| Materials Needed: Explore Geography
Picture Dictionary (one per student or student group) and Explore
the Ancient World Activity Sheet : "China is Connected to..." |
| Teacher Directions: Ask students
to think about ways people interact with people in different parts
of the world. Students might mention such things as vacations, telephone,
e-mail, letters, or wars and other conflicts. Lead them to include
such things as trade as well. Have students name products we use that
come from other parts of the world. Have students check the labels
on their clothing. Ask them where popular cars are built or where
we get such things as oil and gasoline. On a map of the world, have
students use yarn to show connections between the place where they
live and countries with which they trade. |
| Choose one region and time period (e.g., China during the Han Dynasty).
Ask students to identify ways in which the people of this region were
connected to people in other parts of the world. Have students skim
the chapter in their Explore the Ancient World textbook that deals
with the region and time period you want to focus on. Ask them to
identify examples of human interaction (e.g., armies that fought nomads
in the north and conquered territory in the south, diplomats who tried
to make alliances, traders who followed the Silk Road). |
| Have students tell whether the connection was an example of cooperation
(e.g., trade) or conflict (e.g., war). Ask students to describe the
connections in complete sentences. |
| Organize the class into pairs or small groups. Hand out Explore
the Ancient World Activity Sheet: "China is Connected to…" and make
sure students understand what they are to do. |
 |
Make it Easier: As
a group, have students identify the connections and use yarn to show
the connections on the class world map. |
 |
Make it Quicker: Make
an overhead transparency of Explore the Ancient WorldActivity Sheet:
"China is Connected to…" and do this as a group activity. |
 |
Make it More Fun:
Have students enact a series of tableaux to illustrate connections
between regions. Groups of students could wear costumes or hold pictures
to represent various regions of the world and hold pieces of yarn
to illustrate the connections. |
 |
Make it More Challenging:
Have students do additional research to find out what people today
manufacture in the regions they have studied and who buys these products. |
