STAB 2016

Ladies and Gentlemen: I hope you enjoy this entertaining -- and informative -- video from Katherine, Emma, Kate, Brehanu and Jack. Meanwhile...

 William's the star of the show, so Channing and Maya made sure every hair was just right! The tension was thick as Bowen and Hunter prepared to demonstrate their knowledge of ancient Egypt. Katherine and Emma had all the production details under control, while Brehanu talked terracotta. It was a busy day in Studio Six. I enjoyed the enthusiasm, the teamwork, and the informative scripts. Meanwhile... Jack, Julia, Vaya, Artie and Thomas plotted Qin Shihuangdi's  invasion of the Nile River Valley.   Watch out, team Egypt: ancient China is looking strong !

Thanks to Lilly, Tyler and Priya for the terrific artwork! We recently learned about Hatshepsut, one of the famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Several students have pointed out that Hatshepsut is the first female leader that we have studied this year. Hatshepsut was known for being quite intelligent. One of her many wise decisions was to stop fighting with Egypt's neighbors and -- instead -- to focus on increasing the amount of trade and business between Egypt and the nearby empires. Some historians argue that Egypt would never have become so rich and important, without the leadership of Hatshepsut. Hailey made a great comment during class today. She said that Hatsheptsut was " empowering for women " because of her wise and strong leadership of Egypt. Hailey's observation is both perceptive and true.

Yesterday the ancient Egypt groups learned about  Pharaoh Khufu's  amazing ship, which was buried at the foot of the Great Pyramid. The ship was meant to carry Khufu, after his death, on his daily journey through the heavens, along with the Sun God  Ra . However, Jacob and his team of China warriors were not impressed by Egypt's achievements. Jacob pointed out that Khufu and the other Egyptian pharaohs were not very good at managing money. The pharaohs spent so much money building the pyramids that Egypt eventually ran out of money - and the Old Kingdom collapsed! Great point, Jacob, but what about Qin Shihuangdi and Emperor Wudi  in ancient China? Did Qin and Wudi do a better job of managing money for the Chinese people? After all, didn't Qin also spend a tremendous amount on an army of terracotta soldiers to protect him after his death? --------------- Here's a colorful depiction of Ra, found in a temple outside Giza. What adjectives would you use to describe ...

Hilimaz By Coco My name is Sagmi. I am my name. Slave girl. I live within the immense palace of the king of Mesopotamia, Sargon.  My mother is a farmer. She works in the agriculture district. Her name is Uli, which means herbs. That’s what she specializes in.  My mother left me alone when my father died. My father, Urbarra, was a great hunter. His name, wolf, was given to him for hunting so many wolves. Sadly, he was killed by another tribe while hunting outside the walls surrounding our great civilization. I was given to the king as it said in my father’s will. Before the death of my father, my family was a religious one. Everyday, we would travel from our hut to the stone temple dedicated to the moon god Nanna and his wife Ningal.  My mother told me to pray very hard to Nanna. “Why?” I asked, for I was curious, and I wanted to learn the ways of a farmer so I could be one too. “Because when Nanna looks down on us from his bed of stars, he thanks us for worshiping him by...

The Message By Sylvie Hours ago, Kishar had thought the entire city of Ur was resting in her palm. She had hope that everything was going to go her way. That she would be accepted into the world of knowledge, that she could learn how to write.  But when she arose from an unresting slumber in the morning, her hope had shriveled up like the wild flowers when Utu is in a bad mood. The tablet that held Kishar's entire future was sitting on the sweltering ground in front of her. If only she had created that useful technology , Kishar thought, she would’ve been selected to be educated without even applying. Sooner or later she would have to look at that tablet, so it might as well be sooner. On the clay was carved the only word Kishar had ever known how to write. Yes . Finally! I can prove to my family that I am just as intelligent as my older brother, Gizzal.  Gizzal had never been someone who was kind to Kishar. He only bothered being nice to the fam...

Today the 6th graders took a break from the classroom, but they learned some excellent lessons about  listening, leadership, and teamwork  while participating in a range of challenges and activities at Triple C Camp.

