Creating an experience: Wax Museum 2014

There are many reasons why we do the Wax Museum. Through this project, we can work on research skills, reading, writing, speaking, listening, and learning. Those are all wonderful things to work on but the number 1 reason we

do the Wax Museum is to make a difference. It is the experience of affecting someone's life that drives this project and what drives me. Through the Wax Museum, we have the opportunity to do something really good for someone else. We do not work just for a letter grade, we work to make an impact, like in Pedro's life. Through last year's Wax Museum, we were able to help make Pedro's wish come true. He flew to New York to watch a New York Giants football game. Something really cool for a kid who deserves it. This year, we have a chance to continue the legacy of the Wax Museum and continue doing good things in the lives of others. It will be an experience you will not forget.  

Ancient Egypt: Let's Gather some Info Together!

Welcome to Ancient Egypt. It is a land of mystery and fascination. As we begin our 3rd ancient world of the school year, we will be headed to the computer lab to gather some information. Below, you will find helpful ancient Egypt Links that will provide many resources and pieces of information. Also, you will find a "document" in which you will share what you discover about various topics of ancient Egypt. 

Resources

Ancient Egypt-Mr. Donn

Ancient Egypt-British Museum

Task: Post a comment with at least ONE fact from each of the 6 categories:
Daily Life
Nile River
Mummification
Religion
Geography
Pyramids

MAKE SURE YOU WRITE IN YOUR OWN WORDS!!!

A World Without......

Mesopotamia was the first civilization of the world. Because of this, they had the opportunity to invent or start many important things, things that we use all the time in our world. Many of the inventions or discoveries are things we use everyday and don't even realize that those things came from Mesopotamia. For this blog assignment, I want you to think about a world without Mesopotamia inventions. To help you get started, I will give you some of the main inventions from Mesopotamia that are most commonly used in our world. Think about a world without these things. What would it be like? In order to get all 15 extra credit points, you need to thoroughly describe the world without these 6 items. How would things be different? What would be different? How would we make up for not having these things?
Laws
Writing
Wheel
Money
books
bricks

DUE: Friday, November 1st, 2013. 11:59 p.m.
Points: 15 extra credit points

Blueman Teaches the Class

A Map to Help you Study

WSG Live! Mesopotamia

I want to help you. I want to do whatever I can to help you prepare for your Mesopotamia Test. "WSG Live" is a new feature that allows me to help you study without actually being with you. With this post, we will be able to review, discuss, and practice together. I will ask you some questions, you can ask each other questions, or ask me. I will be sitting at my computer helping you review. I will be taking off comment moderation which will allow your comments to go right to the blog, so we can see them and have a smooth discussion. You will not have to wait for your comments to be approved. You simply have to refresh your screen (press F5) and continue messaging. Remember, to publish a comment, click "Name/URL" and type: 3Dan K. (Class period, first name, last initial).

The time window for this new feature is:

7:30-8:00.

"F5" refreshes comments

Mesopotamia Study Guide

Mesopotamia Study Guide

Mesopotamia Test: Friday, October 25th, 2013. 

Use this study guide to help you prepare for the test.

Online Flashcards are included in the Study Guide.  

I encourage you to work on your Mesopotamia Tackk websites!

Focus on the content. 

Tackk: Student Website creator

Students, today is a big day because for the first time in the history of this middle school, all students have their own email address. Congratulations on being the first group of kids to do this. These email addresses are going to open up a lot of possibilities for us in learning about the ancient world. Today, we are going to take our email address and create an account with Tackk.com so we can make a permanent website. With our own account, you will be able to work on your website anywhere that has internet. We have practiced with Tackk in the Stone Age, now let's take it a step further and make a dynamic Mesopotamia website.
Click HERE to make a Tackk Website

Tackk Checklist:
_____ Title of website
_____ Your name
_____ Text (words)
_____ Picture with captions
_____ Video with captions
_____ Button linking to another Mesopotamia site
_____ Map of Mesopotamia

Tackk Content Checklist:
_____ Vocab Words
_____ Irrigation
_____ Cuneiform
_____ Bricks
_____ Code of Hammurabi
_____ Money
_____ Geography (describing the Map)
_____ Ziggurat
_____ Wheel
_____ Epic of Gilgamesh
_____ Difference between Farming and Hunting
_____ "I Invent Farming" story
_____ gods and goddesses (link below)

Tackk Resources
YouTube Video Playlist (videos about Mesopotamia you can use)
The Blueman
Events Document
Mesopotamia Artifacts
Build a Ziggurat Game (Might not work in school)
Online Flashcards
gods and goddesses

Submit Website: Currently OPEN

2013 Mesopotamia Events Tournament Results

Check out all the results from this year's Mesopotamia Events tournament. I have provided for you the results from this year and last year, so you can compare them. Good job debating in the tournament! 

