Ancient Civilizations (Computer) - World Cultures Remix
In the computer-based Ancient Civilizations activity, students create their own civilization and see how it fares over the years based on choices they make for location, animals, plants and materials. Students trade resources between their civilizations, repeatedly go to war with unnamed enemies, and learn some fun facts about real-world ancient civilizations along the way. This activity was inspired by Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.
Topics addressed:
- Value of natural resources in ancient civilizations
- Impact of ecological and pathological events on populations
- Primary CT concept: abstraction. It would be foolish to try and explain all of ancient history by looking at just the natural resources available to a civilization, but for the purposes of this lesson, we abstract away all other details to focus on this important aspect of burgeoning civilizations.
Students will be able to:
- Describe the impact of the Bubonic Plague and understand how some civilizations developed immunities, giving them significant advantage over other civilizations
- Understand that some animals, plants and natural resources are more valuable to a burgeoning civilization than others
- Understand how certain resources can be used in tandem during periods of war
Materials:
Prep:
- Create a classroom code using the web app linked above. This will allow your students to trade with one another.
- If you’re focused on a particular ancient civilization, you could consider limiting the resources student can pick from to those that were plausibly in that civilization. In this way, you could repeat this activity in subsequent units with different civilizations.
Suggested lesson breakdown:
Day one: Monday
- Give them the whole period to prepare
- 10min – introduce game, kickoff map activity
- 35 min – students individually select their resources and draw their civilization map
Day two-four: Tues-Thurs
- 5min – students prepare their game board
- 5min – students calculate food bonuses
- 5min – the plague hits… revel in the devastation
- 5-10 min – random events
Day five:
- 5min – students prepare their game board
- 5min – students calculate food bonuses
- 5min – the plague hits… revel in the devastation
- 5-10 min – random events
- Wrap up with reflection: sketch notes, journaling, exit cards, etc...