Today we talked about several different topics, including: Ancient Mesopotamian religion Differences and similarities between Ur and Charlottesville Interesting details about Sargon's life Several students pointed out that Ur and Charlottesville both have places of worship, but the temples in Ur (known as  ziggurats ) were open only to the priests and appear kind of intimidating.  The students said that the places of worship in Charlottesville tend to be more welcoming and inviting. There were lots of great questions today, including: Priya :  Did women get to have any say in the decisions in ancient Mesopotamia? Were women allowed to fight in the army, if they wanted to fight? Charlotte :  How was Sargon chosen as leader? Gracie :  Did all of the Sumerians truly believe in the gods like Utu and Nanna? Or were they forced to believe in the gods? Brehanu : They had a great irrigation system, but how did they clean their water for drinking and bathing?   ( ...

Last week we learned that ancient  hunter-gatherers  were nomadic and lived in small groups, whereas people who lived in the first  civilizations  (like  Mesopotamia ) began to live in much larger groups. These permanent settlements -- with houses, shops, streets, and organized systems of government -- were (and are) known as  cities  (notice that the word " ci vilization" has the same root as the word " ci ty"). One of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia was  Ur  (which Mr. Richmond likes to pronounce as " Urrrr "). Tomorrow in class, we will talk about ways that Ur was similar to -- and different from -- Charlottesville. Also today,  William, Jack. C., Hunter  and  Hudson  had an excellent discussion about when and where grappling hooks were first invented. William  was curious about whether a grappling hook could be used to attack the walls of Ur.

This is an ancient statue of Hammurabi. Do you think he looks more like a strict, stern leader or more like a kind, forgiving leader? On Thursday we discussed  Hammurabi's Code : the first system of written laws in human history. The students determined that there are several reasons it's important to put laws in writing: Written laws make society more  fair .  They prevent leaders from changing the laws willy-nilly, without informing the people. Written laws make society more  organized .  People can read the laws and understand the  specifics  of what they are allowed (and not allowed) to do. Written laws promote  good behavior . If a person can read the laws and think about them, he or she is more likely to actually obey the laws. ------------- The students also discussed the idea of " an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ." This saying comes directly from two of the laws in Hammurabi's Code (the students correctly determined that the pun...

The  domestication  of wild animals was a major turning point in human history. Once humans tamed animals, they had a more reliable source of food, and they could use the animals for transportation and to help with a variety of difficult tasks (including lots of tasks related to  agriculture ). ---------- Today the students imagined that they were hunter-gatherers trying to choose a particular species of animal to domesticate. They discussed questions related to (1) how each type of animal could help humans and (2) how challenging the animal would be to domesticate: What would we  feed  this animal?  Would we have to compete with the animal for food? Would the animal provide a significant amount of  meat  for us to eat? Would the animal provide a significant amount of  milk  for us to drink? Can this animal be easily  herded  and  controlled ? Can this animal do  work  for humans? Can this animal help protect hu...

Technology  refers to " the tools and knowledge that humans use to solve problems and make their lives easier. " During History Video #1, I asked you to think about which technology has had the most significant impact on people's lives, throughout all of human history. Today during class, we had a lively (and  provocative! ) discussion, during which you shared your opinions about the most influential technologies in human history.  Your answers included: Control of fire Written languages Electricity and the lightbulb Refrigeration The internet and cloud storage of information Wheels and cars Engines that use fossil fuels Airplanes Telephones Devices that measure time Plumbing We also talked about words that could be used to describe the period of time in which we are currently living.   Hudson  told us that he thinks  words and language are the most important part of our lives at the moment. Then he came up with a brilliant description: we are living in t...

Today we examined prehistoric cave paintings from France and Spain. These paintings are the first known examples of art created by humans. They are beautiful . The students worked in groups to analyze the paintings. I loved their ideas: Sylvie, Evan, Lindsay  and  Tabitha :  The Stone Age people painted animals instead of humans because they were using the walls of the caves as a place to make hunting plans. They might also have wanted to honor the animals by painting pictures of them, because the animals provided their food and clothing. Ally, Celia Belle, Gabriel  and  Zach : We like the three-dimensional way that they painted the animals. For example, the backs of the rhinos look like they overlap each other. Maxwell, Jack C., Maya, Coco and  William : We noticed that there are rain clouds and lightning in this painting. Hunter, Bowen, Channing and  Tilly : The artists might have included the mountains, clouds, and lightning in order to...