Deadliest Warrior: Cro-Magnon Vs. Neanderthal

So who is the best warrior? Who is the best at surviving? What advantages does the Neanderthal have? What advantages does the Cro-Magnon have? After analyzing the characteristics of the Cro-Magnon and the Neanderthal, we can see that in some circumstances, the Neanderthal is better equipped. But in others, the Cro-Magnon is better equipped. Let's share some scenarios to help us practice figuring out who would "win" a certain scenario.

Student Task: Write a scenario dealing with the Cro-Magnon and Neadnerthal in which we have to figure out who would be better prepared for that situation. In other words, who would "win" your scenario? 
Post closes: October 3rd. Midnight.

Introducing....the Blueman....in Volantis

Student Task: Meet Blueman, a rather interesting fellow. Post a comment sharing about what you can find in the comic that relates to the Stone Age. There are FOUR Stone Age related items in the comic. Good Luck! #WSGBadge
Closes: October 3rd, 2014. Midnight.

Welcome to Challenge Day in the Realm

This is the Challenge Day Badge

Can you survive Challenge Day? I hope so. I think you can. Today, you will challenged to push yourself father and harder than you have before in the Realm. Our topic: Stone Age. Your task: To complete the Challenge Day checklist before class is over. If you do that, you will earn the "Challenge Day" badge and a nice boost to your individual Realm Points. It will also help your cave in its pursuit of Victory in the Realm! Very little help will be provided to you today during the Challenge. You will have to figure most of it out on  your own, but that's part of the challenge. Can you? I am challenging you to complete this check list before time runs out. Your check list will be a piece of paper, but your resources will be located here, on Water for Sixth Grade. I wish you Good Luck. The Realm challenge awaits...

Inventor | Writer | Movie Star | Astronaut | Artist

Paleolithic Vs. Neolithic

What is the Paleolithic time period? What is the Neolithic time period? What's the difference? If we examine these two time periods of the Stone Age, we will see how things progressed from very primitive existing to a more sophisticated way of life.  We will examine these two time periods, discover the differences between them, and in doing so, understand the change from Hunter/Gatherer to Farmer.
Student Task: Use the Paleolithic Vs. Neolithic chart to discover the differences between the topics on your sheet. Thoroughly explain these differences (and similarities, if any) 
Future: There will be Thunder battles and a quiz on this material in the future. So Good Luck. 

WSG Badge Student task: Post a comment telling me FIVE (5) differences the Neolithic times has with the Paleolithic times. Post closes October 3rd. Good Luck

Cave Art

Student Task: Analyze the cave art. What do you see? What does it mean? Think deep. Think like an archaeologist. What can we learn from cave art?

WSG Badge. Closes September 28. Midnight.

Hunting Stone Age Animals

Use this weapon as you hunt down the animals of the Stone Age. Good Luck! Task: On your sheet, describe in as much detail as possible what these animals look like.

Hunting Stone Age Animals!

The Stone Age is packed with amazing animals that are no longer around. Some of these animals have an out of this world look! Just think how crazy it would be if they still roamed earth. An animal way bigger than an Elephant? No way! Animals with horns and spikes coming out of their head? Totally cool! HaHa. We are going to discover some Stone Age animals. Some we have heard of like the Sabre Tooth Cat. Others, like the Glyptodon are new. Let's go hunting!

Here are some Websites to get you going. You can also simply Google search the animals to find out what they look like: 
Task: Describe what the animals look like on your sheet. 
Stone Age Animals
Stone Age animals (Good List!)

Volantis: Map of the Realm Contest winners!

Congrats to the 5 winners of the Realm Map contest. Great job! #mapoftheworldbadge

Character Profile: Otzi the Iceman

easel.ly
An infographic is just that: information and graphics. An infographic allows us to learn some information with words and pictures. Here is an infographic of Otzi that I made to help us discuss what he was possibly wearing and doing at the time of his death. Use the infographic to answer the following questions.
Character Profile: Otzi the Iceman
1. What type of climate do you think he was in at the time of his death? Why do you think that? 
2. What did he carry in his birch canister? 
3. If someone was going to rob Otzi, what do you think they would go after? 
4. How do we know Otzi was not prepared for a fight or battle? 
5. What did Otzi mainly use to make his clothing? 

