Those Clever Ancient Greeks – Part 2

You could set out your research task something like this – but of course with information in the box!

Welcome back from holidays, 7C!

As you already know, many people from ancient Greece were remarkably influential, impressively inventive and downright clever. For instance, there was Euclid, who figured out the rules of geometry and whose textbooks were used in schools until the 19th century. There was Homer, who is credited with writing down the legends of Odysseus and the Trojan War and whose stories have intrigued and inspired people ever since. There was the poet Sappho, whose work only survives in fragments – yet those fragments are so surpassingly beautiful, so intense and so memorable, that modern people still read her work with wonder. I could go on, but I want you to discover an ancient Greek thinker for yourselves. Here is your task:

Choose ONE of the great Greek thinkers listed below. Try to read two or three websites and one or two books about that person. The books could include an encyclopedia in the library or a dictionary or encyclopedia of biography.  Once you have found your information, design an attractive and eye-catching page about your famous Greek. Your page should include:

♦a summary of the person’s achievements

♦what you find interesting or admirable about him/her

♦quotations attributed to the person

♦diagrams representing inventions or mathematical principles, etc.

♦an attractive heading

♦a mini bibliography

♦symbols representing the person’s ideas or achievements (for instance, I have chosen a question mark for Socrates, because he was famous for asking questions)

 

 

Recommended Websites

Summary and other links: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/greece/famous.htm

Homer: http://greece.mrdonn.org/odyssey.html

Homer again: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/homer.shtml

Archimedes: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/math/archimedes.htm

Archimedes again: http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/People/Archimedes/

One more Archimedes site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/archimedes.shtml

Euclid: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/math/euclid.htm

Aristotle: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/aristotle.htm

Socrates: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/socrates.htm

Eratosthenes: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/math/eratosthenes.htm

Sappho: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/318

Pythagoras: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pythagoras.shtml

 

A little wander through ancient Greece…

Recommended Website: http://www.wingedsandals.com/

Hypothetical Thoughts from Enquiring Minds 

School pillars copyFirst student: “The pillars at the front of the school? Hmm, would you say they’re Doric,Greek columns from istockphoto.com pd Ionic or Corinthian?”

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Second student: “We’re just starting to study geometry and trigonometry in Maths.”

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Third student: “I’d like to take Philosophy in Year 11. I’ve heard the teacher is very good. She uses the Socratic method…”

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Fourth student: “You know one thing I hate about school? It’s so undemocratic. The teachers are all despots.”

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Every single one of these statements touches on the legacy of the ancient Greeks. We might have arrived at all of these concepts without them, but since we can never know what would have been in history, we can’t be sure.

Now there’s a philosophical question…

But first, before we get to philosophy, you need to visit another ancient civilisation, whose influence reaches, as the examples above show, to the present day…

All the photos on this post were taken by my brother Ern on his trip to Greece. I am using them with his permission. 

Write brief answers IN SENTENCES to the questions below, using the websites provided or your textbook.

  • What does the word “philosophy” mean?

http://dictionary.reference.com

/browse/philosophy (There are six definitions given. Look for the one you find easiest to understand.)

  • Where did the Greeks believe the gods and goddesses lived?

Read this site to discover the answer to this question.

  • Name a famous landmark from ancient Athens.

Look at this picture for ideas.

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/government/index.htm

  • What was the word for the market place in Athens?

http://www.athensinfoguide.com/wtsagora.htm

This site has an interactive map and many details about ancient Athens (and modern tourism).

  • Name the two most famous city-states of ancient Greece.

http://history.howstuffworks.com/ancient-greece/ancient-greece2.htm

  • Name three famous ancient Greek philosophers.

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/index.htm

  • What was Euclid famous for?

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Euclid.html

  • How did Socrates teach?

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/socrates.htm

  • What happened to Socrates and why?

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/socrates.htm