A WebQuest on Ancient Greece
west4980@pacificu.edu
Ancient Greece was not one united empire, but instead was a collection of smaller city-states. A city-state was bigger than a city, because it also included the surrounding villages and farmland, and was smaller than a state. Each city-state had its own governing unit.
The people living in these city-states all had a common heritage and were all considered to be Greek. Yet, each city-state had its own governing unit and the people of each city-state had different beliefs and ways of living life.
Athens and Sparta were two of Ancient Greece's largest city-states. Both were powerful city-states with amazing people who have influenced today's world. Both were also distinct groups of people whose views on government, education, family life, and values differed from each other. The rivalry between the two city-states is well-known.
Your job is to research the similarities and differences between Athens and Sparta.
You will research Athens and Sparta as individual city-states to gain an understanding of each city-state's government, social class, roles of people, education and economy.
Think about how the two cities were similar and how they differed. Use the following worksheet to help organize your thoughts.
Create a character for yourself that is either Athenian or Spartan. Write a letter to your family describing where you are from and what a typical day is like for you.
As a class, we will read our letters and discuss how and why we chose our characters.
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Everyone will be given an Ancient Greece journal in which to keep notes, ideas, and drawings of this unit.
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You and a partner will work together to research the two city-states on the computer. Take turns finding and reading the information on the online resources. Some of the information you find should be review. Both of you need to record your findings in your own journal.
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First, gather the following information about Athens. Be sure to note your discoveries in your journal.
4. Now gather the following information about Sparta. Be sure to note your discoveries in your journal.
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Locate Sparta on the two maps and describe its location in comparison to Athens. For example, is it North or South of Athens, is it near the water, what other cities are nearby, what seas are nearby. There are 2 maps, be sure to page down and look at BOTH maps.
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Sparta had different groups, or classes, of people. Go to the following websites to learn about military professionals (Spartiates), outsiders (Perioeci), women and slaves (Helots). Take careful notes on each group.
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/8b_p1.html |
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Describe a child's education in Sparta. Be sure to include boys, girls and slaves.
http://www.laconia.org/sparti_h_1.htm#Upbringing |
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What was a woman's role in Sparta?
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/aegean/culture/womenofsparta.html |
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What role did the military play in Sparta?
http://www.angliacampus.com/public/pri/history/greeks/page30.htm http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/athenssparta.htm |
5. Now that you have finished your research, it is time to think about how these two city-states are similar and how they are different. Use your notes and worksheet to help organize your thoughts.
6. Create a character for yourself that is either Athenian or Spartan. Write a letter to your family describing where you are from and what a typical day is like for you. Things to keep in mind are how old are you, are you male or female, do you go to school, are you in the military? Use the information you have just learned about Athens or Sparta to write this letter. Remember, a letter is written in 1st person.
7. First write a rough draft. Then, in your best cursive handwriting, write a final draft.
8. The final draft is due _______________________________________________.
Each student will be evaluated individually. Your evaluation will be based on your overall effort for the research, the recording of notes in your journal, your compare and contrast organizer, your character letter and your participation in class discussions. The following rubric will help guide you through the assignment.
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Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Accomplished 3 |
Exemplary 4 |
Score |
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Student's letter is complete; character is somewhat developed; clearly know if the character is Athenian or Spartan; follows proper formatting.
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Student's letter is complete; shows a fully developed character; clearly know if the character is Athenian or Spartan; describes in detail the character's typical day; is organized and follows proper formatting.
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Student's overall effort and participation |
Student's effort was minimal with researching, writing and class discussions.
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Student's effort was generally good in researching, writing and class discussions, but must be reminded at times to put forth his/her best effort.
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Student's effort in researching, writing and class discussions was adequate. Student uses computer appropriately.
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Student's effort in researching, writing and class discussions was high and consistent; student uses computer appropriately throughout the activity.
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The purpose of this webquest was to help bring together some ideas we have been studying during our Ancient Greece unit. You will also be exposed to a technological tool and given the opportunity to use the Internet in a research project. Finally, you will have spent time comparing and contrasting two city-states of Ancient Greece. This information will aid you when you write a character letter.
http://www.crystalinks.com/greekcities.html
http://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Greeklife.html
http://www.angliacampus.com/public/pri/history/greeks/
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/32a.html
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/
http://www.historyforkids.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ancientgreece/
http://www.arwhead.com/Greeks/index.html#Athenian+soldiers
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/