Essential Question: How do people and cultures influence our present world?
Standard: 2.WD.1.1 - Students are able to compare features of modern day
living (food, shelter, clothing, transportation) to ancient
civilizations.
21st Century Skills Utilized: Analytical Thinking, Communicating,
Collaborating, Problem Solving, and
Finding and Evaluating Information
Vocabulary: ancient, transportation
Objective: Students will compare the features of modern day living in China
with ancient times of China.
Materials:
- We’re From China
- If I Were a Kid In Ancient China
- China: Ancient World
- A Primary Source Guide to China
- China’s Bravest Girl
- Ancient Civilization: China
- Civilizations Past to Present: China
-SNB - Foods of China - picture sort (See Essential’s Guide for link)
WORD DOC –China Clothing Today, China Homes Today, and China
Transportation Today (See Essential’s Guide for link)
-Chart – China Long Ago and Today
**Power Point - We’re Going To Ancient China (flying to China)
(Find on District Library page then -2nd grade port-a-portal)
Website: http://china.mrdonn.org/
Procedure (about 12-14 days)
-Review the Essential Question: How do people and cultures influence our
present world?
Day 1 –Using the Power Point - We’re going to Ancient China, introduce
life in China. Use slides 1-13 look at Location and Land (other parts
will be used later)
Day 2– To learn about the geography of China go to the following website.
http://china.mrdonn.org/ - Next go under the heading people/ places/ festivals
go to geography, mountains, and deserts.
Day 3 – 7 (or more)
- Read various books or use the previous internet site to learn more about
China. Complete the comparison chart attached to compare Ancient
China to modern day China. Compare - Food, shelter, clothing, and
transportation on a chart for Long Ago and Today (See essentials guide
for Long Ago and Today chart for China). Attached below is a
Teacher’s guide with book names and page numbers. Also, power point
found on the district library page (port-a-portal for 2nd grade). You do not
need to use all the resources. Since not all resources are easy to obtain,
we provided a variety of possible choices.
Comparing China Long Ago and Today
Long Ago – Food
The Ancient World: China pg 16
Poor – ate rice, grain, vegetables, and beans
-some chicken, wild birds, and fish
Wealthy – ate pork, lamb, duck, geese, pigeon, and venison,
-also fresh fruits and vegetables
-some ate snakes, snails, sparrows, bear claws
Both – ate spices, honey, and soy sauce on foods
*foods were cut up into small pieces, steamed or cooked quickly in a wok
-people drank tea, water, or wine made from fermented rice
Ancient Civilizations: China pg 21
-rice (boiled, steamed, or fried)
-fish
-wheat -meat (pork, rabbits, geese, and ducks)
*Ate with chopsticks
Civilizations Past to Present: China pg 11
-to save fuel – food was chopped into small pieces to quickly fry
The Ancient Chinese – (great pictures pg 24-25)
Power Point – We’re Off to Ancient China (slide 37 for food)
Today - Food
Civilizations past to Present: China pg 11
-Eat many of the same foods of long ago
-Breakfast – porridge topped with shrimp, vegetables, or pickles
-eat with chopsticks and spoons
- (knives stay in the kitchen, silverware is thought to be bad taste)
- stir fries
-We’re From China (read the book to class, focus on the pictures)
Smart Notebook file- Foods of China food sort - (see essentials guide for this doc)
Long Ago – Shelter
The Ancient World: China– pg 17
-Homes made of mud bricks with roofs made of either reads or tiles
-Floors were sunken into the ground
Poor – cooked outside and shared a communal toilet and bath
Wealthier – had private kitchens and bathrooms
All – many generations lived in the home together (oldest male was head of the home)
-only sons went to school
Ancient Civilizations: China pg 18-19
-wealthy had many rooms built around 2 courtyards (open place surrounded by walls or
buildings with beautiful gardens, fruit trees, and small ponds)
-fences surround the house
-feather beds, silk couches, wooden tables, silk hung from the walls, gold jewels and
flowers in every room.
