Years ago I wrote a post on Ancient Mesopotamia school project ideas broken down by Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. I don't know what's taken me so long, but I finally decided it's time to come up with a list of projects for Ancient Greece!
Rather than making one big long post with all the project ideas, I'm going to do a series of posts, each one based on a different topic. This first post is project ideas for the geography of Ancient Greece.
If you are a classroom teacher, maybe you'll find something here you can use. If you are a student, maybe you'll find a project to do or ignite a spark for an idea of your own. In any case, thanks for reading! Let me hear from you in the comments because it helps me know my post was helpful (or not.)
Verbal-Linguistic Project Ideas (Focused on words and language)
- Write an acrostic poem using Ancient Greece, Geography of Greece, or some similar starter. Each line should say something about the geography of Greece and/or how it affected the ancient Greeks.
- Imagine you are a traveler in Ancient Greece. Write a letter to a fellow traveler about the challenges that you must face because of Greece's geography. Make recommendations to your fellow traveler on things he or she could do to make the journey easier.
- Imagine you are trying to persuade the leaders of Greek city-states to come together and pay for public projects that would help make life in Ancient Greece better for all people. Brainstorm a list of these projects. Write and / or deliver a speech to convince your fellow Greek citizens that they should support these projects. Consider how your project would alter and / or help the environment and include that information in your speech.
- Pick a physical geographical feature of Ancient Greece. (Examples: Sea of Salamis, Aegean Sea, Crete, Isthmus of Corinth, the Peloponnesus, the pass at Thermopylae, etc...) Write a report or speech about that feature. One option would be to use the 5 Themes of Geography as a framework.
- Read an Ancient Greek myth. Describe how the geography of the places in the story affected the story. Do the think the storyteller or author of the myth considered geography when they told or wrote the myth? Should the story be different based on the geography that's in it or should be in it?
- Pick an event in Ancient Greek history. Read about the event. How did geography affect the event? Consider changing the geography and rewriting the event. How would it change? Example: The Persian Wars...They'd have turned out a lot different if the geography was different!
- Write a play. Make the characters in your play different geographical features of Greece and see what happens. For example, how would the Aegean Sea interact in a play with a particular island? What would they say to each other? What would they do together? How could they work together to solve a problem?
- Write a Top Ten List (or top seven, five, three, whatever...) Focus your list on geography. Examples: "Top Ten Most Epic Natural Disasters for Ancient Greece" or "Top Ten Most Important Places in Ancient Greece." Make your list, in order of your choosing. For each item on the list, write a short description of it and why it made the top ten.
- Ancient Greek Tweets...Write a series of tweets about the geography of Ancient Greece. Remember, only 140 characters, including spaces and skipped lines! Tweets can be from real ancient Greek people or made up. (Example: @KingLeonidasOfSparta Pass at #Thermopylae AWESOME for defending Persian attack.They must squeeze a few through at a time. #neversurrender) For extra fun, tweet using the Greek alphabet! (Make sure to give your teacher an English copy also...)
- Label a blank map of Greece and the Aegean but write the names using the Greek alphabet. I'd probably write them in English too...
Visual-Spatial Project Ideas
- Draw a cartoon map of Ancient Greece and the surrounding region. Illustrate it with cartoon-like characters showing people, events, etc.
- Create a comic book or comic strip about the geography of Greece. Make up a hero - or I suppose you could use Hercules...The story line of your comic should have the hero interacting in some way with the geography. For example, perhaps the hero visits various city-states and helps them overcome the obstacles put up by Greece's geography.
- Make a 3D Map of Greece. Make it in Word! Make it in Minecraft! Make it out of pasta or some other material!
- Create a poster, drawing, painting, etc. that shows examples of the 5 Themes of Geography of Ancient Greece. Use pictures only. No words!
- Create a PowerPoint, Prezi, or other presentation. Show and discuss the main features of Ancient Greece's geography. Be sure to include how Greece's geography affected the Ancient Greeks.
- Make a memory card game. You could make the matching cards the same picture...Or, you could have one be a picture and the match be the name, a description, a clue, etc...Use your imagination. There are lot's of ways you could do this.
- Make a flip book animation. Show whatever you want...Just make sure it focuses on the Geography of Greece in some way. Example: show a major event in Greek history taking place. Focus on how geography affected the event.
- Make a graphic organizer. Show examples of the 5 Themes of Geography of Greece. Do it in a unique way. For example, maybe your organizer is the shape of a Greek ship, or maybe it's a 5 Greek gods or goddesses, with each god or goddess representing one of the 5 Themes.
Bodily-Kinesthetic Project Ideas (Focused on movement, working with the hands, etc...)
- Create hand signals for the main geographic features of Ancient Greece (Peloponnesus, Crete, Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, etc...)
- Make up dance moves relating to the geography of Greece and perform them in class.
- Build an actual model of Greece. To really make it cool, have an actual "sea", etc...Make it large enough to reenact battles and stuff!
- Maybe you wrote a play...Perform it too!
- Dress up like an Ancient Greek to give a presentation.
- Get a group together a make a map of Greece using the people in your group. This can get real fun real quick!
Logical-Mathematical Project Ideas
- Create a strategy game that focuses on the advantages and / or disadvantages of Greece's geography. Make sure you give complete rules. Play test your game. You could use dice or a spinner to and randomness to the game.
- Use your favorite programming language to write a computer program, game, etc. that focuses on the Geography of Ancient Greece. It could be a strategy game, an animated map, a war game, or something else!
Musical-Rythmic Project Ideas
- Write a song that includes the major geographic features of Ancient Greece in the lyrics.
- What about a ballad that tells of the affects of Greece's geography on its people?
- Get together with a classmate who wrote a play. Turn it into a musical!
Naturalistic Project Ideas
- Research and grow some of the plants the Ancient Greeks used for food. Try to simulate the soil conditions in Greece. Bring samples! Bring plants to share with classmates!
- Find out what types of fish and other marine life were common in the Greek seas. What about wildlife on the Greek mainland? Write a report or make a poster. Bring some prepared fish in for a tasting!
- Illustrate a map of Greece and the region showing where particular types of plants and animals were found.
Interpersonal Project Ideas (understanding and working with others - almost any project can be interpersonal...)
- Have a debate...Which geographic feature was most important to Ancient Greece? Why?
- Which was least important? Why? Which was overrated? Why? Think of another geography-related debate...
- Create and have a Geography of Ancient Greece Geography Bee! Have several rounds, with questions getting harder as the rounds progress. Make and award prizes.
Intrapersonal Project Ideas (knowing yourself)
- What feature of Greece's geography best represents you? Why? Make a poster, write it up, make a speech, or present in some other unique way...
- If you could go only one place in Ancient Greece, where would you go and why? Write a report, make a travel brochure, or create some other presentation...
Other Ancient Greece Project Ideas
11 Minoans Projects
13 Mycenaeans Projects
9 Athens and Sparta Ideas
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