Emit Takes Off

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February 16, 2009

4:58 am

1 Comment on Emit Takes Off

Class Work

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 Emit – not just some random alien but an intrepid traveller and intergalactic archaeologist.

Emit small front shot copyEmit Repoons had never liked sitting around his office with his feet up. He was not content with a well-paid desk job and a company rocket. Even when he had just finished a successful mission, he found it hard to settle down at headquarters. No, he preferred the danger and uncertainty of his journeys. He loved gazing into other worlds and explaining their strange characteristics to his own kind.

Luckily, Ssob Etad Rekees was always prepared to listen. When Emit burst into her office one day and begged her to send him on a new mission, she had a mission chip ready. As she reached for it, she remarked, “I’ve saved this civilisation for you. It may be a difficult and perilous journey, but I know that will only strengthen your resolve. Good luck. And don’t forget to take Llatiwonk with you. She will be invaluable.”

 Emit sighed. True, Llatiwonk was brilliant. She was just the kind of companion he needed. Whenever he wanted to do something rash, she would gently present all the opposing arguments. She was far too rational for his liking. In Emit’s opinion, she’d had too much common sense programmed into her circuits. But of course Llatiwonk would go with him. It was unthinkable and it might even be dangerous to leave her behind.

From Ssob’s outstretched hand, Emit took the chip and inserted it into his trusty pocket pod. When he saw its contents, he knew he was in for an adventure.

Begin your adventure by looking at some of these sites on ancient Egypt…

Play the Mummy Maker Game at the BBC website by clicking here 

 

Read about the power of the Pharaohs here

View the treasures of Tutankhamen here

Convert your name to hieroglyphs here

  • Finally, keep in mind that Emit is keen, curious and questioning. He can be wild and rash, take risks and do crazy things in his search for knowledge. Llatiwonk, on the other hand, is rational, careful and thorough. Who do you think is more like you? Leave a comment with your answer. 

 

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Primary Search

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February 14, 2009

7:19 pm

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Class Work

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A primary source about history is any source created at the time being studied. It could be a building, an art work, a poem, a story, a flag or even a mummy! Here are some examples:

 Cuneiform

A tablet from the first writers, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, who created CUNEIFORM…

This is believed to have happened in about 3300BC.

 

Axe

A stone axe from the Old Stone Age, showing the skills of the early tool-makers…

The first tools were made about 2 million years ago.

 

 

 Eurekaflag public domain

The flag from the Eureka battle in Ballarat in 1854.

 

IMG_7734

War medals of Australian soldiers from WWI – photo taken by John Bayley.

 IMG_7572

A fossil from the Bathurst Museum – photo taken by John Bayley.

 IMG_0264_Kakadu_Nourlangie_Rock

Ancient Aboriginal rock art from Kakadu National Park – photo taken by John Bayley.

See what primary sources you can find on the internet by looking at the sites below. For each item you find, save it to your hard drive and then paste it into a text box on a WORD page. Try to fit 4–6 text boxes on the page. You could use a table as I have above if you think you know how. Add a heading, “Primary Sources”, to your page and a brief description of each artefact you have found.

 

SITES TO SEARCH:

When you have finished this page, email it to me at gr@boxhillhs.vic.edu.au and I’ll print it out for you.

 

If you have time after this, write a comment in which you nominate a primary source that could be used to study your life when you become famous and people want to write your biography.

 

With kind regards,

Ros/ Ms Green.

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Digging the first farmers

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February 10, 2009

3:34 am

22 Comments on Digging the first farmers

Class Work

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Thanks for watching that video yesterday with such concentration!

When some people became farmers and herders from about 10000BC, their lives changed dramatically.

  • Farming meant that people could settle in one place.

  • They could store food for the future.

  • Larger families were possible.

  • People could eventually live in much larger groups.

  • Farming can support a far larger population than hunting and gathering, so societies based on farming could grow quickly and become much more complex and varied.

Farming was not necessarily a better way to live; in some ways hunting and gathering in small bands would have been simpler, with fewer possessions, more sharing and less impact on the environment. But once the idea of farming began it spread; the societies that were based on this new way of living grew, prospered, diversified and often became powerful.

Even in the New Stone Age deforestation was an environmental problem in some areas. 

 

 If you lived in the Stone Age, would you have preferred to be a hunter, a gatherer, a farmer or a herder? Write a comment with your answer at the bottom of this post and give your reasons. Suggest any special skills you have that you might contribute to your group.

After you have written your comment, try this game to gain an appreciation of the tricky decisions that need to be made by archaeologists:

BBC Archaeology Game – Meet the Ancestor

 

 

Finally, have a go at this TOTALLY RIDICULOUS GAME in which you have to stop archaeologists from having a smoko. No intellect required, but you can practise your eye-hand coordination! (My best score was 47, but I know you will bury my score in the lowest stratum!) Please understand that this game is not intended to promote violence towards archaeologists…

Beat the Digger Game

Kind regards,

Ros.

The two videos below will be unwatchable at school, I think, because of the slow download time. If you are keen, you can watch them at home. They raise a fascinating question: why are some societies wealthier and more powerful than others? The theory put forward in the videos – which is open to question and debate – is that the societies that were well-placed to begin farming, with favourable conditions, good potential crops and domesticable animals, had a head start in world history. They developed more powerful technology because they had more people, wealth and time to do so. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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