EDSITEment: Following the Great Wall of China
Learn some history of the great Chinese imperial dynasties, particularly the Ming, and help build the Great Wall of China with the interactive map that is part of this lesson. By examining the Great Wall you can learn something about the foreign policy of China and the intentions of its neighbors in the 14th through 16th centuries. Information is provided about the resources needed to build the wall and an essay about the geography of China describes the terrain covered by this huge civil engineering undertaking. Teachers will find guiding questions, learning objectives, and lesson activities that will support student knowledge as the students work on the Great Wall. In addition are photographs of the wall today.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/following-great-wall-china
Math Science Nucleus: The Bear and the Baby
Astronomy for the elementary school set! The more kids know about their natural environment, the greater involvement they will feel with it. This is a great little story, set in a village in Eritrea, where the village storyteller shows the children the night sky, picks out Polaris, and tells them the Roman myth about Callisto and Arcas, who became Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Many of the illustrations are animated, and at the end of the story is a star chart showing many constellations that surround “The Bear and the Baby.” This is a a simple, but instructive, introduction to constellations that will interest your students.
http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/storybooks/BearAndBaby.html
