Egypt Unit Project Topics (Newspaper Articles & Visual Presentations)

Transcription

1 Egypt Projects 1 Egypt Unit Project Topics (Newspaper Articles & Visual Presentations) Your project topic is meant to be used for a newspaper article. Every student will write 1 newspaper article. Each newspaper article should be at least 1 page in length. If it is typed, the article should be in 12pt. font, Times New Roman style, and should be double-spaced. All articles should answer the five basic questions: Who, Where, When, Why, and How. These questions should be answered in the first paragraph of the news article. (Samples of how this is done will be given out and reviewed in class.) The remaining paragraphs of the news article should be used to describe any further information that you feel is important to the news story. (This may include background information on the people involved.) This will also be reviewed in class to help guide you with your article. All students need to use at least 2 sources for their news story. No encyclopedias are to be used! These sources may be library books, magazine articles, or Internet sites. ****Warning: All sources need to be approved by the teacher! Not all information in books, magazines, and on the Internet is reliable. Some sources will mislead you about information that is not true. (In class, we will review how to use sources in your news story.) For Visual Presentations: Please do not copy any drawings or sketches from the Internet, books, or magazines. All drawings, murals, maps, and other visuals must be original works!

2 Egypt Projects 2 There are 20 different topics to choose from, so have fun choosing! 1. You re an Egyptian scribe! You are one of the most educated and intelligent people in all of Egypt, and you are working on hieroglyphic writing in the tomb of the newly dead pharaoh. Who is this pharaoh? What story will you write on the temple walls? (Maybe you will say something about the battles this pharaoh won against his enemies or maybe you will tell of the pharaoh s many building achievements.) You must choose the pharaoh and research him or her in order to tell a true story of him or her on the tomb walls. Visual presentation: Write this story in hieroglyphics on posterboard, using many colors! Translate the story into English and explain why you wrote it to the class. 2. Your pet animal has just died and you need to mummify it! You have loved this pet animal for at least ten years, but suddenly it was run over by a war chariot. (*Remember what happens to people who kill cats in ancient Egypt!) What kind of animal is it? What is the pet s name? How are you going to mummify it? Research and explain the process of mummification for animals. Was this different than for humans? Where will the mummy animal be buried? Create a short obituary (or death notice) for your pet, so others can attend the burial. Visual presentation: Draw out the process of mummification for your animal. Show what it finally looks like after mummification. Be able to explain your work to the class. 3. You re an Egyptian god! You have all the powers of the god you choose, and you must use those powers to help or hurt the Egyptian people (during times of war, flooding, drought a time of no water, or famine a time of little or no food). Which god are you? Will you help or hurt the Egyptian people? (You must research this god in order to understand if they helped or hurt the Egyptians.) What disaster has happened and how have you helped or hurt people? Why did you do that? Visual presentation: Create a short comic strip of your news story to show how you helped or hurt the Egyptian people. Be able to explain your work to the class. 4. You re an Egyptian historian! You have researched the story of Egyptian creation in the temple, but you think that it is wrong. Research the actual Egyptian story of creation

3 Egypt Projects 3 and add to it using your own creative thinking. What is wrong with it? What would you add and why? How will this effect the Egyptian people and their history? Visual presentation: Create a mural (a large drawing) that shows your own Egyptian creation story in color. Be able to explain your work to the class. 5. Create an ancient Egyptian city! Choose a city, such as Thebes, Memphis, Heliopolis, or Alexandria and research it. Using this information, describe how you will create your own Egyptian city for the pharaoh. Be sure to explain all the details of your city, such as its name, the Egyptian god that protects it, and what buildings will be located there. There should be a temple dedicated to the Egyptian god that protects the city, shops, homes, a school, and some kind of structure to honor the pharaoh. Visual presentation: Create your ancient Egyptian city on a large piece of posterboard. (Or, you can also build your city out of other materials, but the materials must be approved by the teacher!) Be able to explain your work to the class. 6. You re an explorer on the Nile River! You have wanted to search beyond Upper Egypt into the lands of Kush and Nubia. What have you discovered there? What are the Nubians like? How are they different from or similar to the Egyptians? Research and describe their culture including: their government, language, clothing, their conflicts with Egypt and its pharaoh. Visual presentation: Create a map of your journey from Upper Egypt to Kush and Nubia. On the map, point out interesting landmarks, where you stopped to explore along the way, and anything else of interest to you as an Egyptian explorer. Be able to explain your work to the class. 7. What is the story with those Egyptian pyramids? Who created them and why? Research to find out information about the pyramids of Egypt. Be sure to focus your news story on the earliest pyramids and what they were used for. Who was buried there? How were they built? (If a group chooses this topic, each person must focus on a specific pyramid from ancient Egypt, such as the pyramid of Khufu.) Visual presentation: Create your own 3-D pyramid. Use materials, such as wood, pebbles, cardboard, or others to build a large pyramid. Be sure to make the pyramid the same colors as other actual pyramids. Be able to explain your work to the class. 8. What is a mastaba? Research to find out what a mastaba is and how it was important to ancient Egyptians and to early pyramid building. How did the architect Imhotep use

