Invention: SHADUF Culture: ANCIENT EGYPT

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1 Ancient Inventions by GameDesk Welcome to Ancient Inventions! Each module focuses on a specific invention from antiquity and a civilization that utilized it. Through a series of lessons that can last between five and ten class periods, students will assume the role of a historically accurate character and build a working model of an ancient invention that the character would have used. Students will: Immerse themselves in a historical culture through role-playing characters of the past Build a working model of an invention Test and improve their invention Learn the scientific and mathematical principles behind an invention Exercise their knowledge of both a civilization and an invention through a board game Learn about the Engineering Method Apply engineering principles to a new, personal context Each unit can be played separately or combined into a series, with legacy benefits for students who do exceptionally well in one unit. Invention: SHADUF Culture: ANCIENT EGYPT Multiple subjects are covered in this module: math, science, engineering, history, art, and creative writing. They are intertwined into a contextual educational adventure where students are motivated by the scenario and their own empowered abilities to change it. Some parts of the game are competitive, but there are multiple openings for cooperation and peer-to-peer learning. This may appear chaotic at times, but that is a feature, not a flaw. You might be surprised by the engagement and innovation of your students, even from the ones you least expect. We hope so. Goals: Identify the benefits and problems caused by the Nile River's annual fluctuations. Understand the importance of the shaduf invention. Build a model shaduf and improve on initial designs. Understand how a lever provides a mechanical advantage. Apply and understand the Engineering Method. Give examples about daily life in Ancient Egypt by taking on the character of a person in that society.

2 1 Lessons included in this module: Lesson 1: Who are the Egyptians? (1-2 hours) The class is broken into six different social groups from the ancient civilization. Each student will receive the role of a different character. (1-2 hours) Lesson 2: What Did They Invent? (2-3 hours) Students are introduced to an invention that is associated with the ancient Egyptian civilization. In their character groups, proceed through the engineering process and build a physical model of that invention. Lesson 3: How Did They Do It? (1-2 hours) Students learn the mechanics of the invention, covering physics, mathematics, and engineering principles. Students make observations and measurements about their models. They use this data to improve the performance of their invention. Lesson 4: Civilization Game (1-6 hours) Students synthesize information about the ancient Egyptian culture through a game. Students answer questions, perform challenges, provide other groups with knowledge, and judge the quality of each other s responses. Progress (and knowledge) is tracked through a game board, which offers the additional possibility of strategic play. Lesson 5: Processing and Application (1 hour) Students reflect on their experiences during the module. They apply their engineering and historical knowledge to solve a new problem. Supplemental Materials: Engineering Method Invention Requirements Lever graphics Testing Procedure Civilization Game Rules

3 2 Lesson 1: Who are the Egyptians? Objectives: Students will identify the roles and responsibilities of six social classes in Ancient Egypt. Preparation: Sort students into six equal groups. Groups can be assigned by you, self-selected by the students, or done randomly. If possible, keep the groupings secret. Part of the lesson requires the students to find their fellow workers by listening to a presentation. Lesson: 1. Introduce the Egypt module by showing its location on the world map and asking students to share what they already know about the ancient Egyptian civilization. Tell students that this module takes place in 1470 BCE, during the reign of Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Northern and Southern Egypt were united under her kingdom. Point out that the whole region consisted of desert, except for a sliver of land on either side of the Nile River. This fertile area was called the Nile River Valley, and that is where the civilization of Ancient Egypt flourished. 2. Define LARP (Live Action Role Play) and engineering (designing and building machines). Give a brief overview of the Egypt module and how the next week or two will look. 3. Pass out the Character Sheets to students. 4. Pass out the Student Journals. Direct students to fill in the first page using information from their Character Sheet. 5. Announce that there will be a presentation shortly and each student will be required to give a gift to the pharaoh. Give students several minutes to study their Character Sheets and take notes in their journal to determine what their character would have offered to the pharaoh. They should plan to include: a. Their character s name b. Their character s role or job c. Their character s specific skill, activities, or knowledge d. Their gift (Encourage students to embody their characters as much as possible. If time allows, they can also draw a picture of their offering or prepare a more detailed presentation ritual.) 6. Announce that you will be playing the role of Vizier, the assistant to the pharaoh. (The more you embody your character, the more students will be encouraged to role-play.) Lead the presentation. One by one, students present themselves to the pharaoh s adviser, called Vizier, played by the teacher. Students may take notes about their classmates in their student journals, on the page labeled, Character Matrix. 7. When the presentation is complete, challenge students to find their group based on what they heard during the presentation. Explain that there are six equal groups, each consisting of students with similar roles. In the Egypt module, these groups are farmers, artisans, priests, merchants, government, and scribes. 8. Present the specialized Knowledge Scroll to each group when they are correctly assembled. (The farmers receive the Farmer Knowledge Scroll; the priests receive the Priest Knowledge Scroll, etc.) The Knowledge Scrolls contain illustrations and

