The Silk Roads


Social Studies Middle School The Silk Roads
Students are introduced to the ancient Silk Roads with an array of stunning photos from the National Geographic website. Then, they explore print and video sources to learn what the Silk Roads were and how the roads contributed to the development of civilizations, both Asian and European. Then they learn the story of Marco Polo.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

1:1 Devices
Teacher Pack

The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.

Here are the teacher pack items for The Silk Roads:

Preview - Scene 1
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Overview

In this experience, students are introduced to the ancient Silk Roads with an array of stunning photos from the National Geographic website. Then, they explore print and video sources to learn what the Silk Roads were and how the roads contributed to the development of civilizations, both Asian and European. Then they learn the story of Marco Polo.

Objectives

  • Describe the history of the Silk Road.
  • Explain the impact of the Silk Road trade routes.


In this experience, you’ll learn how travel and trade along a vast network of routes was the key to bringing East and West together.

Objectives

  • Describe the history of the Silk Road.
  • Explain the impact of the Silk Road trade routes.


Photograph of a winding road on a barren mountainside

Roads on Old Silk Route Silk Trading Route Between China and India


In this scene you’re going to take a trip along a road. It’s no ordinary road. It doesn’t look anything like the interstate highways you may have traveled. It’s called the Silk Road—or Silk Roads, because it was really a whole network of them—and it might be the most important road that ever existed.

View photos of it at A Photo Trip Along the Ancient Silk Road.


Write words or very short phrases to express what you see in the photos, and your reaction to the photos. To write more than one, separate them with a comma, like this: tall, short

Post your answer

Discuss student responses.

Invite students to pose questions asking things they would like to know about the Silk Roads. They will learn many answers in this experience.


When everyone is ready to continue, unlock the next scene.

End of Preview
The Complete List of Learning Experiences in Ancient China Unit.
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