4 Egypt Projects 4 mastabas to honor his pharaoh, Zoser? Be sure to explain how they were built and why they were built. Visual presentation: Create your own 3-D mastaba. Use materials, such as wood, pebbles, cardboard, or others to build a step pyramid made of mastabas. Be sure to make the pyramid the same colors as other actual step pyramids. Be able to explain your work to the class. 9. Interview a pharaoh! You re a reporter for the Mummy Times Press and you have just found out that the pharaoh asked to be interviewed by your newspaper. Choose a pharaoh from Egyptian history. You need to research the pharaoh that you choose to work on and understand the pharaoh s life, achievements, and anything else of importance. Create a list of interview questions, (at least 10 questions). This list has to be approved by the teacher. Then, you can give the answers that you think the pharaoh would give to your questions (based upon your research). Write your news story as if it were an interview with the pharaoh. Visual presentation: Add pictures to your news story. They should relate to the news story that you re creating and be larger than a normal sheet of paper. Be able to explain to the class how the pictures relate to your news. 10. You re a pharaoh! You re a god to the people of Egypt. Compare yourself to another pharaoh in Egyptian history. What did that pharaoh build or conquer? How are you better than that pharaoh? What will you build? What will you conquer? What other orders will you give to the people of Egypt? Which Egyptian god helps you to rule wisely? Be sure to focus your research on the pharaoh that you wish to compare yourself with. Visual presentation: As pharaoh, you have decided to get an early start on your tomb. You have the plans all set for your architect. Draw your pharaoh tomb and include at least 5 different rooms in which you might have treasures, mummified pets, food, or anything else a pharaoh might need for the afterlife. 11. You re an Egyptian soldier at a famous battle! Research a famous Egyptian battle and Egyptian weapons. Who is your enemy? Why are you fighting? Describe the battle from your point of view. What has happened? How many soldiers are fighting with you? How many soldiers does the enemy have? What weapons do you have? What weapons does the enemy have? What happened after the battle? Who won? What did they win? Be sure to relate most of this story to the facts you found in your research.

5 Egypt Projects 5 Visual presentation: Draw the battle on a large posterboard. (No blood or graphic details!!!) You should show how the soldiers are lined up and ready to fight, where the weapons are placed, and how the land looks where the battle will take place. Be able to explain your drawing and the battle to the class. 12. Imagine that you re a slave. You ve been captured by the Egyptians. Where do you come from? (Palestine, Mesopotamia, Nubia). Research the area you ve chosen to find out more information about the people there. If you re a slave from Nubia, you need to know what Nubians are like what they like to eat, how they dress, why they were fighting the Egyptians. Explain what its like to be a slave. Tell what your job is as a slave. (Do you help create pyramids? Do you work in the house of a wealthy Egyptian?) Visual presentation: Draw the inside of a slave s home. Be sure to include the food you eat, what your bed looks like, any furniture that you might have, and any other objects that you think belong in a slave s home. Be able to explain your drawing and the slave s life to the class. 13. You re on a journey with Egyptologist Howard Carter exploring King Tut s tomb! Research Howard Carter and King Tut s tomb. When did he explore Tut s tomb? Read through his diary and discover what it must have been like to discover the famous tomb. Create a news story as if you are with Carter and you discover the tomb together. What do you see inside the tomb? Give details of at least 2 rooms in the tomb. What kinds of objects are in the tomb? How is this discovery important to history and to Egypt? Visual presentation: What s in Tut s tomb? Draw it on posterboard. Include hieroglyphics, games, food containers or jars, other important objects that an 18 or 19 year old pharaoh would have. Be able to explain the tomb to the class. 14. You re about to mummify a pharaoh! You are going to mummify the most important person in all of Egypt. Be very careful. Explain how you will mummify the pharaoh. What steps do you need to take for the heart, lungs, brain, other body parts? How will you wrap this mummy? What kinds of materials and chemicals will you need to mummify the pharaoh? Be very clear about the process of mummification! Visual presentation: Draw your mummy laboratory! Show pictures of the chemicals you will use, the sacred jars you need, your table to examine the body, your tools to mummify the pharaoh, and anything else that you think should be there. Please do not be too gross!!! (No heads in jars. Mummies need their heads!) Be able to explain what you have drawn to the class.