Post Closed!

Living relatives of Otzi!

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

Student Task: Write a 5-6 sentence summary of the article about Otzi's living relatives.

Closes: Sunday, September 21st, 2014

Ancient Quest: Chapter 2: I Discover Fire

Johnny has accepted his ancient quest and is now ready to begin. He finds himself in the Stone Age for his first task, but as Johnny enters this dangerous and uncivilized place, he has no idea what his task actually is. Last time he was here, he saw some weird looking animals and some strange looking people, but as far as actually doing something here, Johnny has no idea. Can Johnny figure out what his task is and actually complete it? Or will this ancient quest end in the first world? Johnny is in the Stone Age. He's ready. Are you? 

Read: Ancient Quest Chapter 2: I Discover Fire

Ancient Mystery: Otzi's Death

Otzi the Iceman frozen in ice

Otzi the Iceman has taught us a lot about certain things from 5,500 years ago. From Otzi and the fact that he was preserved in the ice, we can learn what people during that time period wore, ate, lived, and did. Otzi was 5'2" and about 45 years old. He had worn down teeth from eating tough grain and bread. He was wearing all homemade clothing designed to keep him warm. One aspect of the Otzi story is his death. How exactly did he die? It may seem like "no big deal," that he just died. But certain clues on Otzi's body suggest that there might be a mystery here. Based on clues archaeologists have uncovered, there are four possible theories on how Otzi died. 
Mysteries of Otzi PowerPoint from class
The Four Theories:
1. Suffered Hypothermia
2. Was robbed
3. Assassinated
4. Died in battle

Task: Read through each Theory and tell me what you think happened. It could not have been all four, only one of them happened, but which one? The debate rages on...
Example Comment: 
Opinion: I think it was......(state which theory you think it was and support your opinion with 3 supporting details.

WSG Badge: Closes Friday, September 26th, 2014 at Midnight

More Otzi Resources!

Want more Otzi information? Otzi is such a fascinating topic that you may want to read more about our new friend. These two resources will tell you more information about the mystery of his death, information about what he looked like, his health and tattoos. Check out some more Otzi information and help your cave!

Article About Otzi's Death

All about Otzi

WSG Badge: Post a comment telling me something you learned or thought was interesting from these two articles. Complete sentence to earn the badge. 

Closes: Friday, September 26th, 2014. Midnight.

Discoverying Otzi the Iceman

Discovering Otzi from Dan Klumper on Vimeo.

It is time to search for Otzi. Today, you will be joining me as I enter the Alps in search for Otzi the Iceman. Otzi, who happens to be the oldest body ever found, is an extremely important "artifact" because he can teach us so much about what life was like when he roamed the Earth. We can study his weapons, tools, and clothing. We can also study his bones to get an idea of what people looked like. Otzi is truely an amazing discovery. However, today, you will watch as I search for Otzi and discover all the artifacts that were found with his body. The story of Otzi doesn't end there, however, because Otzi the Iceman did not die of natural causes. Was he murdered? Did he die in battle? Was he sick? You will read the evidence and try to solve the oldest mystery in the world.

Task #1: Using the Otzi PowerPoint, fill out your guided notes in your Otzi Packet. This will be done together, but you can follow along on your own screen.

Task #2: Watch the Video "Discoverying Otzi" and watch as the body and artifacts are discovered. In your Otzi packet, record all the artifacts found and why they are important.

Task #3: Sketch a scene of the area in which Otzi was discovered in. Try to place the items in the correct spot based on where they were found.

Analyzing Artifacts!

