8-10 yrs old
11-13 yrs old
14-18 yrs old
18+ yrs old
Geography
Reading and Writing
Service Learning & Social Good
The purpose of this activity is to guide teachers through an activity in which students reconstruct Unesco world heritage sites Minecraft.
September 16, 2019
Getting Started with Minecraft: Education Edition
Guidance for getting started with M:EE that is relevant for all audiences, including school administrators, IT administrators, teachers and students.
World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area which is selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
World 1: Al Noori Mosque (Iraq) and Bel Temple (Syria)
World 2: the Monastery of Sant Elian (Syria) and the Bamiyan Buddha (Afghanistan)
World 3: Mausoleum Imam Awn al-Din (Syria), and entrance to the ancient city of Aleppo (Syria)
To begin, we would like to suggest that the role of the teacher in this activity be that of a mediator. It will be more productive to ask questions that help students find a their own way, rather than simply following the steps and having the students follow them methodologically. It is very likely that students will know more about the features of Minecraft than the teacher, and that won’t be a problem! The purpose of the activity is to rebuild Historical Heritage Sites on Minecraft. Before building, however, they should be studied and researched. Students should understand their geometric forms, and analyze their real life proportions before the transposition into blocks with Minecraft. Setting up the room and the class so that it can achieve better results, both spatially and in the orientation of the teams' assembly according to functions, objectives and division of tasks. To mediate the knowledge and dynamics of the room, stimulating students to find solutions. Always motivate Helping in the construction Who will lead the activity? Will the teacher lead one, or more activities? Which activities will the lead? Which professionals from the school will be involved? When will the activity take place? Will the activities take place during regular lessons, or outside lesson time? Will there be a specific workshop created? What will be done in the activity? About the worlds available: Moving on from the lesson plan, see 3 worlds below:
World 1: Al Noori Mosque (Iraq) and Bel Temple (Syria);
World 2: the Monastery of Sant Elian (Syria) and the Bamiyan Buddha (Afghanistan);
World 3: Mausoleum Imam Awn al-Din (Iraq), and entrance to the ancient city of Aleppo (Syria) .
These worlds were built by students aged 9 to 13 years, having as a reference only to the photos of the monuments. The idea was to develop worlds made by students for students, whose execution of the product was done in the classroom and not by professionals, by which the experience can be shared with other students of the same age, with a contextualized level of creation. The teacher will have the freedom to do whatever he wants, building on that world or creating another. If each school shares a world, photos or videos, we won’t only share different representations or representations of the same thing, we’ll use social networks to reconstruct and pass on the message and conservation of the historical heritage sites.
1) Construction: Students must rebuild historical heritage sites, basing their reference on how they were when they were built, when they were destroyed, and the ruins to which they were reduced.
2) Design the world: the teacher can project the world on the screen and with this make explanations about the theme according to the objectives of his class, for example: making observations or answering questions.
3) Class walk through: When entering the world, students can walk through the buildings, taking photos using the Minecraft tools, make notes or give answers according to a guide previously given by the teacher.
4) You are free to create new activities and share with us. After completing what was proposed, have a conversation in order to reflect on the experience, what they learned, what they discovered, what was taken in and what they will take away from activity.
The most important objective in this project is to raise awareness of humanity’s historical heritage sites. As students learn through play they can develop awareness about the theme and the preservation of these structures for future generations. It’s an obligation for everyone. It is important for students to know about other cultures, to show empathy on a global scale, to respect differences, to joyfully recreate what has been destroyed for whatever reason (terrorism, neglect, or natural disasters).