Summer SAVY, Session 1 Day 3, Ancient Legacy: Exploring the Impact and Influence of the Roman Empire (5th-6th)
Happy Wednesday! Today was “Gladiator” day in Ancient Legacy! We started with a “myth-busting” activity to discern fact from fiction with regard to the ancient gladiators. From there, we learned about the most famous gladiators and, of course, the Colosseum in which the gladiators performed! Students created their own trading cards to learn about the different classes of gladiators, and then they got to build their own versions of the Colosseum with graham crackers to learn about the construction of this famous structure!
From there, we transitioned to talking about chariot racing, another sport in which many different gladiators would have participated. We learned about the Circus Maximus, the rules of chariot racing, and the construction of the chariot. Then we had time for students to build their own mini chariots in groups and race them (safely) outside. Congratulations to the winning teams!
In the final part of the afternoon, we had time to continue working on our Roman city projects. Students will begin to polish those projects tomorrow in order to present them on Friday.
Main takeaways from today: u
- Understanding the appeal of gladiator shows in the Roman Empire
- Discerning fact from fiction to be as educated as possible on the reality of gladiators’ lives
- Understanding the impressive feats of construction and engineering that went into the Roman Colosseum and chariots
- Having fun with our much-anticipated “Gladiator Day.”
Dinner table questions:
- What was one surprising fact you learned about gladiators?
- How was your colosseum building project? Was it hard to construct? How did you keep everything balanced?
- How did your group decide to build your chariot, and why?