Prehistory is a time period without any written language. So, how do we learn anything about that time period? How do we know anything about the stone age? If there are no books to read from back then, what do we read? The answer is artifacts. Artifacts are objects made by people long ago. They are clues to the past. They give us a glimpse into the life of thousands of years ago. Today, we are going to practice analyzing artifacts to determine what we can learn. Good Luck!

Link to slideshow: Analyzing Artifacts

Stone Age: You Are There

We live in a world called Volantis. It is the realm of Fire and Stone. It is a magical world full of danger and mystery. Today, you will fully enter this world. You will be reading a story, but not just any story. For this story, the main character is YOU. You are the one that will make the decisions, choices. You are the one who will determine the outcome of this story and how it ends. This is not a story that simply is told, it is one that you must survive!  Each time you face a decision, it will impact what happens to you. Brave enough to step inside Volantis? Good Luck.....

Play the game "You Are There" and complete your score sheet. Details in class. In order to survive/win the game, you must score 50 points. The maximum score for this game is: 

Student Task: Post a comment with the answers to these questions. (WSG Badge)
Closes: Monday, September 14th. Midnight.
Thunder Questions:
1. List 3 animals from this game.
2. What is found in caves that helps us learn about the Stone Age?
3. What is the best method of hunting the Irish Elk?
4. What tool is most effective in cutting through rough animal hide?
5. Describe a neanderthal. (3 things).

CLOSED

Welcome to Google Drive

Students, I would like to welcome you to Google Drive. This is a tool we will be using throughout the school year and one which will provide us with epic power in our quest to defeat the Realm and reign over the land. Google Drive is a Cloud. It is a tool. It is a magical wonderland of awesomeness and coolness. It oozes radicalness out its pores.  Today, we shall dive into this oasis of wonder and get aquainted with how it works.  The logo to Google Drive is a three-colored triangle as shown in this post. You will find the exact same logo on the side of my website, which will be your portal into Google Drive. 

Things you need: 
Google Drive Login
My Google Drive: danklumper@gmail.com

Email Log-In
My School Email: Daniel.Klumper@k12.sd.us

Do you want to learn everything there is to know about Google Drive? Become a Google Drive expert by watching these Tutorials. This is optional, but it will help you learn how to use Google Drive faster. 

Google Drive Tutorials

Crazy Izzy's Ancient Timeline

Want to know when our ancient worlds happened throughout history? Want to just watch something funny? Then check out Crazy Izzy's Ancient Timeline to see when our ancient world's happened or to just see a crazy little girl. If you decide to watch it, don't miss the "Deleted Scenes" at the end. You won't want to miss them. 

Student Task: Keep working towards that WSG Badge! If you comment with each ancient world and when they happened, you will earn points for your Cave! 
Example: Stone Age: 10,000 BC. 
This post closes at Friday, September 12th, 2014. Midnight. 

CLOSED

Ancient Recipe: A White Shirt Production

Having a difficult time remembering all the names of the places we learn about? Well, worry no more because I have just the thing that will help you remember the names better. It's an "Ancient Recipe" and it will help you learn the names of the world. Good Luck! 
Student Task: If you can tell me what each ancient world equals in the cooking demonstration, you will earn a point towards the WSG Badge. 
 For Example: Stone Age = The grill. 
 Now you just have to figure out the other seven. Good Luck!

CLOSED

Stone Age Vocabualry

Check out some vocabulary words from the Stone Age! You will have to choose 8 of these words to use for your Frayer Model. Frayer Model: word, definition, sentence, illustration, antonym (opposite).
STUDENT TASK: While working with these vocab words, I would like you to share a thought or two about them. Please post a comment to this blog post sharing ideas. This counts for the WSG Badge. To have this comment count towards the badge, share an idea of each of the three items listed below. 
*Image ideas for the words
*Opposites of the words
*Connections you have to the words. 
This Post closes on September 12th. 2014. At Midnight. 

CLOSED

Welcome to Volantis: Realm of Fire and Stone

Welcome to Volantis. Buckle up. It's going to be an experience.