Egypt Toybox Lesson 4 of 5

Standard 5: Understand the political, social, and cultural consequences of population movements and militarization in Eurasia in the second millennium BCE.

Historical Understanding

Standard 1: Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns.

Standard 2: Understands the historical perspective.

Geography

Standard 1: Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, gloves, and other geographic tools and technologies.

Standard 2: Knows the location of places, geographic features, and patterns of the environment.

Standard 12: Understands the patterns of human settlement and their causes.

Standard 17: Understands how geography is used to interpret the past.

Common Core Writing Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Introduction Overview

Students enter a toybox of Ancient Egypt. If the sides could close, students could carry this toybox with them to build, craft, and play! The toybox contains all the elements students need to interact with this ancient culture and learn more about its geography, economy, governing structure, and culture. Through these five lessons, students will participate in both digital and physical activities to engage in rich learning experiences following the learning objectives and guiding questions. Egypt Toybox is structured and broken into five lessons over 3 weeks x 60 minutes per day

Guiding Question Lesson 4 of 5

How did the ancient Egyptian's beliefs impact the way they buried their dead?

Student Activities

Preparation and materials

Preview link to PBS Resource: Women in Power
Sugar cubes, enough for students to work in small groups and build a pyramid
Jell-O molds and carving utensils such as disposable dinner knives, enough for students to work in small groups to carve a sculpture from it
Preview link to A Day in the Life of an Ancient Egyptian
Create a FlipGrid topic for lesson 4

Student Activities Lesson 3

Students enter the Minecraft: Education Edition world and fly to the base of another pyramid to find the NPC named Howard Carter.

Howard says, “In 1922, I led the team who discovered the intact tomb of King Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. This find allowed us greater insight into the burial practices of this ancient culture. Watch this video to learn more before you enter the tomb.”

Buttons on the NPC take students to the following sites:

• Watch Video (YouTube - substitute for another option if your school system blocks this site)

Students then enter the tomb in Minecraft (location 136 38 -12), just past Howard Carter through the tomb doorway. Students should make observations about what they see in the tomb, and write questions they have about what they see. Note that the tomb is not an exact replica, nor is it complete. Students can also read Howard Carter's journal inside the chest in the tomb.

Direct students to research the ancient Egyptians' belief systems regarding:

• Afterlife

• Symbolism

• Burial practices

• Purpose of tombs

Ensure that students have discovered why Egyptians needed to protect their graves from thieves.

Students should then use their knowledge of ancient Egyptian tombs to finish building King Tutankhamun's tomb and capture photos with the in-game Camera.

Next, have students find Portfolio in their inventory and place it in the game. Then save their portfolio and export the images to a .zip file. Use these images to create a Sway or other multimedia presentation.

In the presentation, students should answer the guiding question: How did the ancient Egyptian's beliefs impact the way they buried their dead? and show their builds through imagery, while explaining their decisions for placing new items in the tomb.

Interdisciplinary connections

Students use explanatory writing to give details around the burial practices and belief systems of the ancient Egyptian culture.

Differentiation

Allow students to narrate their additions to the tomb instead of writing them out.

Extensions

• Students build a trap for the entrance of their tombs to keep robbers from entering the tomb. Students can trade their worlds or allow multi-player collaboration to let other students test their traps.

• Students can research the embalming process and practices of the Ancient Egyptians and why the bodies were so well preserved.

Performance Expectations

Assessment

Tomb Build

4 - Student added many details to the tomb that elaborate Egyptian symbology and belief systems.

3 - Student added several details to the tomb based on Egyptian symbology and belief systems.

2 - Student added a few details to the tomb based on Egyptian symbology and belief systems.

1 - Student did not add details to the tomb based on Egyptian symbology and belief systems.

Multimedia explanation

4 - Student created a multimedia presentation that includes many images from the build, accompanied by detailed descriptions of how each image fits the topics.

3 - Student created a multimedia presentation to include several images from the build as well as description of the images and how each relates to the topics.

2 - Student created a multimedia presentation that includes a few images from the build and some description of the images.

1 - Student created a multimedia presentation but is missing images from the build or descriptions of the images. Images and descriptions should be tied more tightly to the topics.