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Agenda: Mon. Oct. 1 to Friday, Oct. 5, 2012

UNIT 2 - Classical Era
CH 6 - Eurasian Social Hierarchies, 500 BCE - 500 CE
Week at a Glance:
Mon: Quiz; Intro to Social Inequalities; Intro In Class Project
Tue: Slavery, Caste/Class, Comparisons in Groups/Class Project
Wed/Thu: In Class Project & Review of Chapter
Fri: TEST
Saturday was International Coffee Day.

Monday, Oct. 1, 2012

QUOTE: "Don't Forget To Be Awesome."

LEARNING TARGETS:

* Analyze social structures in classical Eurasia 
* Compare Greco-Roman world to China's Han Dynasty - why was slavery so prevalent in the Greco-Roman World?
* Describe the Indian Caste System and explain the implications for social mobility.
* Compare the Indian Caste System with China's Class System - how could Chinese people become 'upwardly' mobile in society?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. What is the difference between class and caste?
2. Why was slavery so much more prominent in Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China?
3. What philosophical, religious, or cultural ideas served to legitimate the class and gender inequalities of classical civilizations?
4. What set of ideas underlies India’s caste-based society?

AGENDA:

IN CLASS PROJECT: LINK TO Project Description Here.
ROMAN EMPIRE: 10 minutes a video about slavery in Rome
SPARTA: Ancient Worlds: The Spartans (2 hours, 23 min)

ATHENS: Engineering an Empire: Greece, part IV Golden Age of Pericles (Video 9 min)

Engineering an Empire: Greece, Part V Architecture of Athens & Attack of Sparta & Disease - Parthenon (Video 8 min)

CHINA: Engineering an Empire: China.
INDIA: Video Clips - India's Caste System & How We Know Caste


1. Reading Check Quiz - Chapter 6
After students turn in quiz, they will work on:
2. DO NOW Question: Why was slavery so much more prominent in Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China? 
Students will write out the DO NOW question for the first 3 minutes. 

10 minutes a video about slavery in Rome
After the video we will discuss the Do Now Question and the video pertaining to:

Greco-Roman society depended more on slaves than did other classical civilizations. There were far more slaves in the Greco-Roman world than in other classical civilizations. Slaves participated in a greater number and range of occupations than in other classical civilizations, from the highest and most prestigious positions to the lowest and most degraded. Slaves were excluded only from military service.
Greco-Roman society:
  • War, patriarchy, and the notion of private property contributed to the growth of slavery
  • Classical Athens: 1/3 slaves
  • Classical Sparta: Slaves out numbered the free citizens and were called helots (captured). Kept slaves controlled with military strength.
  • Roman Empire: 30 to 40% of the population at the dawn of the CE; not identified with a particular racial group; Growth of Christianity did little to curb slavery; No protections under the law; If slave kills master - then all slaves of master would be put to death; Rebellion of Spartacus notable for its size, ferocity, and early success. But, later subdued and 6,000 slaves were nailed to crosses as terrible vengeance.
Chinese Society: 
  • Elite Officials (Confucian principles in government, Exam System, Favored wealthy families, but modest measure of social mobility) Analyze the quote from Strayer p. 157, Po Chu-I (772-846 CE) "After Passing the Examination." 
  • Landlord Class (Accumulation of large estates, scholar-gentry - twin sources of privilege)
  • Peasants (hardships of peasant life reflected in Li Shen's poem in Strayer p. 159, periodic peasant rebellions, Yellow Turban Rebellion - Daoist philosophies ultimately crushed by Han Dynasty, but the dynasty was weakened so much it later collapsed, yet peasants were looked up to as the backbone of Chinese society)
  • Merchants (Regarded as unproductive, greedy, luxury-loving, and materialistic. Seen as a social threat, restrictions placed upon them by government)
  • Very little slavery (perhaps 1%)
Indian Society: - Use these 2 video clips to help explain India's society - 
India's Caste System & 
How We Know Caste
  • Caste as Varna (Birth determines social status, little social mobility, great inequalities explained through Hinduism religious culture - natural, ordained by gods, and eternal/ever lasting)
  • Caste (Varna) and Jatis (local distinctions of occupations & social groupings within the separate Varna)
- Brahmin -- priests, teachers
- Ksatriya -- warriors, rulers
- Vaisya -- farmers, merchants, artisans
- Sudra -- labor
- Untouchables* outside of varna system -- polluted labor

