UNIT SUMMARY
Unit Title: Ancient China
Authors: Tim Nguyen and Don Donn.
Aligned to Vermont Standards By: UVM Asian Studies Outreach Program
*Important Information About This Unit*
This standards-based integrated technology unit is designed for middle
level students. The UVM
Asian Studies Outreach Program would like to thank Tim Nguyen and Don
Donn for allowing us
to integrate their lesson plans with this unit. Teachers using this
unit will be directed to internet
sites to locate Tim Nguyen's unit,Banpo
Village, Gone But Not Forgotten ,Don Donn's
unit, Ancient Life
in China. and Nilah Cote's webquest site, Ancient
Heritage Museum. A supplemental
teaching guide and assessments that align these materials with the
Vermont Framework of Standards
and Learning Opportunities were created by the UVM Asian Studies Outreach
Program. Special
thanks goes to Vermont teachers Nilah Cote and Veanne Maxwell who taught
this unit in their
classroom and provided additional supplemental student materials and
feedback to the UVM Asian
Studies Outreach Program.
Unit Overview
The essential question invites students to think about how historical
events and powerful people of
the past influence our lives today. Middle school students are very
interested in creating a "fair and
just" society. As they explore the differences between the lives of
common people and those with
wealth and power, they can quickly relate to the discrepancies that
exist. They also learn about
how new knowledge and inventions change society. The first part of
the unit allows the students
to explore and discover information about Banpo, an ancient civilization
that was unearthed in the
middle of the 1950's. The second part of the unit allows students to
expand their knowledge
of ancient civilizations by researching and comparing Chinese dynasties.
Essential Question
How did new inventions, knowledge and different ruling dynasties
influence the people and
civilization of China during ancient times?
Guiding Questions
1. What can we learn from ancient artifacts?
2. What was life like during ancient Chinese
times?
3. How do people and inventions change society?
4. What characteristics make each time period
unique? What characteristics do they have
in common?
Culminating Task
This unit is also divided into four learning sections. Each section
has a product that students
are expected to complete and is used to assess student learning. The
culminating task of this
unit builds on the prior knowledge students have gained from previous
learning activities. The
culminating task is divided into two parts. Students will create an
exhibit for Ancient Heritage
Museum Day and present information about their time period to the class.
They will also create
a map showing China's political boundaries during the era they researched
and share this
information with the class. For the second part of the culminating
task, students will select three
different time periods from those that were presented and create a
venn diagram to compare
these eras. The diagrams will include historical information about
each of the time periods
(important people, events, new knowledge and inventions) along with
a description of how
these things changed the society. Students will also describe the similarities
between any or all
of these time periods.
Vital Results:
1.18 Students use computers, telecommunications, and other tools
of technology to research, gather
information and ideas,
and to represent information and ideas accurately and appropriately.
1.20 Students use graphs, charts, and other visual presentations
to communicate data accurately and
appropriately.
2.1 Students ask a variety of questions. This is evident
when students:
b. Ask questions to determine why events occur
c. Ask questions that compare and contrast, to determine similarities and
differences.
d. Ask questions that help make connections within and across fields of
knowledge and/or
between concepts.
f. Ask critical evaluation questions that judge the quality of evidence
from within a problem,
text, work of art, etc.
3.7 Students make informed decisions. This is evident
when students:
a. Seek information and base decisions on evidence from reliable sources,
including prior
experience, trying things out, peers, adults, and print and non-print resources.
b. Evaluate the consequences of decisions
c. Describe and explain their decisions based on evidence
e. Analyze and consider alternative decisions.
Field Of Knowledge
6.4 Students identify major historical eras
and analyze periods of transition in various times in their
local community,
in Vermont, in the United States and in various locations worldwide to
understand the
past, the present, and the relationship between the two. This is evident
when
students:
aa. Demonstrate various dating systems (BCE, CE)
c. Investigate the impact of new knowledge and inventions on society as
a whole
and on various groups.
dd. Identify and sequence patterns of change and compare historical data
from the
world by examining the historical development of societies.
