The Seven Wonders - A Presentation

Grades: 4-6
Subjects: Social Studies

Overview : This activity involving the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World will ignite the interest of children in history and the beauty of the world around us. It also uses technology and teaches the students to use the computer as a research and presentation tool.

Suggested Time Allowance: 1 hour

Objectives:
Students will be able to:
1. Appreciate the "The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" of the ancient world.
2. Discuss the architectures / natural formations which are considered the wonders of the modern world.
3. Create a presentation using PowerPoint to showcase what they have learnt.
4. Create a web page incorporating all the details of the class discussion for future discussion.

Materials:
-Student journals
-A large scale wall map of the world
-Computers with internet connection

Activities/Procedure:
Start the topic with a discussion on beauty around us. What is the most beautiful place they have seen? Where is it? Is it natural or man made? Is there an agreed ranking on the most beautiful creations in the world. Lead to the seven wonders of the ancient world gradually. Stress that some are not available now.

Show them pictures of the seven wonders. Is there anyone in the class who has actually seen them? Ask him to describe how he felt when he beheld the rare site. When were they built? Make a time line to be attached to the report they will be making. Look up the places where they were located. Mark the places on the world map. Discuss why they seem to be concentrated around a particular region of the world. That was the whole known world in that age!

What are considered the modern wonders? How many have beheld the Taj-Mahal in all its glory - the great monument built for an emperor's dead love? The Great Wall of China? Discuss the stories behind their construction.

What are the natural wonders of the world? Ask the students to follow the links from the seven wonders page and read about the sheer beauty of The Grand Canyon, The Great Barrier Reef, Victoria Falls, Mt. Everest and so on.

Divide the students into 4 groups. One group has to prepare a presentation on the seven wonders of the ancient world. Another has to take up the modern wonders. The third group has to give a presentation on the natural wonders of the world. The fourth will prepare a web page using FrontPage (or any other HTML Editor of their choice). They can write whatever has been learnt in the class, get pictures of the wonders from the net, provide links to sites which they feel are relevant and add the three presentations provided by their classmates. This site can be posted on the school intranet / discussion board accessed by other classes for reference.

Most of the details will be available by following the links in the Seven-Wonder page of NationMaster.

Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on their technical expertise, presentation skills and participation in class discussions.

Source:

Priya Ravikumar