the ancient Near East, the SubSahara, and an impressive collection of art from the ancient Americas.
Perseus Project
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu
The Perseus Project is a digital library on the study of the ancient world, including
its art and architecture.
Smithsonian Institution
http://www.si.edu
Features links to What’s New (exhibits), Perspectives, Activities, and Resources,
which all provide information on a variety of subjects. Lots of graphics, sounds, and
video. *I found the “Educators” and “Kids” tabs very helpful.
DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM
Chinese Historical and Cultural Project
http://www.chcp.org/
This website offers information on Chinese music, customs, and more.
Exploring Ancient World Cultures
http://eawc.evansville.edu
This site offers information on ancient cultures in India, Egypt, China, Greece, Rome,
Europe and other places. Each section is heavily annotated and features informative
articles.
K-12 Electronic Guide for African Resources on the Internet
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/menu_EduBBS.html
This guide assists K-12 teachers and students in locating online resources on Africa
that can be used in the classroom for research and studies.
Let’s Go!: Around the World
http://www.oneworldclassrooms.org/resources/video-clips/
Let’s Go combines cultures in other parts of the world through online field trips to
the Amazon, East Africa, and other places. The resource section is especially good
with “Learn Chinese from students in China who speak it as a first language” to
“Global Education Resources” where the students can travel the globe.
Six Paths to China
http://tommarch.com/webquests/china/
This is a great resource on China that includes a page of annotated proverbs, a
Webquest, a Treasure Hunt and more.
GEOGRAPHY
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
www.unmuseum.org/wonders.htm
www.history.com/topics/seven-ancient-wonders-of-the-world
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/history/ancient-wonders/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07photogalleries/sevenwonders/
www.seven-wonders-world.com/
Excellent sites on the ancient seven wonders: 1) The Great Pyramid of Egypt, 2)
Babylon’s Hanging Gardens, 3) Statue of Zeus at Olympia, 4) Temple of Artemis, 5)
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, 6) Colossus of Rhodes, and 7) Alexandria’s Lighthouse.
Virtual Field Trips
http://ilearntechnology.com/?tag=virtual-field-trips
http://www.field-trips.org/vft/
Your class can travel to different parts of the world and experience different natural
phenomena. This site also details how its trips dovetail with the national standards
in science, social science and technology.
GOVERNMENT
Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/library-digital.html
Type in the name of the civilization that you are currently studying in the search
box.
HISTORY AND SOCIAL STUDIES
Ancient Olympics
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics
From the Perseus Project, this site details the history of the Olympic Games, offers
graphics and information on the ancient sites where the games were held, stories of
famous ancient Olympic athletes, and more.
Egyptology
http://www.egyptology.com
This site explores the art, archaeology, religion and history of Egypt. The site offers
an inside view of the tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, a gallery of paintings
and pictures, and more.
Exploring Ancient World Cultures
http://eawc.evansville.edu/
This is a great resource (though a little text-heavy). It contains information, primary
texts, and more on the ancient cultures of the Near East, India, Egypt, China, Greece,
Rome, Islam and Europe.
LESSON PLANS
Discovery Education
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/
The site offers a database of lesson plans and resources, organized by grade. This
site offers many online activities covering the many different topics of science, from
cloning to archaeology.