Our History Blog for Year 7

We have been studying the importance of ancient Mesopotamia as the first great civilisation. Students have had to investigate the achievements of ancient Mesopotamia. After completing a data grid of information on six achievements the students choose the item they consider to be the greatest achievement and complete a glog outlining why they chose this achievement and what effect this achievement had on Ancient Mesopotamia and on modern society. The students then report back to the class showcasing their glog and persuading the class as to the importance of their choice of achievement.

The clip art is from Philip Martin Clip Art.

In class we viewed a video which highlighted a range of achievements from Ancient Mesopotamia.

Here is a link to a website at the Natural History Museum in London which includes an animation of a Neanderthal.

There is a series on YouTube which discuss the Out of Africa theory. If you wish to watch them all you will find them on YouTube.

 However the discovery of Mungo Man does not fit with the Out of Africa theory. Read why not here.

Welcome to our blog for 2012. In this site I will post resources, links to sites and other media. Make sure you read through the ‘netiquette’ sheet which is located in the right hand menu. You are able to post comments to the blog. I receive a message that you have posted and then I ‘approve’ the post before it becomes available for anyone else to see.

We have just completed History–My Story where in class we completed a Family Tree, Fingerprint sheet, Bumper sticker, Wordle, Growth Poster and some students also finished the Extension exercise. We are now ready to begin our next investigation.

Investigating the Ancient Past

Throughout human history people have felt the urge to move outwards from their homelands to improve their lives. This pattern of migration can be traced back through the millenia to the Stone Ages.

Our first section of study looks at this migration as our ancestors left Africa to settle across the globe between 100 000 and 60 000 years ago. By 10 000 BC they had colonised all the continents except for Antarctica.

Neanderthal Man

We have started a timeline around our classroom. I will post the pictures shortly.

Recently all the students in Year 7 visited the Tutankhamun exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. For those students who were doing their biography on Tutankhamun they gained access to valuable information and for everyone the ability to see such priceless artefacts was fantastic.

Today we started our work on discovering what it was like to live in Ancient Egypt.  Initially we are finding out about makeup and hair.  How did location and climate affect make up and hair?  Many of the products they used were locally sourced. The hot, sandy and dry climate had an impact on the way they wore their hair (or wigs) and the products they used on their skin, lips and eyes.

After our discussion ,although we didn’t have a lot of time, the students raced through their paintings of an ancient Egyptian face. I will upload a photo of their work below. Even though they were so pushed for time they really embraced the challenge and worked well.

In class we conducted an archaeological dig in different areas across Ancient Egypt.

In each ‘dig’ were a number of Egyptian artefacts or items.  Each group had to complete a data grid which included a drawing of the item and a description. As we go through the unit of study we will find out the meaning of each of these items.

Custom Glitter Text

Welcome to Year 7 for 2011.

This blog continues on from my work at another school. Some of the information may be repeated but it will also contain new clips and information for you to use in your school work.

When you are referred to the pages which contain tasks etc make sure you only go to the pages for 2011.

Our focus this term is on Ancient Civilisations–we are studying Ancient Egypt and if the opportunity arises you can devise some key questions to investigate another ancient civilisation of your choice. We will be attending the Tutankhamen Exhibition in Melbourne during May and I am sure this will be an excellent source of information in understanding Ancient Egypt.

Let’s focus on developing some key questions to drive our study of Ancient Egypt.  What things do we want to find out about Ancient Egypt?  For example:

HOW DID THE GEOGRAPHY OF EGYPT INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION?

This question looks at understanding how geography influenced the development of this society.  Location and geography are important to understand in the development of any civilisation.

With another student make up a mind map to develop some things you would like to find out about this civilisation. Print off your mind map and keep a copy in your folder.

I will try and upload a student’s mind map onto our blog.

GO TO OUR 2011 WEEKS 1 AND 2 PAGE (RIGHT HAND SIDEBAR)