Poor – slept on bamboo mats that could be rolled up and put away
-not much furniture -clay statues
Civilizations Past to Present: China pg 8 The Ancient Chinese pg 14-19 (great pictures)
Power Point – We’re Off to Ancient China (slide 40 for Homes)
Today – Shelter
Civilizations Past to Present: China pg 8
Farmers live in simple house like those of long ago
-small
-few pieces of furniture
-toilets are outside
City living – live in crowed apartments built around courtyards that are shared
-some do not have baths so they use public baths
We’re from China (read the book to class, focus on the pictures)
WORD DOC - China Homes Today- (see essentials guide for this word doc)
Long Ago – Clothing
The Ancient World: China – pg 17
Poor – long shirts made of rough, hemp fabric
-little or no jewelry
-sandals
Wealthy – clothing made of fine silks, jewelry made of gold, jade, and precious stones
-men wore a hat in public
-women arranged hair in topknots fastened with beautiful hairpins, and elaborate makeup
-only the emperor wore yellow
Ancient Civilizations: China pg 16-17
-some women wore trousers that were tight at the ankle under their robes
-shorter robes for workers
Winter – they wore layers of clothes
-High officials wore platform shoes to look more important
Power Point – We’re Off to Ancient China (slides 38-39)
Today – Clothing
Civilizations Past to Present: China pg 12
-western style shirts and loosely fitting pants or dark suits that button to the neck
-Country - farmers wore clothes like peasants wore long ago
-City – people wear modern clothes, jeans are very expensive
(Some people save for a year to buy a pair of jeans)
We’re from China (read the book to class, focus on the pictures)
WORD DOC - China Clothing- (see essentials guide for this word doc)
Long Ago - Transportation
Civilizations Past to Present: China pg 16-17
-walking
-camels
-boats
Today – Transportation
Civilizations Past to Present: China pg 17
-trains, buses, airplanes, boats *bicycles
WORD DOC - China Transportation Today- (see essentials guide for this word doc)
Day 8-10
Using a variety of materials, discuss contributions from China. Using large
chart paper, teacher will list contributions from China to be reviewed later.
China’s Contributions
*Inventions
Book - Ancient Civilization: China
Pg 31 – Abacus – used to solve math problems
Pg 33 – mud bricks – while other countries were cutting brick out of stones
Pg 33 – paper money – most countries used coins, paper was lighter and easier
to handle
Pg 34 – Great ship builders
Pg 35 – Compass – tool for finding directions
(Chinese compass always points south)
Pg 36 – First to create elixirs, now medicines
Pg 36 – Acupuncture – to cure sickness
Pg 37 – Calendar created by studying the sky (365 days in a year)
Book – Civilizations Past to Present: China pg 22
wheelbarrow gunpowder silk
fireworks
paper
porcelain
paper
money
kites
Power point – We’re Off to Ancient China (slide #13)
Great Wall of China paper making gunpowder
Compass yo-yo
abacus
silk wheelbarrow
Review contributions
Day 11-12
Assessment: Students will create a poster that shows influences of Ancient
China to modern day China. Students will present their posters to the class.
(Students can work in groups or alone) (Looking at the Egypt probe, how would
you improve or maintain your score?)
-Posters may include a probe with the Essential question/ statement in the
middle and probes coming out from the middle that would have pictures and/or
statements. Students may work in groups or alone. Title, pictures, writing,
neatness, and oral presentation are scored. Ex. below
China
Ancient
China
influences
our world
today.
-Rubric for scoring assessment
1- needs to
improve
The poster is
difficult to read.
4-exemplary
3-proficient
2-developing
The poster is neat,
colorful, and easy
to read. A title is
visible. Poster
contains sentences
which explain the
pictures.
The poster
contains 4 or
more details about
Egyptian
influences from
the past that are
still evident today.
Presentation to the
class, speaker is
loud and easy to
understand. The
speaker describes
all the parts of the
poster.
The poster is neat
and easy to read.
It may contain a
few sentences.
The poster is easy
to read with some
pictures.
The poster
contains 3 details
about Egyptian
influences from
the past that are
still evident today.
The poster
contains 2 details
about Egyptian
influences from
the past that are
still evident today.
The poster
contains 1 detail
about Egyptian
influences from
the past that are
still evident today.
Presentation to the
class, speaker is
quiet and/or a
little difficult to
understand. The
speaker describes
some parts of the
poster.
Engaged in the
Off task some of
work most of the the time, needed
time, shared
reminders to
responsibility of
continue work or
creating or
had difficulty
presenting the
sharing
poster, but did not responsibility of
complete the
creating the poster
poster on time.
or presenting the
poster, poster not
completed on
time.
The presentation
to the class, the
speaker is difficult
to understand.
Engaged in the
work, encouraged
others to work,
shared
responsibility of
creating or
presenting the
poster, and
completed poster
on time.
Presentation to the
class, speaker is
loud and easy to
understand. The
speaker describes
some parts of the
poster.
Off task much of
the time, needed
many reminders
to continue work,
did not complete
task on time.