4 3 information pertaining to their characters social class. Allow groups several minutes to read over their Knowledge Scrolls. 9. Announce the next challenge of making a name badge. Each student will make his/her own name badge, but must plan the badge with their group. (Badges can be reusable name tags, table signs, headbands, or sashes it is up to the teacher s discretion.) Badges must include the following: a. A background or main color that matches the color indicated on the group s Knowledge Scroll. b. Character name. c. A group symbol that reflects their group s social class or occupation. (This should be identical for all members in that group.) d. An individual symbol relating to their particular character. 10. When a group completes their badges, they may choose three fields from the game board. The first field they pick must be directly connected to the Nile River. The second and third fields must be adjacent to the first, or connected to the Nile River. During Lesson 1, the fields selected must be selected from the dark green, representing those easiest to irrigate. Field ownership is indicated by a colored marker, corresponding with the color on each group s Knowledge Scroll. A group that does not complete their badges does not earn fields. You may award one or two fields for partial completion of the badges at your discretion. 11. If time allows, groups can present their badges to the class. 12. Award Ma at Cards to students or groups who have demonstrated good teamwork, superior presentation skills, fast cleaning, or any other positive behaviors you deem worthwhile. Explain that the cards may be used during Lesson Reflection. Students answer the reflection questions in their journals. They can share out with a partner or with the class. Assessment: Student presentations, cooperation in group challenge to make badge, finished badges, completion of reflection in journal. Materials: World map (not provided), Character Sheets, Knowledge Scrolls, materials for badges (can be made of paper and markers), game board and magnetic game pieces, Ma at Cards, student journals.

5 4 Lesson 2: What Did They Invent? Objectives: Students will design and build their own model shaduf by following the Engineering Method. Preparation: Arrange the room so that each group has their own private working space. Lay out the building materials and tools in a place accessible to all students. Plug in glue-guns. Clear out a storage space where inventions can be stored upright when class is not in session. Identify a sink or drinking fountain that students can use for their model. Lesson: 1. Review Lesson 1 by having students read their reflections or recall facts about their characters. They should display their badges. 2. Revisit the game board and fields awarded at the end of Lesson 1. Announce that there is a terrible drought and the level of the Nile River is lowering on a daily basis. Because of the drought, some of the fields are not being irrigated and are dying. Remove one field off the board from each group. Explain to the class that they will have the chance to earn back a field if they can build an irrigation device. Their invention can help them water their fields during a drought, even those that are far away from the river. Tell the students that if they are good engineers, they can earn many fields over the course of the week and possibly win the entire game. 3. Introduce the Engineering Method chart. Guide the students to understand and complete the first three steps as a class. Refer to Character Sheets, Knowledge Scrolls, and experiences from Lesson 1. Students record their answers in the student journals. a. Define the Problem: How do you move water from the Nile River during a drought? b. Do Background Research [about the geography and materials available]: Egyptians had wood, mud, linen, flax rope, stone, cloth, and metals to use as building materials. The Nile River flooded annually. The land closest to the Nile was lower elevation than plots of land farther out. c. Specify Requirements: [Refer to the Shaduf Requirements Basic.] 4. Show a video or model of the shaduf. Explain that the Egyptians created this invention to lift water from the low Nile into canals higher up. Draw attention to the parts of the shaduf that moved or pivoted. Allow students a few minutes to observe the shaduf and ask questions. Put the shaduf away before moving on. 5. Present the building challenge: Each group will build their own model shaduf. Each group that successfully builds a shaduf (and meets the basic requirements) will be rewarded with a field at the end of the day. Show the building materials and tools available for this challenge. 6. Groups complete Step 4: Brainstorm, Evaluate, and Choose Solution by sketching design ideas in their journals. They should label their designs with the materials they plan on using. 7. Students select building materials and begin building. (Allow 1-2 hours for building.) Circulate amongst the groups to check their progress and teamwork and to make sure all tools are being used safely. It is important that you do not tell students how to build the shaduf. Allow them to make mistakes in their building.

