This is my forth and last post on our studies on Ancient Mesopotamia three years ago.
For part one: http://angelicscalliwags.com/2012/10/31/looking-back-mesopotamia-part-1/
Part two: http://angelicscalliwags.com/2012/11/07/looking-back-mesopotamia-part-2/
This was our first EVER presentation, so we were still finding our feet a little. The children had made a papier-mache map of how they imagined a river civilisation to look like using newspaper and a flour & water glue. On closer inspection I may have dyed desiccated coconut green and stuck it on the map for the fields! I think it was L10 (who would have been about 7 then) who did her presentation on rivers and civilisations. I teach everything through history and of course that includes geography. The children learnt that all early civilisations grew up around a river. They discovered how rivers were formed and learnt all about the water cycle and about river features.
L10 (7) had built a shaduf, a water collector which allowed irrigation, resulting in a more planned farming year and reducing the need to move on hunting and gathering. It was an important feature in these first civilisations in Mesopotamia. She also built a clay house and placed it on the river bank, up on the higher ground to be safe from the yearly flood:
C10, also 7 at the time, chose cuneiform as her topic. Here is her display board, cuneiform and stylus
T10, probably 8 at the time, did a presentation on Warfare at the time of Sargon, the world’s first ever dictator. I wish I had photos of him in his costume, but I can’t find them. He made his own black papier-mache helmet and a cloak of thick black cotton with foil covered card discs to represent the type of primitive armour they wore then. In addition to his dress up he made a selection of weapons found at the time:
And that’s it! All our work for Mesopotamia. It has been so good, looking back at all we have achieved. Hope you enjoyed it!
Sigh, I love Playmobil. They’re such great fun for learning.
I know! My older ones are just starting to outgrow them….so sad!
I love seeing your presentations. Your children seem to really enjoy doing them.
We have great fun, I can’t imagine our homeschool without them!