I'm putting together a unit study on Egypt.  Below is what I have so far.  I'm planning on doing a section on Ancient Egypt to go with it but haven't done it yet.  So do you think it is thorough enough?  Does it have enough hands-on to keep it interesting?  Any opinions are welcome.  I've got my big girl panties on. LOL 

Please remember though this is a rough draft so don't pick on my grammar too much. LOL 

Ongoing Activities:

1. Timeline of the history of Egypt
2. Vocabulary words – these should be words that come across that they are unfamiliar with

Find out and write about these people:  (history & language arts)

1. King Menes
2. Mentuhotep II
3. Ahmoe I
4. ThutmoseIII
5. Alexander the Great
6. General Octavian
7. Cleopatra
8. Napoleon Bonaparte
9. Sultan Ahmad Fuad
10. Anwar el-Sadat
11. Naguib Mahfouz
12. Mustafa Kamel
13. Muhammad Ali Pasha
14. Gamal Abdel Nasser
15. Dr. William Junker
16. Dawoud Ibn-Abi Al-Bayaam
17. Dr. Ahmed Zewail

Information Scavenger Hunt (history)

1. Who is credited with the building of the sphinx?
2. Who was responsible for building the pyramids of Giza?
3. Who established the library of Alexandria?
4. What countries have occupied Egypt?
5. Who were the leaders during times of prosperity?
6. How many wars has Egypt been involved in?
7. Who were the first inhabitants of Egypt?
8.  

A Closer look at Ancient Egypt –

Geography:

Activity 1:

On your map of Egypt locate the following and mark them: 

Mountains,

Deserts,

Forest,

Rivers,

Lakes,

Body of waters that border Egypt,

Countries that border Egypt,

Cairo,

Alexandria,

Giza,

 Berenice,

Mut,

Siwa,

El Minya,

El Tur. 

Now make a 3-D map of Egypt. 

Materials:

Large piece of cardboard

Newspaper

Paper Mache glue mix

Scrap pieces of cardboard like toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes (things you can use to hold the shape of a mountain)

Sand

Tempera paint

Pebbles

Glue

Paint brushes

Map

Procedure:

On the piece of cardboard use your materials to construct your own topographical map of Egypt.  Make the mountains out of paper mache.  Use the sand for deserts.  Paint in the bodies of water and grassy areas.  You could make trees out of construction paper or twigs and things from nature.  Be creative with your map.  You could also make little houses or paint dots where the major cities are located. 

Activity 2:

Using a map of Egypt use the following coordinates of latitude and longitude to find the city located there. 

Latitude 30.01N by Longitude 31.14E, 

Latitude 31.00 N by Longitude 30.30 E, 

Latitude 29.11 N by Longitude 25.31 E. 

Find the coordinates for these locations –

Arabian Desert,

Giza,

Zagazig

You can check your answers here.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/lat_long/egypt-lat-long.html

Activity 3:

What is the total area of Egypt?

Is there a state in the United States that is of comparable size?

What is the total population of Egypt? 

Which city has the largest population? 

What percentage is this of the total population? 

What is the highest elevation in Egypt? 

What is the lowest? 

What is the difference between these two?

Activity 4:

List Egypt’s natural resources and mark the map with their locations.

Explain Egypt’s climate.

Draw a picture of the Egypt’s flag

People & Culture:

What is the main religion of Egypt? 

What are some of the beliefs of this religion? 

What holidays do they celebrate in Egypt? 

Pick one and explain why and how it is celebrated. 

What kind of food do they eat?

 Pick a recipe to try at home. 

What kinds of languages are spoken in Egypt? 

What is the main language of Egypt? 

Pretend you are going to take a 3 week tour of Egypt.  Look up information and plan the itinerary for your trip.  Remember to think about transportation, sights, lodging, and eating.  You may also want to find out their customs so you don’t offend your host country while visiting.  For example you may not want to shake someone’s hand with your left hand because that is the hand they use to wipe after going the bathroom.

You will also need to figure out how much this trip would cost you.

Make a meal native to Egypt. Serve it to your family in the custom, traditional to Egypt.

Find a copy of the national anthem to include in your notebook and see if you can find a recording of it to listen to.

Look through newspapers and magazines to find articles relating to Egypt.

 What is the typical dress of Egyptians their today?  Make an outfit

Government:

What is Egypt’s current government?

Has this always been their form of government?  If not what other types of government have they had?

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/egypt_admn97.jpg

How is Egypt’s modern government set up? Make a diagram to show your findings.

How was the government set up during Ancient Egypt’s time? Make a diagram to show your findings.

Do a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting these 2.

How are government positions filled in modern Egypt’s government?

Economy:

What is the currency of this country? 

What is the exchange rate with American money? 

What is there major export/import? 

Pretend you’re a business man in Egypt.  Make sure to base your decisions on the typical business found in Egypt.

What kind of business would you have?  What would you sell?

Now make yourself a catalog showing your merchandise.  Staple several sheets of cardstock together to form the base of your catalog.  Now draw or find photos of the things in your store.  Remember to add some hype to sell your products and list the prices in American and Egyptian money.

You could take your business a bit further by making some things from your shop and setting up a mini shop at home.  Make some currency from Egypt for your store and your customers.  Then play store using Egyptian money.  You could even use play American money so you could learn more about the exchange rate.

Using the sheets that have images of Egyptian money, find the name of the currency and how much it is worth.  Is it modern or ancient money?

Art & Architecture:

Build a mini-museum of some of the historical artifacts that are still in the country.  You can use a cardboard box to make the building.  Use clay, playdough, paper mache, or drawings to create your artwork for your museum.  Use a diorama style for your museum.

Information and images of ancient Egyptian art

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/E/egyptian.html

Pick and Egyptian artist and write about him.  Then paint a copy of one of his pieces of work.

Links to several Egyptian artist

http://www.wwar.com/categories/Artists/Countries/Egypt/

What are some examples of famous Egyptian Architecture?

Sketch some in your notebook.