6 5 8. Clean up. Model shadufs should remain out. 9. One at a time, groups present their shaduf to the teacher and the rest of the class. They demonstrate whether their invention meets each requirement. If it meets all four basic requirements, they earn one field on the game board. Fields must be adjacent to previous fields owned by that group or be connected to the Nile River. Groups who have finished their shaduf may select a field colored olive, representing those farther away or more elevated from the Nile River and needing the shaduf for irrigation. 10. Award Ma at Cards to students or groups who have demonstrated good teamwork, superior building skills, fast cleaning, or any other positive behaviors you deem worthwhile. Explain that the cards may be used during Lesson Reflection. Students answer the reflection questions in their journals. They can share out with a partner or with the class. Assessment: Finished shaduf, cooperation with group, presentation of shaduf to the class Materials: Engineering Method chart, Character Sheets, Knowledge Scrolls, badges from Lesson 1, game board and magnetic game pieces, Ma at Cards, student journals, water source, building materials listed below. BUILDING MATERIALS: For the base: popsicle sticks, toothpicks, small wooden blocks, pencils, clay, wood For the bucket: cloth cut into pieces approximately one foot square, disposable cups, clay, string, twine For the counterweights: marbles, rocks, clay Other materials that can be used, including cardboard, paper plates, anything stick-like, small boxes, empty food packaging, silverware, strips of leather, etc. Try to use building materials that match the resources that were available in Ancient Egypt for example, wood and clay was plentiful, while plastic didn t exist at the time. TOOLS: Scissors, multiple glue guns, masking tape, thumb tacks, wood saw

7 6 Lesson 3: How Did They Do It? Objectives: Students will identify the parts of a lever: fulcrum, resistance arm, effort arm. Students will discuss how the mechanics of a lever are affected when the fulcrum is moved or the size of a load is changed. Students will apply their knowledge of the lever to improve their shaduf. Preparation: Arrange the room as in Lesson 2. Make remaining building materials and tools available. The first part of Lesson 3 should be given away from the materials, utilizing a model lever and a whiteboard. Lesson: 1. Review the game board. Announce that the drought has not ended. Though many fields were saved yesterday, the shadufs are not working well enough to irrigate all the land. Each group loses one field. Announce that you will teach the class how to make an improved shaduf. Any group that can improve their shaduf after your lesson will be awarded with two fields. 2. Introduce the lever. Show a graphic or label a drawing with the parts of a lever: fulcrum, arm. Explain that a lever is a simple machine that transmits a force. In other words, it changes the amount of force needed to move an object, and/or it changes the direction of the forced required. A lever distributes the weight of an object over the length of its arm and onto the fulcrum. A lever also changes the direction of force needed to move an object. For example, a person can push down on a lever to lift an object on the opposite edge. 3. Use drawings, graphics, or a model to demonstrate how a lever behaves in the following scenarios. a. The fulcrum is in the middle. Equal forces are acting on both sides of the arm. b. The fulcrum is in the middle. A force is acting on only one side of the arm. c. The fulcrum is in the middle. Equal forces are acting on both sides of the arm, but one of the forces is closer to the fulcrum. (This happens on a see-saw when one child sits closer to the center.) Note it doesn t really matter how long the arm is behind the point of force. In this example, the child sitting closer to the fulcrum effectively shortens the arm, and causes the fulcrum to become uncentered.

