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I Criteria:
The individual will be assessed according to the group's presentation
and their written report--
1. Did they group address all of the requirements of the project?
2. Was the group's presentation professional?
3. Did all members of the group contribute to the presentation?
4. Was the material in the presentation clear and well organized?
5. Was the student's written report grammatically correct?
6. Was the historical and factual information in the student's written report correct?
7. Was the data used in the student's written report relevant?
8. Was the information in the student's report written in a clear and
logical manner?
II The Project
Students will be broken into groups of six.
Each group will receive a clue. This clue will be a picture of an artifact from one of four cultures/civilizations:
1. Egypt: Picture of Queen Nefertiti (Davidson, Marshall B., "The Horizon Book of Lost Worlds," New York: American Heritage Publishing, 1962, 114)
2. Mesopotamia: Picture of the Stele of Hummarabi (Whitehouse, Ruth and John Wilkons, eds, "The Making of Civilization: History Discovered Through Archeology," New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986, 128.)
3. Indus: Picture of the Citadel at Mohenjo-Daro and Terra-cotta figure of "The Priest King (Whitehouse, Ruth and John Wilkons, eds, "The Making of Civilization: History Discovered Through Archeology," New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986, 69.)
4. China: Picture of Terra-cotta figures found in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (Whitehouse, Ruth and John Wilkons, eds, "The Making of Civilization: History Discovered Through Archeology," New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986, 19.)
--Students will then be instructed to brainstorm about their picture (the clue referred to above) in order to determine where the culture/civilization comes from. Here are some the questions that will be used to guide the brainstorming activity--Where is this from? What is it? What does it reveal about this culture? Is there any evidence of what the geography, technology of this culture is? How advanced was this culture? Is there any religious significance? What about government?
--Once this activity is complete, and students have formed a hypothesis about the picture, the teacher will reveal the culture that the artifact is from.
--Students will then be instructed to find this clue in a book, movie, encyclopedia, etc. This picture will define the parameters of their research, specifically they will look at the time-period it is from.
--They will then be asked to identify the characteristics of this civilization by conducting library research.
--They will also be expected to analyze other artifacts from this culture. This will form the basis of the individual component of the project. Each student will look at one element of this culture. These elements are:
1. Art
2. Government
3. Technology
4. Gender Roles
5. Economy
6. Religion/Myths
--The questions that each member of the group must address on his or her topic (as listed above) will be:
1. Identify artifacts that art typical of this time-period.
2. Describe in a written essay how this artifact relates to your topic and your culture.
3. Analyze these artifacts in this essay, explaining the significance
of these artifacts to your particular culture.
--Student will also work cooperatively to aid each other in their research.
They will be expected to give a ten minute presentation on their culture.
Here is the question the presentation is to address:
1. Now that you have become experts on your culture, lets have some
fun. Pick one element of your culture that the group found interesting.
Create a way to demonstrate to the class your knowledge of this subject.
Be creative! Design artifacts, bring in artwork, write a poem or a story,
or perform a skit that recreates what is was like to be a member of that
culture. Make sure your presentation reflects how this element of your
civilization was important/significant to your culture. ALL the members
of the group must participate in the presentation. You will have about
10-15 minutes for your presentation.
--Students will be assessed according to the criteria above. They will be provided with a copy of the criteria at the beginning of the project.
Michael Fantauzzo/mikef@frontiernet.net
