Each of the soldiers has its own personal characteristics. They are life size, most being six feet tall. The soldiers have different facial expressions, different hair style and are even different in age! There has been much speculation on how the soldiers were made. Many laborers had to be recruited, housed and fed. Once the laborers were found, foreman and workers would begin by producing one part such as the leg, feet, torso, arms, hand and head. Once each section was made, the assembly began; making sure no two soldiers were the same. It is believed that 700 figures were made in one year. Each soldier is made out of painted clay. The supplies had to be made available at all times. Each figure was then assembled and held together with clay to form a basic figure. This is similar to an assembly line. Later other laborers added additional clay to shape the face; individual facial features were added such as eyebrows, ears and lips. Finally the soldiers clothing and weapons were formed in a mold and placed on the soldier with clay. The final soldier clay model was placed on a horse also made of clay and wood mixture, on a chariot or left standing to project Emperor Qin from his enemies. The swords and weapons that the warriors are holding are made of a combination of metal mixture and are so sharp; they could be utilized as a weapon today! There were over 10,000 weapons found at this time. The weapons found were swords, daggers, billhooks, spears, halberds, axes, crossbows, triggers, and arrowheads. (See Appendix 3 for a activity on weapons) http://www.archaeology.about.com/od/china/a/terracotta.htm Many soldiers, horses and weapons have been destroyed over the years due to armies damaging them shortly after their creation, poor weather conditions and the collapses of the roof over time. As of now the Emperor Qin's pit has not been excavated. It is a very delicate procedure and archeologists want to preserve every piece of the pit. Many of the warriors, weapons and horses have been crushed or damaged. This could be from warring states many years ago and excavation. (www.chinamuseums.com)
Classroom Activity One: China
This activity will answer the question: Where is China?
Goal:
At the end of this section "
China
" students will recognize China on a map, label important areas and identify capital, rivers, and land surrounding China. As the students learn about China, they will use a colored push pin and identify the area discussed.
Objectives:
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1. Students will research China's geography from internet resources, classroom books and books from library.
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2. Students will work in pairs identifying places (areas listed below) found in China today.
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3. Each student will receive their own map to label.
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4. Students will participate in a whole class lesson with large poster size map
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5. After each area on the poster board is labeled, students will label and color their own map, to be utilized on the information board during International Day.
Materials:
Pencil, crayons, or colored markers list of places to label, push pins, map of Asia/China on a large poster board with cardboard underneath for push pins to enter.
Areas to label on the Map:
Beijing, Great Wall of China, Himalayas, Yangtze River, Huang He River, Taklimakan Desert, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Thailand, North and South Korea, Mongolia, Pacific Ocean, South China Sea, Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, Silk Roads, Terracotta Pit and five other cities of their choice.
Map activity
:
A recommended website where students can find a map, land information and surrounding counties is found on www.travelchinaguide.com . Here students can visualize areas of importance: land structure, geography, rivers, mountains and cities discussed in the next section.
Classroom Activity Two: Soldiers
This activity will answer the question: How were the Soldiers made?
Goal:
At the end of this section "
Soldiers
" students will view pictures of the Terracotta Warriors and then produce their own small replica.
Objectives:
- Students will research Terracotta Warriors from internet resources, classroom books and books from library and produce their own replica. In an assembly line manner, students will build their own Warrior!
Materials:
Crayola Quick dry clay, tooth picks, card stock,
Procedure:
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1. Students will sketch a draft of their warrior's body by looking at pictures.
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2. Each student will make two legs, two arms and one head out of quick dry crayola clay.
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3. Students will break tooth picks in half and place in legs and arms as an anchor.
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4. Using the card stock students will cut out a center body shape.
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5. Allow the legs, arms and head to dry over night.
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6. Put the entire classes' legs, arms and heads on a table and allow each student to select two legs, two arms and one head. Encourage them not to take their own if they identify them.
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7. Use the body card stock and push the tooth picks in at the correct location. Students will verbally share with the class their figure.
For the younger students a mask can be made with paper bags or paper plates.
Classroom Activity Three: Sudoku
This Activity will answer the question: How do we write Chinese characters/numbers?
Background information:
Mandarin Chinese is a language that is spoken by over 2/3 of the Chinese population mostly living in central and north China. (www.britannica.com) Mandarin Chinese is the largest number of native speakers of any language in the world. Over 885,000,000 people speak this language. Chinese character writing is unique and very interesting for the children of all ages. Chinese writing dates back to 1200 BC. Chinese characters represent a syllable of the spoken language. Originally the characters were pictures of the people or objects. Over time the characters came to resemble the object but indicate pronunciation and meaning. Knowledge of 3,000 characters will allow you to read most of Chinese literature, such as a book or the newspaper. There are about 56,000 characters or more! Chinese characters include twelve basic strokes from top to bottom and left to right and are in a very systematic order. Some characters consist of one stroke, such as the number
one
, twenty-five for the word
school
,
and many more strokes for some words. (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese.htm) I will have my student type in a few words on the computer and let them see and hear the pronunciation at the above website. When writing numbers, other countries such as Japan and Korea, also utilize the stroke order. As the children learn to write these Chinese numbers they will also learn how to write them in two other languages! Students can research Chinese character writing or go to the website http://www.xuezhongwen.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=main. to find the words and practice their character strokes.
When writing numbers, other countries such as Japan and Korea, also utilize the same pattern. As the children learn to write these Chinese numbers they will also learn how to write in two other languages! Students can research Chinese character writing or go to the website http://www.xuezhongwen.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=main. to find words and practice their character strokes.
Although Soduku is a Japanese puzzle game, students will enjoy this activity to practice their knowledge of Chinese numbers. The Japanese borrowed thousands of Chinese Characters. This includes the numbers one to ten. Soduku is the systematic use of numbers one though nine to form smaller squares in larger squares. Soduku means," the digit must remain single". Soduku can be spelled "Suduku", "Sudoku" and "Sodoku" and it is suggested that students can go on line to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku or in some local newspapers, to practice prior to using Chinese characters. Students will fill in missing numbers so that:
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1. Each row contains digits one through nine (1-9).
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2. Each column contains digits one through nine.
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3. Every small square contains the digit one through nine.
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4. Every big square contains the digits one through nine.
Goal:
At the end of this section "
Soduku
", students will learn character writing and their pronunciation for numbers one though nine and utilize them in a math puzzle.
Objectives:
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1. Students will research character number writing on the website: www.xuezhongwen.net/chindict. or www.omniglot.com.
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2. Students will practice saying and writing the numbers following the pattern of left to right and top to bottom.
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3. Each student will practice Soduku puzzle making with Standard English numbers to gain knowledge of the game.
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4. Students will make their own puzzle following the pattern or go online to http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/China/numbers/index.shtml. This site does have a membership fee. However, some worksheets are free to view. Note: the membership is worth the price.
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5. Alternative activity could have the students make their own puzzle using two or three Chinese numbers in each small square and the exchanging their puzzle with their partner's puzzle.
Numbers: Students should practice the numbers several times on paper prior to filling in the Soduku game.
(table available in print form)