Unit 2-14

Extras

Here are more activities, printables, and ideas you can add to this unit for even more learning opportunities.

Asian Kingdoms

• Learn more about medieval explorers, especially Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, and Zheng He.  PBS has a lesson plan about these three explorers with some videos that go with it.
• Shiva was (and is) an important deity of southeast Asia.  This lesson plan from the MET examines a statue of Shiva and its symbolism and then gives students an activity.
• Look at this map of Cambodia.  Find Angkor on the map.  Why might the ancient capital have been situated here?  Do research on Tonle Sap Lake.  Then spend some time viewing these images of the ruins of Angkor. What can you learn about the power and structure and values of this ancient kingdom by looking at the ruins?  Use printed maps and images of Angkor along with your written conclusions to make a notebooking page(s) on what you learned.

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Southeast Asia

• Choose a country in SE Asia and becoming a wedding planner for that country.  Where would the wedding be held?  Who would be invited?  What decorations would there be?  What would the bride wear? What would the groom wear?  Is there a party after the ceremony?  Make a wedding plan scrapbook with illustrations and ideas.
• Elephants are a “key” symbol of Thailand.  They are on the postage stamps, carved on walls, used in company logos, represented as gods, and made into statues.  Learn about Erawan, a sacred three-headed elephant who carries the Hindu Lord Indra.  Read the story of Queen Maha Maya’s Dream. Thailand used to be known as “the land of the white elephant” because the kings kept albino elephants as symbols of their power.  The elephants were considered sacred and were fed off of golden platters. Then make an elephant craft with white felt to represent Thailand.

Non-Metals

• A video about the reactivity of Halogens.  Which is the most reactive?  Can you put them in order?

Vivid Language

• While descriptive writing is still important today, writers spend a lot less space on descriptions than they did a century ago.  Look up a descriptive passage from a piece of classic literature and rewrite it, cutting it down by half, while keeping the tone and feel of the place and time.
• Having the right words at your command is essential for good writers.  Try 30 Days To Having a More Powerful Vocabulary.