Lesson Plans For Learning Ancient Egyptian History
Here are some activity ideas for various grade levels, set to Nebraska and Common Core standards.
Based on the curriculum provided by the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) for the Lost Egypt exhibit, broadened for other grades and levels of interest.
Mapping
Introduction to mapping on a grid. Students use math, spatial thinking and scientific inquiry to figure out where each "artifact" came from in an excavation, and how that might demonstrate what people did with the objects.
Recommended for 3rd-4th grade students.
Leveling the Plane
Understanding the construction of the pyramids through learning ancient building techniques. Students use simple tools to re-enact what the Egyptians did to build their mighty pyramids. At the same time they learn how pyramids developed from flat tombs to the amazing structures we see today.
Recommended for 4th-8th grade students.
Site Survey
This fun interactive activity puts students in groups who must collaborate to find a lost archaeological site. Following the letters sent by an adventurous explorer and several maps, students use their reasoning, geographical knowledge and teamwork to solve the mystery.
Recommended for 6th-8th grade students.
What's Your Story?
Here students will learn the value of stories in sharing cultural values. Looking at tomb art from ancient Egypt, students analyze how the pictures represent a story, and create a story of their own by making books.
Recommended for 6th-8th grade students.
Mummify an Apple
When life give you lemons, you make lemonade - but when life gives you apples, you can make mummies! Learn how to preserve organic material the same way that Egyptians did to save the bodies of their kings and nobility.
Recommended for 6th-7th grade students.
Excavation
Showing students how to use grids to plan an excavation. This activity shows how an archaeological excavation is literally digging through layers of history, teaches students how to think through a research question, and gives the meaning of archaeology in context.
Recommended for 3rd-8th grade students.
Surveying with Google Earth
Students learn how to use Google Earth to look at the modern geography of Egypt and Africa. In this exercise, students look around Google Earth to find major cities, ports, and archaeological sites.
Recommended for 6th-7th grade students.
What's Important to You?
The Egyptians wanted to carry some of their most beloved belongings, and anything else they might need, into the afterlife with them. In this activity, students think about what they might bring into the afterlife, and compare it with images of artifacts from Egyptian tombs. Here they learn about culture, values and important objects from ancient Egypt.
Recommended for 6th-8th grade students.
Ancient Images
Students learn what makes Egyptian art so unique and how to draw themselves in the Egyptian style. With markers and paints, students can make self-portraits that look like gods and goddesses and kings.
Recommended for 6th-8th grade students.
Condition Report Activity Sheet
Here is an activity sheet that students can take around a museum while on a visit, around their school, on even around the house. This shows students how to look at old objects the way that archaeologists or curators in a museum would examine them. It is a great example of how archaeologists analyze and describe the artifacts they find. This activity was designed by the Durham Museum.
Recommended for 4th-8th grade students.