6 Egypt Projects You re a vizier, a high counselor to the pharaoh! You have some important news to tell the pharaoh. Some nobles are trying to kill him! Have pharaohs in history been assassinated? (Look this up on the Internet or in the library!) Choose a pharaoh that was assassinated or almost was. Research to find out about the plan to kill the pharaoh. Explain the plan based upon your research. How can you warn your pharaoh about the nobles in secret? Are the pharaoh s slaves, wife, or children involved in the plan to kill him? What can you do to stop this? Visual presentation: Tell your story in hieroglyphics on a temple wall, so that others will know about the plan to kill the pharaoh. Be sure to make the hieroglyphics large, and they will be on a temple wall so color in the background. Be able to explain the story to the class and translate the hieroglyphics to English (under the hieroglyphics or on another posterboard). 16. You re an architect! You are planning to build a temple to honor the crowning of a new pharaoh of Egypt. Research an ancient Egyptian temple. What building material will you need? What statues and columns should be inside the temple? What statues and columns should be outside the temple? Describe how you used the temple from ancient Egypt as a model for the one you re building. How are they different? How are they similar? Be creative when you describe the temple that you want to build. Visual presentation: Draw it on posterboard and in color! Include hieroglyphics, columns, statues, stairs, a roof, and any other finishing touches that should be there. Use pictures of other temples as a model, but do not copy another temple. Be able to explain your work to the class. 17. You cook the pharaoh s food! You are the chef to the pharaoh. Research ancient Egyptian foods, especially the food that the wealthy ate. What s on the menu? Describe what food you are preparing for the pharaoh s grand feast to honor the sun god, Ra. How do you cook these foods? Be sure to include meats, vegetables, fruit, bread, drinks, cakes, chocolate deserts, and other Egyptian food. Why is this food so important to the Egyptian people? Be specific about your food. (So, if you mention figs, tell why they are so important to Egypt!) Visual presentation: Create a mural (a very large picture) of the feast! Be sure to include Ra s symbol on bowls and jars. Include all the food you spoke of in your news story. Be able to explain the feast to the class and why it is so important. 18. You re an Egyptian hairdresser! Cleopatra VII and Nefertiti had some cool hair. Research Egyptian clothing styles and hair care. What outfit is fit for a queen or a

7 Egypt Projects 7 pharaoh? What kinds of tools, chemicals, perfumes, berries, did they use in their hair to get that beautiful look they wanted? Describe the tips you would give to Cleopatra, Nefertiti, or another Egyptian queen on styles for clothing and hair care. What s in in Egypt for clothes and hair this season? Be sure to keep most of the news story focused on historical facts about Egyptian clothes and hair. Visual presentation: Create some new Egyptian fashions, using your knowledge of ancient Egyptian clothing and hair. Create and show at least 4-5 designs. All designs must relate to Egypt and Egyptian culture. Be able to explain your designs to the class. 19. You re an Egyptian athlete! Research Egyptian sports. Pick a sport and write a sports new story. What sport is it? Create a league and team names based on ancient Egyptian names (gods, goddesses, pharaohs). Explain the rules of the sport. Describe a sporting event, such as a field hockey match. Give the play-by-play, but be sure to use historical information about the sport when you do. This is not meant to be just a sports story. It must relate to Egyptian culture and Egyptian history! Visual presentation: Create a chariot racing sports arena where the Egyptians race their horse-drawn chariots against people from other lands. It must have seating, a field, chariot parking, flags, and other objects and symbols that would have been around in ancient times. It must be very large! Be able to explain your sports arena to the class and the rules of chariot racing! 20. Design your own news story related to Egypt. If you choose to do this, you must have your topic approved by a teacher BEFORE you begin. Designing your own topic might take some work, but it will be something that you might also enjoy more than a topic listed here. Visual presentation: You must explain what you wish to do for this to a teacher. It must be approved before you can start working on it!