Case Study 2: The silk road - How significant was trade in connecting the East and West?
Mapping the Silk road
In this activity you will discover how a trade network that covered the Eurasian landmass brought interconnectedness through economic relationships. The Silk Road/Roads/Routes were a vast system of trading routes that linked humans across thousands of miles. Mainly for the exchange of material goods and wealth, ideas too, were exchanged fostering collective learning.
In this activity your teacher will give you a travel-log to record a fictional journey along parts of the Silk route. You will find out information and record experiences of what this network was like during the period between 1000- 1400AD.
You will take details of the following things along the way: names of the cities, goods traded, geography and terrain, political rulers, music and culture. You are encouraged to use all of the sources of information below.
You may decide to represent your journey in a number of ways using technology, there are some ideas and links at the bottom of this lesson. You should record your main ideas in the table below:
In this activity your teacher will give you a travel-log to record a fictional journey along parts of the Silk route. You will find out information and record experiences of what this network was like during the period between 1000- 1400AD.
You will take details of the following things along the way: names of the cities, goods traded, geography and terrain, political rulers, music and culture. You are encouraged to use all of the sources of information below.
You may decide to represent your journey in a number of ways using technology, there are some ideas and links at the bottom of this lesson. You should record your main ideas in the table below:
Lesson 5: How far does Baghdad demonstrate the benefits of interconnection and collective learning?
You are now going to look in depth at a city that is at the junction of East and West. Baghdad, in modern Iraq is reported in news through generally negative stories. In the year 2003 a US led coalition invaded Iraq and removed Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein from power. Between 2003 and 2009 America and other allies occupied Iraq during a period of reconstruction. This was not welcomed by many in Iraq and a period of civil-war and resistance began. In 2014 Iraq was further destabilized by an insurrection led by the Islamic State (Daesh). The recent history of Baghdad sharply contrasts with Baghdad's past as a center of trade and learning.
You are going to write a piece of travel writing from Baghdad in the 8-12th centuries AD and author a piece of travel writing that will describe to the reader what Baghdad was like at this time. Baghdad was at a junction of the Silk Road lying on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As such it benefited from being highly interconnected not only with the Silk Road but the rest of the Arab Peninsular, North Africa and the Black Sea. It was also a cross roads for ideas and knowledge and as such a place for the dispersion of collective learning. In this piece of travel writing you should exhibit your flair and imagination for describing the city and most importantly stay true to the historical sources below:
You are going to write a piece of travel writing from Baghdad in the 8-12th centuries AD and author a piece of travel writing that will describe to the reader what Baghdad was like at this time. Baghdad was at a junction of the Silk Road lying on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As such it benefited from being highly interconnected not only with the Silk Road but the rest of the Arab Peninsular, North Africa and the Black Sea. It was also a cross roads for ideas and knowledge and as such a place for the dispersion of collective learning. In this piece of travel writing you should exhibit your flair and imagination for describing the city and most importantly stay true to the historical sources below:
The silk road now and in the future...
Activity 1: Travel Writing: How can we write interesting and informative historical travel writing?
Create a cost-benefit analysis of the trade link (Silk Road) between the East and the West.
Cultural Exchange on the Silk Road
Information about the Cultural Exchange on the Silk Road
Evaluation Task: How beneficial was the silk road?
lESSON 4: East meets West – contemporary perspectives on the Silk Road – how do we know?
| activity_one_-_the_silk_road.docx |
| nma-silk-road-unit-bw.pdf |
China's $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know
It's perhaps the biggest infrastructure project the world has ever see. It's also controversial. So why is China doing it?
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