Download HISTORY Project Plans

HISTORY Project Plans
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
History Project 1 - The Trojan War (Key Stages 1 and 2)
Aims of the lesson: To understand the links
between ancient myths and history.
Activity: Many ancient myths have become
interwoven with history. As stories, they tell
us a lot about the people who wrote them,
the battles they fought, the challenges they
faced and the characteristics and human
attributes that were most valued. One ancient
Greek myth that has definitely come to be
treated more like historical fact than fiction is
the story of the Trojan War. On the face of it,
the stories of Troy and the Trojan War are just
that - fantastic stories. But, looking at these
tales of epic struggles can tell us a lot about
ancient Greek civilizations.
As bit of fun, begin this project by asking the
pupils to discover the answers to some
interesting Greek and Roman questions:
Where did humans come from?
How did evil come into the world?
Where does fire come from?
Why do spiders make webs?
Why do the seasons change every
year?
History Project 1 resources file includes an
information sheet offering the answers to
these questions. Ancient Greek and Roman
myths can tell us a lot about history, and
whilst pondering over these questions is a
little bit of fun, it tells us how 'religious' some
ancient civilizations were
We may scoff at ancient myths now, but
ancient peoples believed in them and lived
their lives worshipping gods and goddesses trying to emulate the morals and human
qualities that mythical heroes and heroines
embodied. Once the pupils have had some
fun answering the questions above, ask them
what they know of Troy and the Trojan War.
Many films, books and TV programmes
have used this ancient story as their stimulus
- so a few of the pupils may know some of
the key events. The Trojan War is the main
issue of The lliad by Homer, and its later
sequence is described in The Aeneid by Virgil.
History Project 1 resource file contains an
information sheet on Homer and Virgil. Also
included is a potted history of the Trojan War.
Review this before the lesson, and then
discuss the salient points with the pupils.
After reviewing this information, ask the
pupils what this story tells us about the
ancient Greeks:
What gods and goddesses did they
worship?
How did they prepare for battle?
What human attributes did they
admire (loyalty, comradeship,
bravery)
What did they understand (or not as
the case maybe) about geography?
Did they have maps to follow? lf they
had used a map would they have
found Troy so difficult to locate?
What would it have been like to fight
in an ancient Greek epic battle?
Extension: To further develop an
understanding of ancient Greek civilisation
ask the pupils to carry out their own research
and note any findings, with clear reasons
for their conclusions (from myths or
otherwise).
History Project 1 resources includes an information sheet offering answers to fun questions, some
detail about Homer and Virgil and information on the Trojan War.
HISTORY PROJECT 1 - Resources
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
HISTORY PROJECT 1 - Resources
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
HISTORY PROJECT 1 - Resources
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
SCIENCE Project Plans
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
Science Project 2 – Mythical astronomy (Key Stage 2)
Aims of the lesson: To research the links
between the planets in our solar system and
ancient Greek/Roman gods.
Activity: The planets in our solar system are
named after Roman and Greek mythological
gods and goddesses, except for the name
Earth which is Germanic and Old English in
origin. The five planets easily visible with the
unaided eye (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn) have been observed for all human
history as far as we can tell, and they were
called different things by different cultures.
The Romans named these planets according
to their movements and appearance. For
example, Venus, the planet that appears the
brightest, was named after the Roman
goddess of beauty, while the reddish Mars
was named after the god of war. These
Roman names were adopted by European
languages and culture and became standard
in science.
Begin this activity by asking the pupils how
they think the planets got their names. Next
tell them that all of the planets in our solar
system (except Earth) are named after ancient
Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. The
Science Project 2 resources file offers a list of
the planets and some information on the gods
and goddesses they are named after.
Using this information ask the pupils to draw a
Representation of the solar system, naming
the planets and writing a short sentence
about the gods and goddesses that the
planets are named after. The ancient Greeks
and Romans were not the only early
civilisations to name the planets after their
gods.
ln Hindu religion and mythology, the nine
planets occupy an important role. The planets
are believed to have an impact on the lives of
individuals. This is moving into the realms of
astrology - something that the pupils will be
more familiar with in terms of the Zodiac.
The Science Project 2 resources file includes
an information sheet on how the planets are
named in Vedic astrology (the Hindu science
of studying the planets). The Hindu planets
are referred to as the Navagraha.
There are also mythical names used for
constellations of stars. The following is a
constellation mentioned or referred to in old
Scandinavian poems. Unfortunately, exactly
which stars this story refers to is unknown.
AURVANDIL’S TOE
A brave warrior named Aurvandil was going
about his travels far to the north. He came to
an impassable river called Elivagar. Thor, the
god of thunder offered to take him across the
river by placing him in a basket. However, one
of his toes stuck out and was frozen. Thor
broke the toe off and threw it into the sky.
This tale is recounted in Snorri's Prose Edda.
Since Aurvandil's toe was frozen and this
episode takes place in winter, the Norsemen
could have been referring to a blue star that
appears predominantly in the colder months
and didn't appear in any other constellation. lt
could refer to the bright star Sirus in Canis
Major. Once the pupils have looked at the
names we use for the planets, ask them
where they think the names of the week
come from. ln English, we call our days of the
week after Saxon gods, apart from Saturday.
The Science Project 2 resources file includes a
table showing the names of the weeks in
English and Saxon. The table also shows the
names of the week used by the ancient
Romans, and which gods they named some of
the days after.
Extension: To develop this project further ask
the pupils where they think the names we
give the months of the year came from? The
Science Project 2 file offers an information
sheet detailing the names of the months and
the origins of those names. Only a few are
named after mythical gods and goddesses.
The Science Project 2 resources file includes a range of information sheets on how the planets and
the days of the week are named.
HISTORY PROJECT 2 - Resources
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
HISTORY PROJECT 2 - Resources
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
HISTORY PROJECT 2 - Resources
MYTHS AND LEGENDS