"It is better to do one's own duty badly, than another's duty well."
  • Included some slavery, but slaves had lawful protections. Far more restrained than other ancient civs.
3. Introduce Class project Chapter 6 "Social Inequalities"
LINK TO Project Description Here.
Where would you want to live? Athens? Sparta? Roman Empire, China’s Han Empire, or India’s Mauryan Empire?” Students will create a presentation to convince their classmates to live in their group's assigned area.
Presentations will be 5-10 minutes in length. 
Everyone in the group will participate. 
Must present, have a product (Video, Power Point, Prezi, Poster, or Rap Song).
Must discuss 3 features of why life in their empire is best and focus on at least 1 reason why each of the other groups is not suitable.

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012

QUOTE"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

LEARNING TARGETS:

* Analyze the changes in the patterns of social life of the classical era. What accounts for these changes?
* “Cultural and social patterns of civilizations seem to endure longer than the political framework of states and empires.” Based on Chapters 4, 5, and 6, would you agree with this statement?
* How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. What is the difference between varna and jati as expressions of classical India’s caste system?
2. How did the inequalities of slavery differ from those of caste?
3. In what ways did the expression of Chinese patriarchy change over time, and why did it change?

AGENDA:
1. DO NOW QUESTION: How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other? (first 10 min)
•  Athens placed increasing limitations on women between 700 and 400 b.c.e. completely excluded women from public life. Women be represented by a guardian in legal matters, and women were not even referred to by name in court proceedings. Restricted women to the home, where they lived separately from men. Marriage customarily saw a woman in her mid-teens marry a man ten to fifteen years her senior. Land passed through male heirs.   
•  Sparta women possessed more freedom.  Fear of helot rebellion meant that great value was placed on male warriors. The central task for women in Spartan society was reproduction—specifically, the bearing of strong healthy sons. Women were encouraged to strengthen their bodies, and they even participated in public sporting events. Women were not secluded or segregated like their Athenian counterparts.  Married men about their own age, putting the new couple on a more equal basis.  Men were often engaged in or preparing for war, so women in Sparta had more authority in the household.
Engineering an Empire: Greece, part IV Golden Age of Pericles (Video 9 min)
Engineering an Empire: Greece, Part V Architecture of Athens & Attack of Sparta & Disease - Parthenon (Video 8 min)
Ancient Worlds: The Spartans (2 hours, 23 min)
Bettany Hughes chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilizations the world has ever seen, one founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state and the perfect warrior. Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life.
2. The Roman Soldier - (10 min) Video, Notes, Discussion on the role of military on Roman life
We'll see portions of some of these videos, the rest you can watch, if interested.
Engineering an Empire: Rome (Video 1 hour 30 min)
The Roman Military Machine (Video 4:57)
The Romans (Documents life in the Legion) (Video 5:14)
Horrible Histories: Rotten Romans, Decimation (Video 3:00)
Rome - Women in Rome (HBO) (Video 11:04)
3. Students will have remainder of period (35 min) to discuss, plan, & organize block day presentations. 

Wed/Thu Block Day Oct. 3 & 4, 2012

QUOTE: "A day spent without the sight or sound of beauty, the contemplation of mystery, or the search of truth or perfection is a poverty-stricken day; and a succession of such days is fatal to human life." - Lewis Mumford


LEARNING TARGETS:

* Compare the causes of differences in social structures in different civilizations
* Describe the nature of classical patriarchy and its variations


ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. “Social inequality was both accepted and resisted in classical civilizations.” What evidence might support this statement?
2. In what ways did the expression of Chinese patriarchy change over time, and why did it change?
3. How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other?

AGENDA:
1. Students will have 5 minutes to work in groups to finalize presentations on Social Inequality.
2. Student presentations on Social Inequality - 5-10 min in length a piece.
3. Review of Chapter (if time remains)

Friday, Oct. 5, 2012

QUOTE: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." - Shakespeare (Hamlet)

AGENDA:

1. TEST Chapter 6: Eurasian Social Inequalities.
2. Prepare for Chapter 7 quiz on Tuesday.
3. Next week we will study Chapter 7 - Classical Era Variations, while working on the Comparison Essay. No test next Friday - timed writing.

Enjoy Monday ~ freedom from the bonds of AHS Slavery!