8 4. Use drawings, graphics, or a model to demonstrate how a lever behaves when the fulcrum is moved towards either side. Students should identify that moving the fulcrum changes how the lever will balance especially when equal forces are acting on both sides! 5. Show a graphic or label a drawing with the parts of the shaduf: fulcrum, arm, bucket, counterweight. Identify and label the part of the arm between the fulcrum and the counterweight as the effort arm. Identify and label the part of the arm between the fulcrum and the bucket as the resistance arm. (You can remember the Resistance arm as the side that is Really important to Raise water up.) Tell students that the shaduf is a type of lever, and it makes lifting heavy buckets of water easier through the use of a counterweight and the placement of the fulcrum. 6. 7

9 8 7. Introduce the new challenge of making the shaduf work better at lifting water. Display the Shaduf Requirements Advanced. In order to prove that a shaduf is better at lifting water, each full bucket must be three times the weight of its counterweight. (Make sure students understand that they will weigh their bucket while it is filled with water.) The full bucket must rise to equilibrium without a student lifting it. This will prove that the shaduf is lifting water by itself which is making it easier for an Egyptian! Instruct students to first adjust the weight of their bucket and counterweight, and then make adjustments so the bucket rises. Refer to the Testing Procedure chart. 8. Student groups improve their shaduf, documenting all changes on the Test Your Shaduf! page in their journal. Teacher circulates and helps students as needed. Students who finish early can decorate their shaduf. Set a time limit for improvement. 9. In front of the class, each group presents their shaduf. They report the weights of their full bucket and counterweight and the measurements of their resistance arm and effort arm. The class records these figures in their journals. They demonstrate whether their shaduf meets the requirements of rising to equilibrium. All groups whose shaduf meets the advanced requirements are awarded two fields. This can be documented on the game board. 10. Students analyze the measurements in their journals. Guide them to recognize that the ratio between bucket and counterweight (3:1) is identical to the ratio between effort arm and resistance arm (3:1). 11. Introduce the formula to make a balanced lever: Weight 1 * distance 1 = weight 2 * distance 2. The distance of each arm is measured as the length between the weight and the fulcrum. If you know any three of the variables, you can find the fourth. Use the students shaduf measurements in the formula to prove that it works. (If a group did not meet the requirements, their measurements will not produce a working equation.) 12. Students work the math problems in their journal, using the lever formula. 13. Award fields to each group who met the Advanced Shaduf Requirements. 14. Award Ma at Cards to a few students who demonstrated good teamwork, helpful behavior, fast cleanup, or superior engineering. 15. Reflection. Students answer the reflection questions in their journals. They can share out with a partner or with the class. Materials: Building materials and tools listed in Lesson 2, Testing Procedure Chart, small digital scale (must measure in grams), water source. To make a model lever, use a meter stick and a ball. Assessment: Participation in discussion about lever, participation in improving shaduf, pages in student journal completed correctly, reflection answers.

10 9 Lesson 4: Civilization Game Objectives: Students will synthesize their knowledge of ancient Egyptian culture by completing challenges. Students will work in a group to gather knowledge, spread knowledge, and evaluate their classmates knowledge. Preparation: Make sure that you have read the Teacher s Guide to the Egyptian Board Game rules. Arrange the tables of the room into a circle. Members of each group sit together. There should be room for the students and teacher to walk from group to group. A table in the middle will hold the Challenge Cards and Answer Cards. The game board may be hung on the wall or placed on the center table. Separate each deck of cards into six piles, corresponding with their category. Place all twelve piles face down on the center table. Arrangement of tables: Lesson: 1. Explain how the game board works, and how the completion of a shaduf affects the placement of fields. 2. Explain turn-taking using the roles of Challenger, Helper, and Judger. 3. Identify the Challenge Cards and corresponding Answer Cards. 4. Explain how the Judgers determine a Basic or Advanced answer. 5. Explain your role as the Vizier. 6. Explain how Ma at cards work. (Begin using Ma at cards on the second day of the game, so students have a chance to understand the basic game mechanic.) 7. Begin play. 8. Continue play until turn-order chart is complete or all fields have been taken. The game can last for several hours. The group with the most fields is the winner. 9. Reflection. Students answer the reflection questions in their journals. You may select a few questions each day if you plan on continuing the game over a longer time. They can share out with a partner or with the class.