6.5 Students investigate both the traditional
and the social histories of the people, places and
culture
under study. This is evident when students:
a. Identify and analyze the impact of various individuals and groups throughout
history.
c. Demonstrate understanding of the relationship among powerful people,
important
events, and the lives of common people.
6.7 Students use geographical knowledge
and images of various places to understand the present,
communicate historical interpretation, develop solutions for the problems,
and plan for the
future. This is evident when students:
d. Use scale to calculate and estimate distance on a map.
e. Make and use legend/keys on a variety of thematic maps.
bb. Locate the physical, political, and cultural regions of Vermont, the
United States,
and the world. Locate major mountain ranges, major rivers, major climate
and
vegetation zone.
7.10 Students use concrete, formal, and
informal strategies to solve mathematical problems,
apply the process of mathematical modeling, and extend and generalize mathematical
concepts. Students apply mathematics as they solve scientific and technological
problems
or work with technological systems. This is evident when:
a. Solve problems by reasoning mathematically with concepts and skills
expected
in these grades.
cc Determine how to break down a complex problem into simpler parts,
extract
pertinent information from situations.
f. Make sensible, reasonable estimates.
| Travel itinerary with budget
Standard: 7.10 a,cc,f Timeframe: 3 hours |
1. Crossing Time Zones.
2. Comparing air miles to China: ăcrowä &ăjetä miles. 3. Instruction on reliable internet sites. |
| Sketched map of China/Banpo
Standard: 6.7 bb,c,e 1.18 Timeframe: 1 hour |
1. Use the internet, electronic encyclopedias,
and/or CD's to locate maps of China. |
| Lost Civilization Competition
Standard: 1.18, 2.1 b,c,d,f 6.4 c,dd 6.7 c,bb,e Timeframe: 5 hours |
1. Banpo Village,
Gone But Not
Forgotten, by Tim Nguyen at: http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/banpo 2. Gather information and take notes from designated web sites). Formulate questions and answers from this information. |
| Heritage Museum Day Presentation & Venn Diagram
Standard: 1.18 1.20 3.7a,b,c,e 6.4 aa,c,dd 6.5 a,c 6.7d,e,bb Timeframe: 6 hours |
1. Lost In Time. (timeline activity)
2. Ancient HeritageMuseum Web Quest by Nilah Cote at: http://www.k12.vt.us/shl/cote/webqancciv.htm 3. Daily Life in Ancient China by Don Donn at: http://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Chinalife.html. 4. Sketched map of China showing the dynasty's political boundaries. 5. Get the facts from Artifacts (create reproductions of artifacts from designated time period) 6. Savvy Surfinâ-Research the internet, CD's etc. to locate time period information. |
ANCIENT CHINA SITES
Student Created Sites
http://www.penncharter.com/Student/china.index.html
http://www.cmi.k12.il.us/Urbana/projects/AncientCiv/china.html
http://www.kings.k12.ca.us/kcoe/curric/chinese.html
http://www.best.com/~swanson/china/eg_china_menu1.html
http://library.advanced.org/23062/
Dynasty Information
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCCHINA/CHOU.HTM
http://www.shorelin.Wednet.edu/Echo_Lake/china.html
Buddism,Taoism Philosophies
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/taoism.html
http://www.edepot.com/buddha.html
http://edepot.com/taoism.html
Ancient China Bibliography
History through Art and Architecture
Look and Do Elementary Program the Art and Architecture of China
by Ann Campbell
Alarion Press 1997
P.O. Box 1882
Boulder, CO 80306-1882
1-800-523-9177
This video covers most of the dynasties and has student sheets to accompany
it.
Calliope World history for Young People May/June
The Ming Dynasty
Cobblestone Publishing
7 School St.
Peterborough, NH 03458
603-924-7209
They have other titles that fit for this unit too.
The Ancient World
Prentice Hall 1998
Other Supplementary Material
Writing and Arithmetic: Ancient Civilizations (3500 B.C.- A.D.
1)
by Paul Russell Tambourine, 1994 (48p)
The author explains how people wrote and computed in ancient
civilizations
of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
The Mongols by Robert Nicholson
Chelsea, 1994 (32p)
Daily life, religion, clothing, and food are a few of the points
discussed.
