Before I gave up home school blogging to move to the baby and food blogs, on occasion I would post a unit study starter. A unit study starter can be used as a ‘diving board’ to jump start your unit. I generally include links and resources for each subject area and of course you are free to add your own as needed. To get more details on planning a unit study see this blog.
Critical Thinking
An organization called The New 7 Wonders began by holding a world wide vote to elect 7 ‘new’ wonders of the world. Begin the unit by discussing what would make something ‘qualify’ as a wonder of the world. Come up with a list of adjectives and before you spill the beans on the new 7 world wonders, see if you can elect some of your own 7 wonders based on your list of adjectives. What would disqualify something as a ‘wonder.‘ The original 7 wonders were:
Pyramid of Giza near Caïro in Egypt (+/- 4600 years old)
Colossus at the port of Rhodos in Greece (2200 years collapsed by a earthquake)
Hanging gardens of Babylon in Iraq (2700 years ago)
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Turkey (2350 years ago)
The lighthouse at Alexandria near the coast of Egypt (+/- 2100 years old)
The statue of Zeus in Greece at Olympia (2400 years old)
Temple of Artemis at Efeze in Turkey (2600 years old)
Of the original 7, only the pyramid of Giza is still standing.
As a critical thinking exercise, think about what all these wonders have in common. Notice that all of them were located in the very first places that we have records of human history.
Math
This is a great opportunity to practice statistics. In order for survey results to be considered valid, there has to be at least 30 votes (or pieces of data). Take your student to the park or mall (or even ask family members to help) and have him ask 30 people to vote on a list of wonders. Then have him work with the data by answering questions like:
The average person thinks that _________ should’ve made the list.
Most people voted for __________.
__________ was the least popular choice.
Geography
Of course the most obvious application of studying the new 7 wonders of the world is to learn their locations. You can find a list to the new wonders here http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=633&L=0 as well as a list of ‘finalists.’ Take a map and go ‘visit’ each wonder. On your map tack up various facts about the people there and the significance of the monument.
Enjoy your world tour!
Other ‘stuff’ on unit studies:
A Unit Study Starter on Backyard Astronomy
A Unit Study Starter on Castles and Midieval Life