Introduction
In the past allot of civilizations flourished one after the other and sometimes together.
These civilizations contributed to the technological and cultural development of our
modern life. The students will research and live the life that the citizens of these
civilizations lived.
Prerequisite Experience
Teacher Prep Time
Extensive. However, the time spent in learning these skills will put teacher ahead of his
fellow teachers and will bring him closer to technologies that students already use. In
other words, each hour you spend learning and practicing these technologies will make
you much faster and more productive not just in teaching but in using technology in
every part of your life.
Project
Students will have to choose between two projects. The first is to create a video about
their chosen civilization that shows some of its characteristics such as cloths, traditions,
religion, entertainment, food, history, and important locations. The second is to show the
same characteristics through using digital photographs. Then students from all groups
will create a Google Maps tour for their videos/photos. And finally, they will create a
Glogster interactive poster that displays their projects.
Time Management Tips
Teachers can use summer vacation or weekends to prepare themselves for the
technological part of the lesson.
Lesson Plan Details
Engage
1. Teacher will start by asking students about their favorite civilization, and why the like
it?
2. Then after getting their feedback, the teacher will ask them to watch the BBC series
“What the Ancients Did for Us” (from YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3C3DAC1D70207568) which describes the
achievements and culture of the following civilizations: Islamic, Greek, Roman,
Mesopotamian, Indian, Aztecs, Mayan, Briton, Egyptians, and Chinese.
Explore
Explore
Create Groups according to the number of students. However, each group should consist
of 2-5 students. And each group will choose a name.
2. Each group will choose a civilization and will start researching the following: cloths,
traditions, religion, entertainment, food, history, and important locations. The groups will
use the following resources (Additional resources discovered by the group will be shared
through a Facebook group for the whole class):
What the Tudors Did for Us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Tudors_Did_for_Us
What the Stuarts Did for Us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Stuarts_Did_for_Us
What the Victorians Did for Us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Victorians_Did_for_Us
What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Industrial_Revolution_Did_for_Us
What the Ancients Did for Us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Ancients_Did_for_Us
Open University: What the Ancients Did for Us
http://www.open2.net/whattheancients/
Cooking in ancient civilizations
http://books.google.com/books?id=IFiIg7elnwIC
Empires: history, culture and recipes.
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/
Ancient fashion
http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/01052/
Ancient civilizations
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002387/
List of links about ancient civilizations
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/ancient.htm
List of links about ancient civilizations for kids
http://www.dy-regional.k12.ma.us/wixon/hotlist_ancient_civ.htm
Ancient civilizations for kids
http://www.kathimitchell.com/ancivil.html
The British Museum: Interactive civilizations
http://www.ancientcivilizations.co.uk/home_set.html
Antique Roman Dishes - Collection
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/historical/ant-rom-coll.html
Ancient cooking recipes
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/food/index.html
1001 Muslim inventions
http://www.1001inventions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.viewSection&intSectionID
=308
What the Ancients Did for Us
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3C3DAC1D70207568
Teacher should request a written permission from parents regarding the online activities
of their children, in addition to requiring their supervision for home online activities.
Explain
Explain (4 weeks)
1. Students will use the forum in their Facebook group to answer the following
questions:
What are the most important events that your civilization experienced?
What kind of clothes your civilization had for: Men, Women, children, soldiers, and
religious leaders?
What are the favorite games played by the citizens of your civilization?
What kinds of entertainment your citizens practiced?
What kind of food your citizens liked?
What are the main cultural and religious ideas your citizens embraced? And what
are their main God/Gods (If applicable)?
Who are the famous persons in your civilization?
What inventions or achievements your civilization had?
What are the main traditions of your civilization?
Elaborate
Project 1: Choose one of the following:
Video: “This is My Civilization.” Create a video about your civilization. Then it will be
uploaded to an online video service like YouTube or to Facebook group Videos.
Photos: “This is My Civilization.” Create photos about your civilization. Edit the photos
using Picnik.com, and then upload it to Facebook group photo album.
2. Project 2: Create a Google Maps tour for your civilization project that shows
locations of important cities, events, and sites.
3. Project 3: Create an interactive online poster (Glog) on Glogster to display pictures,
videos and information about your civilization.
Make sure you look at the rubric for each project guidelines.
Students could wear the cloths of their civilization during this phase if they wish.
Please abide by copyright laws (view the video,
http://nortellearnit.org/technology/Digital_Ethics/) while creating your project.
Evaluate
See attached rubric
Extend
1. Students will use Facebook group to share their information, videos, pictures, and
experiences with their friends under the parent’s supervision (At home).
2. Students will Show their civilizations in a school exhibition. They will wear the
cloths of their civilization and might provide samples of its food, songs, or games during
the exhibition.
3. Students will exhibit their projects at district exhibition in order to inspire other
students from different types of schools within the district.