Mummification

Here is a link to the "Mummy Maker"--an educational game that teaches the process of mummification.

Hammurabi's Code

While teaching Ancient Mesopotamia/Sumer, I want to focus on Hammurabi's code for the following reasons:

1. It highlights the political structure that Sumer developed 

2. The code of laws shows the challenges surrounding developing a civilization

3. The laws themselves reveal how the people felt about religion, their responsibilities, etc. (You can see people's values shine through in their laws)

4. Students can connect with living under laws and are at the age where they are starting to be affected by laws (Why should there be a law about the driving age?  About drinking? What if you were caught stealing from GAP?  What should be the consequence of your crime?)

I came across this great lesson plan while researching on the internet.  I will need to pear it down because I am fitting Ancient Sumer/Hammurabi's code into one day, but I really like the opening attention grabber (what are the positives and negatives of living in a large community? make a list of each on the board) and the stations.  I think the activity leads to a lot of interaction, discussion and possibly debate. 

Yay!

Comparisons--If it were my Home

I came across a fun, informative and quick to use website this past week: ifitweremyhome.com.

This website lets you click on any country and it will compare it to where you live.  The comparison is basically a list of percentages.  For example, when I compare the U.S. to Japan this is what I learn:

If Japan were my home, I would:

have 54.56% less chance of dying in infancy

have 46.42% less babies

use 41.54% less electricity

consume 39.97% less oil

have 39.78% more chance at being employed

spend 61.59% less money on health care

make 29.74% less money

live 3.93 years longer

experience 15.33% less of a class divide

be 83.33% less likely to have HIV/AIDS

have 0.28% more free time

You can click on each different percentage to get more info about Japan.

The website would best be just a fun thing to direct students to and get them interested in different parts of the world.