Ancient Egyptian Wonders of the World
Subject: Social Studies/Science
Grade: 6-8th grade
Standards:
SOCIAL STUDIES
A.8.9 Describe how buildings and their decoration reflect cultural values and ideas, providing examples such as cave paintings, pyramids, sacred cities, castles, and cathedrals
SCIENCE
C.8.5 Use accepted scientific knowledge, models, and theories to explain their results and to raise further questions about their investigations
G.8.2 Explain how current scientific and technological discoveries have an influence on the work people do and how some of these discoveries also lead to new careers
TECHNOLOGY
A.8.5 Use media and technology to create and present information
- plan and deliver a presentation using media and technology appropriate to topic, audience, purpose, or content
Objective:
The ancient Egyptians are known for creating enormous structures: pyramids, tombs, temples, and more. The class will explore some of Egypt’s great wonders, the Sphinx, the Great Pyramids, and the Giza Plateau. Students will also learn about tools used from this ancient era and have the opportunity to see an underwater sphinx, hieroglyphs, and the Pharos Lighthouse.
Procedure:
The class will have been learning about ancient Egypt, included are the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. At this point in their reading students will be given a learning objective. Their task will be one of the following:
- Learn about the various parts of the sphinx and what it is made of. How are time and the environment slowly destroying it?
- Explore the Giza Plateau and the Pharos Lighthouse. Give facts and information about the history and amazement behind these famous landmarks.
- What are some theories about how the Great Pyramids were created? What kinds of tools are perceived to be used in creating the Pyramids? Explore these tools and compare them to present day tools your parents/craftsmen use.
These students will research and explore their questions/task and create a Glogster that will later be presented to the class. The Glogster will need to have several criteria including:
Hyperlink to external website
Pictures
Video
Audio
Text
Assessment: I will use this grading rubric to evaluate the student’s Glogster. I will also have each student also grade him/herself to reflect on how they did. Did they have any weaknesses or strengths?
Grading Rubric
| Poor
(0) |
Unsatisfactory
(1) |
Satisfactory
(2) |
Exemplary
(3+) |
|
| Video | There was no video and no effort to show that there was an attempt to place a video on the poster. | There was no video, but there was effort in trying to create one | A video was evident, but there were issues. | The video was created correctly and it worked! The student went above and beyond the criteria. |
| Audio | There was no audio and no effort to show that there was an attempt to place audio on the poster. | There was no audio, but there was effort in trying to create one. | The audio button was evident, but there were issues. | The audio was created correctly and it worked! The student went above and beyond the criteria. |
| Images | There was no image and no effort to show that there was an attempt to place an image on the poster. | There was no image, but there was effort in trying to create one. | The image placement was evident, but there were issues. | The image was created correctly and it worked! The student went above and beyond the criteria. |
| Text | There was no text, and no effort to show there was an attempt to place text on the poster. | There was text, but issues prevented it from being seen. | There was minimal text used. | Text was used correctly and appropriately. The student went above and beyond the criteria. |
| Hyperlink | There was no hyperlink and no effort to show that there was an attempt to place a hyperlink on the poster. | There was no hyperlink, but there was effort in trying to create one. | The hyperlink placement was evident, but there were issues. | The hyperlinnk was created correctly and it worked! The student went above and beyond the criteria. |
| TOTAL SCORE (of 15) |
Enrichment: For students who would like to go above and beyond (or have an alternative assignment) they will have the opportunity to review the pyramid theories and choose which theory makes the most sense on how the pyramids may have been built. Do they have a different theory they would like to share? They may share their ideas (with support and evidence) by a presentation (report) or demonstration (poster or diorama).
Sources:
http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html
http://www.suelebeau.com/egypt.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081114-pyramid-room.html
http://www.funsocialstudies.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lasCXujNPfs&feature=player_embedded
Glogster Song: Walk Like an Egyptian (The Bengals)