People and
Cultures
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Middle Level: Grades 6-8Middle-Level Standard: Current Issue Analysis
To complement study of the Hydria, research and write a report on the Olympic Games. Consider their significance in Greek mythology and history as well as their development and importance in the modern world.
Middle-Level Standard: Geography and Culture
Examine the characteristics of ceramics as artifacts, use these characteristics to identify the unit's ceramics that are artifacts, and discuss the kinds of information that these artifacts can provide about the cultures in which they were created.
Listen to the unit's online audio stories based on myths or folktales relating to specific ceramics within the unit, and draw conclusions about the cultural and historical contexts in which the objects were created.
Recognize that visual qualities identify certain ceramics as belonging to a specific culture.
Use the unit's online maps to identify where the ceramics were created and to determine geographical relationships among cultures.
Describe how certain of the unit's ceramics reflect interactions among cultures.
Consider how ceramics are influenced by and reflect aspects of the environment in which they are produced.
Describe how level of technology influences the ceramics produced by a culture.
Do the online activity "Who Knows," which interprets and discusses the unit's ceramics from the perspectives of an archaeologist, an art historian, and an artist.
Middle-Level Standard: History and Citizenship
Develop a timeline that shows the chronological order in which the unit's ceramics were created in relation to key historical events.
Understand how and why people of various world cultures created or still create ceramics.
Learn about the roles of ceramic artists in the contexts of past and present cultures.
To complement study of the Teapot, research and write a report about the history of the Japanese tea ceremony and its significance within the Japanese culture.
Listen to the unit's online audio stories based on myths or folktales relating to specific ceramics within the unit, and draw conclusions about the cultural and historical contexts in which the objects were created.
To complement study of the Hydria, read Greek myths about Herakles's twelve labors, Athena, Hermes, Ares, and Zeus; distinguish among qualities that are human, superhuman, and godlike; and consider what modern mythological heroes exhibit those qualities and how.
To complement study of ceramics within the unit, read Mayan, Chinese, Greek, Yoruba, and Pueblo Indian creation stories, find similarities and differences among the stories, and discuss how each story reflects a particular way of life.
Produce a clay object to bury in a time capsule--something that reflects contemporary life and that could become an artifact for study by future archaeologists (e.g., Standing Figure, Storage Jar).
Do writing or speaking assignments based on various "Think" questions that complement study of the unit's ceramics:
- What objects could you bury in a time capsule that would show people in the future about life in your community? Explain why you chose each object.
- The Hopi-Tewa people continue to make pottery in the tradition of their grandmothers and great-grandmothers. What is a tradition? Do you have traditions in your family that you can trace back to your ancestors? What are they? If you don't have any traditions, what traditions could you start?
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