11 10 Assessment: Student participation in answering, helping, and judging challenges. Materials: Character Sheets, Character Scrolls, Challenge Cards, Answer Cards, game board, board markers, shadufs.

12 11 Lesson 5: Processing and Application Objectives: Students will evaluate the effectiveness of the shaduf. Students will apply their understanding of the mechanics of the shaduf to solve a contemporary problem. Lesson: 1. Review the game board from Lesson 4 and pronounce the winning group. 2. Present awards to a few students who have demonstrated exemplary performance throughout the module. (These can be certificates, stickers, or other rewards.) Encourage the class to celebrate each student who has earned this distinction. These select students can choose their character group in any subsequent module of Ancient Inventions. 3. Reflect on the entire Egypt module using the questions below. Students may write their answers in their journal, share with a partner, discuss with the class, or all three. You can choose which reflection questions to emphasize. What was the purpose of the shaduf? What problems in Ancient Egypt did the shaduf not solve? What is the value of the engineering process? Do you think the problem solvers of Ancient Egypt used the engineering process exactly like you did in class? How may their process have been different? What did you find interesting about life in Ancient Egypt? Is there anything about Ancient Egypt that you still want to know? What skills did you learn in this module? Is there any student who impressed you during the module? Explain why. What knowledge can you take from this module into other areas of your life? 4. You or the students select one Application Challenge from the options below to answer in their journals. Have students complete the Engineering Method and design their invention in the space provided. Every once in a while, the Nile River floods more than usual. What if the water filled the temples of Egypt? What adjustments can you make to your shaduf so that it can be used to direct the water back into the Nile River? Plan for the palace to be located high above the river valley. The pharaoh would like to erect a tall monument made out of a single, heavy stone. Use the mechanics of the lever to demonstrate how a single person standing on the ground can move the heavy stone. Identify a problem in your community, either in your home, school, or your neighborhood. Use the basics of the shaduf to solve this problem. You may need to change aspects of the shaduf to address your needs. (Examples: rainwater gets wasted by going down the sewer, the trash cans are too far away from the house, birds are getting caught in chimneys, fish cannot swim across a dam.)

13 12 5. Share out with the class. Assessment: Reflection answers in journal or discussion, participation in Application Challenge. Materials: Awards of certificates (not provided), student journals.

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15 14 Stand by itself Shaduf Requirements (Basic) Operable by a single person, with one hand Collect water from a lower point and empty it at a higher point Pivot at least 90 degrees Shaduf Requirements (Advanced) The bucket (filled with water) must weigh three times as much as the counterweight. The bucket (filled with water) must rise to equilibrium from its lowest point.

16 15 Mechanical Advantage Leverage - label the diagram force load effort arm fulcrum resistance arm 1) What happens to the length of the effort arm if the fulcrum is moved closer to the load? What happens to the length of the resistance arm? 2) Which way would you move the fulcrum to gain more of a mechanical advantage?

17 16 Shaduf fulcrum counterweight arm base container/load

18 17 Shaduf Testing Procedure 1. Weigh your bucket filled with water. 2. Make your counterweight 1/3 the weight of the bucket. or 1. Weigh your counterweight. 2. Make your full bucket weigh three times as much as the counterweight. 3. Predict where the fulcrum should be, if the full bucket is to rise to equilibrium from its lowest point. 4. Measure each side of the arm from the fulcrum. Record in student journal. 5. Attach the bucket, counterweight, and arm to the base of the shaduf. 6. Fill the bucket. Pull it down to its lowest point. Let go. Observe. Did it meet the requirement? Record in student journal. 7. Repeat steps 3, 4, 5 and 6 until you meet the requirements!