2013 Mesopotamia Events Tournament Results

2012 Mesopotamia Events Tournament Results

Probably the Coolest T-shirt in the world

It started out with me complaining I had to go to Wal-Mart 8:30 at night to shop for Hallween costumes and it turned out to be the best Wal-Mart Trip of my life as I found probably the coolest tshirt ever made. It only cost $7. I would have paid $700. It is the perfect shirt to go with our book, "Ancient Quest." Tiger. Hear me roar. Rooooaaaar.

The Giant Book of Mesopotamia

Welcome to the "Giant Book" project. We have covered many important topics of Mesopotamia. Yet, there are a few that we still haven't covered. The Giant Book will allow us to bring everything we have learned together, yet still learn a few new things. Now, the Giant Book is not something that one can tackle alone. This must be done in a group because the Giant Book is far too vast for one individual. You will use this blog post for direction in completing your Giant Book. 

The Giant Book Details

Links that will help you with your Giant Book:
People of Mesopotamia PPT
Epic of Gilgamesh PowerPoint
Religion Prezi (gods/goddesses)
I Invent Farming story
Map of Mesopotamia
Events of Mesopotamia overview
Irrigation sketch
Stone Age Review 

Timeline:Wednesday: Begin Giant Book
Thursday: Continue to work on Giant Book
Friday: Finish Giant Book

Students, this weekend I was emailed this article about our good friend Otzi the Iceman. It appears that Otzi has relatives still walking the Earth. Blood samples taken from people living in Austria confirm that there are people living in the world today that are related to Otzi. I have attached the article for you to read. It's quite interesting. The article also sheds some light on the mystery of his death. Definitely worth your time to read. 

Living relatives of Otzi found

Events of Mesopotamia (Assignment)

In preparation for the monumental "Events of Mesopotamia" tournament coming up in a couple of weeks, we are going to continue familiarizing ourselves with these events. The more we know about each event, the better we will be at arguing/debating why certain events are better than others. You will be assigned one event to argue why it's the most important, but you need to know about more than just the one you are assigned. You need to know about all of them to make your case air tight. For this online assignment, you will be covering some of the Major Events of Mesopotamia. 
Task: Use this link, "Mesopotamia Events" to learn about what these events are and why they are important. For your assignment, you must choose FIVE different events. Using complete sentences, tell me what the event is and why it's important. For each event, you need to use at least 3 sentences. You can NOT do the Hanging Gardens. 
Example: "Hanging Gardens: The hanging gardens were built by King Nebuchadnezzar for his wife, the queen, so she would have a lovely garden to look at. These Hanging Gardens were extremely big and magnificent to help the homesick queen not feel so sad. The Hanging Gardens are very important because it helped the queen not be homesick, which allowed the King to be able to concentrate on doing a good job ruling the people." 

DUE DATE: Sunday, October 13th, 11:59 pm. 
Points: 25 (5 points per event)

Ancient Quest Chapter 3: I Invent Farming

We have reached chapter 3 of the book Ancient Quest. Chapter 3 is titled "I Invent Farming" and we once again join Johnny on his ancient quest, back to the ancient worlds, to accomplish tasks. Johnny has to complete one task in each of the 8 ancient worlds he will visit. So far, he has only gained one golden coin. He did that in the Stone Age by helping the people there discover and improve fire. Now, Johnny has arrived in Mesopotamia, where he will struggle to survive and to accomplish his task. The desert of Mesopotamia is a scorching, white-hot section of earth that will push Johnny to the limits. Will Johnny figure out what his task is and succeed? Let's go...
Read: Chapter 3: I Invent Farming

World #2: Mesopotamia

The Stone Age is over, which means we are now headed to our second ancient world: Mesopotamia. This is a place with a funny name but loaded with important "stuff." Many "firsts" happened during Mesopotamia: first writing, first money, first law, first government, etc. Many things that began during Mesopotamia are still around today and things we depend on. Imagine life without writing or money? Imagine life without laws? It would be totally chaotic. Mesopotamia is the first civilization of the world. It is located in the middle east (present day Iraq). It's location is a desert so they had to be creative in how they farmed. Since it doesn't rain that much, they had to use the two major rivers to irrigate the fields. We will learn more about irrigation and the two major rivers throughout the unit.  So, without further delay, Welcome to Mesopotamia.