In this latest homeschool history lesson, we will be focusing on the travels of Marco Polo from Venice in Europe to Ormus in Persia.
Discover all the fun things you can include in a Marco Polo Adventure Box
Venice to Ormus
Read More! Discover who Marco Polo Was
Our first leg of the journey to Cathay would take us from Venice in Europe to Ormus, in Persia. We had read up to chapter 18 in Marco Polo’s Travels a few weeks before. This took us to the vicinity of Ormus (Hormuz).
One story Rusticello relates is about the Kalif of Baldach and how he was defeated by Ulau, a Tartar (Mongolian) prince, after testing the Christians of his country with a view to killing them. I reread chapter 8 to the children. I asked them to choose a portion of the story and write a diary entry concerning it. They did this during their independent study, which is working out so well:
Check this out! In our lesson on Marco Polo and the Mongolians, we learnt how to make fuel out of rabbit dung!
The Travels of Marco Polo: Individual Projects
The individual projects I set each week for each child also remain a huge hit.
The Travelling Caravan Camels
This week T11 was given the task of researching the camels used in the caravans along the silk road. He subsequently built a model of a caravan using plasticine and playmobil. A rough material (hessian) was perfect for the luggage the camels carried:
The Fountain of Oil in Armenia Major (Lillie’s Project)
During this leg of the trip Polo, in chapter 4, mentions a fountain of oil he discovered in Armenia Major. This oil, said he, was good for burning. It was also useful for the skin on both animals and humans, to relieve soreness. I asked L10 to research recipes that may have been used on the journey along the silk road. She could then make some up for our own journey. Which she did with great aplomb!
Having researched recipes, L10 gathered her supplies of ingredients. These included oil, garlic, onion, lavender oil, dried lavender flowers and dried lavender powder. She began pealing, crushing, pouring and mixing. The final photo shows the final ointments; one a garlic and onion infusion and the other, lavender:
Silk Road Fables (Charlotte’s Project)
C10 continued with her project as our entertainer. Last week she had rewritten one of the silk road fables into a play (The Stone Cutter who was Never Satisfied). This week she concentrated her efforts planning everyone’s costumes. She had to bear in mind they had a limited amount of room to carry extras. Charlotte came up with some lovely ideas.
She made and painted the wand, the mask my mum had given as a gift after a trip to Venice, a chisel and hammer for the stone mason; and card board depicting all the things the stone mason wished to be.
Making Oil Lamps
Every afternoon, we did some group work making lamps using clay and the oil Polo spoke about in his book. They worked a treat and we liked them so much we’re going to make some others for our own use in the house:
The Travels of Marco Polo
Using red paint we traced Marco Polo’s journey to Ormus via Turkey and Persia. The route he took was country we have already studied in great depth, having looked at the terrain in Turkey 4 years ago and Mesopotamia and Persia three years ago:
Next week we will discover why Polo chose the harder route over land, rather than travel in the Hormuz ships!
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