The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History by John S. Major
Harper, 1995 (32p) also paper This handsomely illustrated book
tracks
goods on a journey from China to Byzantium via the Silk Route
in 700 B.C.
The Great Wall of China by Leonard Everett Fisher
Aladdin, 1995 (32p)
With dramatic black-and-white illustrations, Fisher tells the
story of the
construction of the 4,000-mile wall that made China a fortress.
The Song of Mulan by Jeanne M. Lee
Front Street, 1995
Mulan disguises herself as a boy to join the Khan's soldiers
in fighting the
Invading Tartars. In English and Chinese.
What Do We Know About Buddhism? by Anita Ganeri
Bedrick, 1997 (44p)
The author explains the origins and practices of Buddhism
Marco Polo: A Journey Through China by Fiona Macdonald and
David Salariya
Watts, 1998 (32p)
Presented here is an account of Marco Polo's travels and his
stay at the court
of Kubla Khan.
Silk and Spice Routes by Paul Strathern and Struan Reid
Silver, 1994 (48p)
Trade between East and West is explored in the four books in
this series:
Exploration by Land, Exploration by Sea, Inventions and Trade,
and
Cultures and Civilizations.
Oracle Bones, Stars, and the Wheelbarrows: Ancient Chinese Science
and Technology by Frank Ross
Houghton, 1982 (192p) also paper
Discussed are the achievements of the ancient Chinese in astronomy,
medicine, botany, and engineering, as well as Chinese inventions
including
gunpowder, the compass, and printing.
The Ancient Chinese by Hazel Mary Martell
Macmillan, 1993 (64p)
The author focuses on various aspects of ancient Chinese culture,
such as
art, religion, government, and everyday life.
Metropolis: Ten Cities, Ten Centuries by Albert Lorenz
Harru N. Abrams, Inc., 1996, pgs: 64, .
This book shows life in ten cities, including a 13th-century
Mongol tent city
With Genghis Khan.
Everyday Life in Medieval Times by Marjorie Rowling
Putnman, 1968, pgs: 228.
This book describes the people, places, and the state of science
and
Technology in medieval Europe. Chapter 10 of the book provides
examples
such as paper-making, a process that spread from China and the
Middle
East to Europe much earlier than the 13th century.
The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo
The Orion Press, pgs: 356
This book presents Marco Polo's story of his journey from Venice
to China,
as dictated by Marco Polo.
The Times Atlas of World History
Hammond Fourth Edition, 1994, pg 127.
This reference presents a series of historical maps and content
that details
The Mongol empire of Genghis Khan and its successor states.
BOOKS TO READ ALOUD
Maples in the Mist: Children's Poems from the Tang Dynasty
translated by Minfong Ho Lothrop, 1996 (32p)
Illustrated with Chinese brush paintings, the poems represent
the larger
repertoire usually taught to children in China.
Dragons, Gods & Spirits from Chinese Mythology
by Tao Tao Liu Sanders Bedrick, 1994 (132p)
This lavishly illustrated edition is a comprehensive collection
of Chinese
mythology.
MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES
Videocassettes
Latitude and Longitude 22 min.
National Geographic, 1994
Asia 25 min.
Physical Geography of the Continents Series
National Geographic, 1991
China: Sichuan Province 25 min.
National Geographic, 1988
Buddhism: The Middle Way of Compassion 20 min.
United Learning, 1993
Software
Ancient World 2000 (Computer-Interactive Videodisc)
Decision Development, 1995
Ancient Civilizations (CD-ROM)
ENTREX Software, 1995
World Geo Graph II (Floppy Disk)
Learning Company, 1993
Picture Atlas of the World (CD-ROM)
Now What Software, 1995
Non-European World History (Computer-Interactive Videodisc)
Instructional Resources, 1996
STV: World Geography
Asia and Australia (Computer-Interactive Videodisc)
National Geographic, 1994
BOOKS FOR TEACHERS
The Cambridge History of Ancient China
edited by Edward L. Shaughnessy and Michael Loewe
Cambridge U., 1998