Traveling Classroom™
Activities
The activities presented here are organized in categories for convenience only. The Traveling Classroom project promotes an interdisciplinary study of literature, geography, history, art and mathematics as part of an integrated approach to learning. Therefore, activities should be mixed and coordinated with information provided in the Trip Reports.
1. Geography
(materials: map of Europe, map of Greece)
a. Pinpoint location of Greece on European map.
b. Use map or atlas to label bodies of water: Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Sea of Crete
c. Label Persian Empire, Macedonia, Thessaly, Attica, Pelopennesus, Thrace
d. Locate Crete and Delos
e. Find the city states of Mycenae and Troy
f. Locate Mount Olympus
g. Label Athens, Sparta, Delphi, Argus, Knossos
h. Compare the territory of Ancient Greece to that of Modern Greece.
i. Look up statistics on climate, rainfall and temperatures in the mountains versus the plains of Greece.
2. Mythology
(materials: links and books on mythology)
a. Discuss and define myths. What are myths? Who created them and why?
b. Compare myths with legends, fairy tales, folk tales and fables. How are they the same and how are they different? Make a comparison chart. Be sure to review Aesop's Fables for comparison.
c. Discuss the Pantheon, charting the "family tree" of various gods and godesses (using resource books and links). Divide the class into groups of 2 or 3 students. Give each group a god or goddess to study and find out what special powers and areas of influence are associated with that individual. This information can be put on a permanent chart to remain up in the room (students can maintain a smaller one in their binders or a special Traveling Classroom folder).
d. Teacher can read or paraphrase pages 31–32 of Bullfinch or pages 21–25, 63 of Hamilton.
e. Find several different versions of the story of Prometheus – discuss cause and effect. Divide the class into groups, giving each group a different version (either one copy per group or multiple copies).
1. The students will read the myth, paying special attention to causes and effects in the story.
2. Each group will complete a cause-and-effect flow chart (i.e., because A, then B; because of B, then C).
3. Place the flow charts on the board and have the groups explain why they chose these events.
4. Compare findings. See if you can find "Prometheus" stories in other cultures (e.g., the Native American story about Raven).
d. Writing: Choose a natural occurrence a write a myth explaining how something came to be (be sure it follows the cause-and-effect development pattern).
e. Throughout the unit continue to read myths, chart or storyboard the elements other these stories, and discuss them in class.
3. History
(materials: links and books on history)
a. Students will construct a Time Line with column headings to include:
1. Early Greek Culture (2,000 to 1,100 BCE)
2. The Dark Age (1,100 to 800 BCE)
3. The Archaic Period (800 to 470 BCE)
4. The Classical Age (470 to 336 BCE)
5. The Hellenistic Period (336 to 200 BCE)
Leave enough space below these headings to include information as it is presented in class and through Traveling Classroom.
b. Minoans. Find out about the Minoans and their accomplishments
1. Put Minoan dates on the Time Line.
2. Read "Theseus and the Minotaur"
3. Math activity: Define labyrinth and then create one using a straight edge or a compass.
4. As a class, brainstorm a 5-8 step sequential story.
5. Put the story of King Minos into a storyboard or rolling film. Using cooperative groups, assign each group a part of the story to tell and illustrate.
6. Student Journal: Pretend you are a Greek. Do you believe the story of King Minos? Why? Why not?
7. Student Journal: Pretend you are a citizen of Knossos. Write a diary describing how you feel about the volcano, earthquakes and tidal waves that are destroying your civilization.
8. Read the story of Icarus.
c. Mycenaeans. Find out about the Mycenaeans and their accomplishments
1. Put Mycenaean dates on the Time Line, as well as any other dates you have decided are important.
2. Discuss in groups the contributions of this society.
3. Greek Alphabet: give each student a handout showing upper and lower case Greek characters, names and modems. Make name tags for student desks with Greek on one side and English on the other.
4. Compare the Mycenaeans with the Minoans.
5. Research Greek sailing vessels. Build models or draw pictures.
6. After studying available resources about the Mycenaeans, ask students to theorize why their civilization didn't last.
d. Follow the same track with other civilizations involved in the history of Greece. Traveling Classroom will provide additional questions and activities as the project continues.
e. Writing: Make a list of ancient Greek historians, poets, philosophers, etc., pronouncing all the names to provide familiarity. Have each student choose one, and then research and write a mini-report
4. Government
(materials: links and books on government and society.
a. Compare and contrast Athens and Sparta.
b. Divide the class in groups to research and report on different types of government found in Ancient Greece:
1. Monarchy
2. Oligarchy
3. Tyranny
4. Democracy
Post and compare the government reports. Can you see these types of governments in any modern countries?
c. Compare the democracy of Ancient Athens with the government of your country. Use intersecting circles to show similarities and differences.
Navigation is a way to plan the safest and most efficient course from one place to another. All travel requires navigation in some form or another. When you walk through your own neighborhood, you are navigating even if you are only planning the course in your head.
The basic requirement of navigation is that you know where you are now (or where you were when you started) before you can plan on how to get to someplace else. This is very important when sailing a boat. If you don't navigate carefully, you might run into a sunken coral reef or miss your destination altogether.
Aboard our boat, which is named Zoe Zoe, we will be using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to find out where we are at any given time. The GPS gets signals from orbiting satellites and provides a very accurate absolute position and time virtually anywhere in the world. Using this data, we will be able to pinpoint our position on a nautical chart and then chart a course to our destination.
The class can participate in this activity if a good map or nautical chart of the Aegean Sea is available. In my own classroom, parents who are seasoned sailors will be teaching a minicourse on navigation while I am sailing among the Cyclades Islands. In the regular Trip Reports I will provide GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude), together with our speed and direction of travel and timing of planned turns. Students will then have the same information I have to arrive at a solution. Once Zoe Zoe is located on the chart or map, students will be asked to find our final destination. The answer will be posted in the next installment.
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