Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium Teacher s Guide

Transcription

1 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium Teacher s Guide Grade Level: 6-8 Curriculum Focus: Ancient History Lesson Duration: One class period Program Description Pompeii: Preserved in Time (32 min.) Examines the final 24 hours for the people of this ancient Roman city before the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius. Greece: One Out of Many (4 min.) Traces how an assortment of city-states in the Aegean became one of the world s most complex and influential cultures. The Rise of Rome s Empire (5 min.) Shows how Rome s emperors swept away the old republic, created a vast empire, and came into conflict with a new religion, Christianity. Byzantium and Its Roman Ideals (5 min.) Reviews the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and how its surviving Eastern empire kept alive its achievements and heritage. Onscreen Questions Why were so many Pompeians unable to escape the eruption of Vesuvius? What evidence of ancient Greek art and culture exists today? How did Augustus bring stability to Rome? How did power in the Roman Empire shift during its final years? Lesson Plan Student Objectives Understand how historians and scientists have pieced together the story of Pompeii. Examine Pliny the Younger s first-hand account of the eruption of Vesuvius. Describe what the personal account reveals about the events in Pompeii. Materials Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium video and VCR, or DVD and DVD player Computer with Internet access

2 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium: Teacher s Guide 2 Procedures 1. On a classroom map, locate the city of Pompeii. (It is found near Naples, along Italy s west coast, just east of the Bay of Naples.) Ask students to describe what happened there in A.D. 79 and why the town is so well preserved. (The volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted. While volcanic material buried the town it also preserved it.) 2. Next, have students share some of the many ways that archaeologists, geologists, and other scientists have been able to piece together what happened during the eruption. (Answers will vary, such as: Archaeologists have made plaster impressions of spaces left by human and animal bodies; archaeologists have studied the artifacts found with bodies; radiologists have used MRI to learn more about the skeletons that have been discovered; scientists have studied the rock layers to determine the different stages of the eruption and how long each lasted; scientists studying the soil found a lack of bacteria, a sign of extreme heat.) 3. What crucial pieces of information were provided by the first-hand account of Pliny of the Younger? (His account provides a date and time of the eruption: August 24, A.D. 79, around noon.) How was Pliny able to view the eruption without getting hurt himself? (He witnessed the eruption from across the Bay of Naples.) How did he describe the eruption? (As a column of cloud stretching many kilometers into the air) How did this description help scientists understand the eruption? (It indicated the eruption must have been a massive explosion, not a slow lava flow.) 4. Tell students that Pliny the Younger s account was taken from letters to his friend Tacitus, a Roman historian. These letters were not discovered until the 16 th century. Have students watch the Web documentary of Pliny s account online at: 5. Have students watch and listen to the documentary once through without taking notes. Then have them watch it a second time, noting surprising or revealing phrases from Pliny the Younger s account. Have them write a brief essay about what the letters reveal, answering the following questions: Assessment How does Pliny the Younger describe the actual eruption? How does he describe the reaction of the people? What does this letter reveal about the events that could never be discovered by experts today? Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson. 3 points: Students were active in class discussions; provided several examples of how various scientists and Pliny the Younger s account have contributed to our understanding of Pompeii; essays reflected a strong understanding of Pliny s account and answered all three of the questions provided. 2 points: Students participated in class discussions; provided a few examples of how various scientists and Pliny the Younger s account have contributed to our understanding of Pompeii;

3 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium: Teacher s Guide 3 essays reflected a satisfactory understanding of Pliny s account and answered two of the questions provided. 1 point: Students did not participate in class discussions; provided few or no examples of how various scientists and Pliny the Younger s account have contributed to our understanding of Pompeii; essays reflected a weak understanding of Pliny s account and answered one or none of the questions provided. Vocabulary archaeologist Definition: A scientist who studies ancient peoples by analyzing the things they left behind. Context: Archaeologists have learned a lot about how the ancient Romans lived by studying the remains of Pompeii. excavation Definition: The act of digging a large hole or cavity for the purpose of locating and removing artifacts Context: Excavations in Pompeii have uncovered about a thousand bodies in the streets and houses pumice Definition: A lightweight, bubble-filled volcanic rock that forms from foamy magma Context: Within a few hours a blanket of pumice nearly a meter deep had smothered Pompeii. pyroclastic flow Definition: High speed, high temperature avalanches of volcanic fragments, ash, and gases caused by eruptions or the collapse of a volcanic dome. Context: Pyroclastic flows have the power to destroy everything in their path. pyroclastic surge Definition: Similar to a flow but with a smaller amount of fragments and a higher concentration of potentially deadly gases. Context: Scientists believe a combination of pyroclastic flows and surges killed many of the residents of Pompeii. Academic Standards National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences provides guidelines for teaching science in grades K 12 to promote scientific literacy. To view the standards, visit this Web site:

4 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium: Teacher s Guide 4 This lesson plan addresses the following science standards: Science as Inquiry: Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data; Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations. Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) McREL's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit This lesson plan addresses the following national standards: World History: Era 3 Understand how major religious and large-scale empires arose in the Mediterranean Basin, China, and India from 500 BCE to 300 CE Science: Nature of Science Understands the nature of scientific inquiry The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidelines for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to This lesson plan addresses the following thematic standards: Time, Continuity, and Change People, Places, and Environments Support Materials Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit DVD Content This program is available in an interactive DVD format. The following information and activities are specific to the DVD version. How To Use the DVD The DVD starting screen has the following options:

5 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium: Teacher s Guide 5 Play Video This plays the video from start to finish. There are no programmed stops, except by using a remote control. With a computer, depending on the particular software player, a pause button is included with the other video controls. Video Index Here the video is divided into four parts (see below), indicated by video thumbnail icons. Watching all parts in sequence is similar to watching the video from start to finish. Brief descriptions and total running times are noted for each part. To play a particular segment, press Enter on the remote for TV playback; on a computer, click once to highlight a thumbnail and read the accompanying text description and click again to start the video. Curriculum Units These are specially edited video segments pulled from different sections of the video (see below). These nonlinear segments align with key ideas in the unit of instruction. They include onscreen pre- and post-viewing questions, reproduced below in this Teacher s Guide. Total running times for these segments are noted. To play a particular segment, press Enter on the TV remote or click once on the Curriculum Unit title on a computer. Standards Link Selecting this option displays a single screen that lists the national academic standards the video addresses. Teacher Resources This screen gives the technical support number and Web site address. Video Index I. Pompeii: Preserved in Time (32 min.) For more than 1,500 years the ancient Roman city of Pompeii lay buried in volcanic rubble. Discover why scientists think the eruption that destroyed Pompeii was particularly lethal. II. Greece: One Out of Many (4 min.) Examine the innovations, beliefs, culture, and customs of ancient Greek society, and see how this early civilization helped give rise to the modern Western world. III. The Rise of Rome s Empire (5 min.) Learn about the Roman Empire, from its beginnings as a small town through to its final years, and discuss the leaders who were most influential in guiding its course. IV. Byzantium and Its Roman Ideals (5 min.) The Eastern Roman Empire continued to thrive long after the Western Roman Empire had dissolved. Trace the roots of Byzantium to its beginnings as the capital of an enduring empire.

6 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium: Teacher s Guide 6 Curriculum Units 1. Pompeii: A Volcanic Mystery Q: Have you ever experienced a natural disaster? Q: Why do you think the victims found in Pompeii should few signs of injury? 2. Uncovering the Site Q: What do you think it would be like to live near an active volcano? Q: What made excavation at Pompeii so easy? A: The volcanic material that covered the town was lava that had turned into particles of dust and pumice. 3. Examining the Skeletons Q: How does modern technology help us examine the past? Q: What has 3-D MRI scanning told us about the skeletons found at Pompeii? A: The scans showed a powdery material in the sinus cavities of many of the victims, indicating they breathed in extremely dusty air. 4. Vesuvius Eruption Q: Do you think all volcanic eruptions are the same? Q: Why does Professor Haraldur Sigurdsson believe that most of Pompeii s residents survived Vesuvius eruption? A: Geological evidence shows that Visuvius ejected 10,000 tons a second of volcanic material a second. However, according to Professor Surgeson, most of the population survived the downpour because it was too light to kill them. 5. Fatal Hesitation

7 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium: Teacher s Guide 7 Q: What would you take if you had to flee your home quickly? Q: What do scientists think many residents of Pompeii didn t flee immediately after Vesuvius erupted? A: People may have wanted to find their loved ones or pack personal belongings. Many bodies were found with their house keys, indicating they took the time to lock their houses. The hesitation may have been a fatal mistake because studies show the amount of volcanic material spewing from Vesuvius continued to increase during the first several hours. 6. To Flee or Stay Q: Why might somebody decide not to flee a deadly situation? Q: What would you have done during the eruption of Vesuvius? 7. Pompeii s Last Breath Q: Have you ever had trouble breathing? Q: What is a volcanic surge? A: A volcanic, or pyroclastic, surge occurs when the dome of a volcano caves in. The column of material jetting out of the volcano suddenly collapses, sending an avalanche of very hot volcanic material and gases hurtling down the mountain at great speed. 8. Determining the Death Toll Q: What would it have been like at Pompeii on the day of the eruption? Q: How many people died in and around Pompeii? 9. Ancient Greek City-States Q: How does your hometown differ from others?

8 Enduring Influence: Rome, Greece, and Byzantium: Teacher s Guide 8 Q: Describe the Greek city-states. A: The Greek city-states were isolated and spread out across the Mediterranean region. Each had its own religious practices and customs; citizens were fiercely loyal to their own city-states and to the gods at their own temples. City-states often fought as they tried to control more land. land. 10. The Influence of Greek Gods Q: What do you know about ancient Greek society? Q: How did Greek mythology give rise to modern theater? A: In ancient Greece, drama began as performances that were part of religious festivals. Actors spoke lines and groups called choruses commented on them. Over time, writers wrote complex plays that probed questions of how people should live. 11. Rome: From Republic to Empire Q: Would you rather live in a republic or an empire? Q: Why was Julius Caesar assassinated? A: Many of Rome s senators were concerned that Caesar was turning Rome into a monarchy, making himself king. They also wanted to stop Caesar because they saw him as a threat to their own power. 12. Byzantium: An Eastern Empire Q: Why do you think governments and civilizations fall? Q: What led to the rise of Byzantium? A: In 312 Constantine became emperor of Rome and he moved the capital to the location of Byzantium, an ancient Greek city; he named this city Constantinople. Over the next centuries Constantinople became the center of Roman power as the Western Roman Empire grew weaker. The eastern empire thrived and eventually came to be known as the Byzantine Empire.