USC-UCLA Joint East Asian Studies Center 

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Bring History Alive!

Below are abridged samples from the National Center for History in the Schools sourcebook for world history: Bring History Alive! The samples have been edited to focus on activities related to East Asia.

The complete samples are available at the Center's website: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/bha.html#wrldera3 You can also learn about ordering the book from the NCHS website.
 
Era 3: 1000 BCE - 300 BCE
Era 5: 1000 -1500
Era 9: Post-1945

Era 3: Classical Traditions, Major Religions, and Giant Empires, 1000 BCE-300 CE

III. How major religions and large-scale empires arose in the Mediterranean basin, China, and India, 500 BCE-300 CE.

C. How China became unified under the early imperial dynas-ties.

Grades 5-6

• Make drawings of the contents of Shi Huangdi's tomb and the building of the first Great Wall and label evidence that shows the achievements of the Qin period.
• Re-tell a Chinese folktale to explain what life was like for ordinary people in ancient China.
• Write a diary entry as a person working on the Great Wall under order of Emperor Qin, expressing your views of the value of the work you are doing and your feelings about working under harsh conditions. What reasons do people have for submitting to "greater authority"?
• Use excerpts from Marilee Heyer's The Weaving of a Dream to describe Chinese values and belief systems.
• Define the Mandate of Heaven and the idea of virtuous rule. How does this compare to how other cultures you've studied confer authority on their rulers?
• Use the following three passages expressing the "Golden Rule" and explain how Confucius, Aristotle, and Jesus sought to promote harmony in society. Confucius: "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." Aristotle: "We should behave to our friends as we would wish our friends to behave to us." Jesus: "So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them." Create a poster illustrating one of the three passages, incorporating the artistic aesthetic of that religious or moral culture.

Grades 7-8

• Use overlays or a series of maps to trace the lands controlled by the Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties. Compare the extent of the Han empire to that of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire at the time of the emperor Trajan. How would you account for the success and limit of Han expansion?
• Diagram the social hierarchy in China including scholar-officials, farmers, artisans, merchants, soldiers, women, and slaves. Compare the stratification of Chinese society with that of other ancient societies. What gave people status in China? How was the composition of Chinese society similar to or dif-ferent from that of other ancient societies?
• Explain how the Zhou used the concept of the "Mandate of Heaven" to justify the overthrow of the Shang dynasty. How does this concept compare with ideas about the power and legitimacy of rulers in other ancient civilizations?
• Create a graphic organizer of Chinese achievements in science, technology, the arts, and practical methods of farming and irrigation. How did these achievements compare with those of the Greeks and Romans?
• Summarize the most important teachings of Confucius in a set of ten guidelines for human conduct. How do these Confucian guidelines compare with the Ten Commandments?
• Construct a manual for use by those wishing to take the civil service examinations during the time of the Han empire. Who could take the examination? How long would it take to prepare for it, how difficult would it be, what should be studied, what were the arrangements for taking the examination, could it be retaken in case of failure, and what advantages did passing it confer?
• Drawing on historical information, create an account of your travels as though written by a Han merchant using the "silk road" in his trading ventures. What goods do you trade in? How are those goods transported? What peoples do you encounter on the way? Where is the end-point of your trade route? What difficulties and dangers do you have to anticipate, and how do you try to minimize them? What new ideas and products have you brought home with you from your trading trips? How were they received?

Grades 9-12

• Stage a debate among a Confucianist, Daoist, and Legalist over which philosophy would end the era of warring states.
• Read selections of Qin laws on penal servitude and debate history's verdict on Shi Huangdi. Was he a cruel tyrant or a great builder?
• Prepare a museum display using illustrations from Chinese art up to the end of the Han dynasty. How does the art reflect the history and philosophy of China during this period?
• Research the legal and social position of women of different classes in the Confucian tradition. Compare the Confucian definition of women's roles with those of Ban Zhao (ca. 45-120 CE) as recorded in Lessons for Women.

Participate in a debate on a modern legal issue of interest to stu-dents where you assume the role of a Confucianist, a Daoist or a Legalist. Which of these belief/value systems do you find to be closest to your own? Why?
 

Era 5: Intensified Hemispheric Interactions 1000-1500 CE

V. Patterns of crisis and recovery in Afro-Eurasia, 1300-1450.

C. Major political developments in Asia in the aftermath of the collapse of Mongol rule and the plague pandemic.

Grades 7-8

• Research the empire of Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) and assess the impact of his conquests on Southwest Asia and India. What part was played in Timur's successes by mobility, opponents' weakness, and a strategy of terror? How would you compare and contrast Timur and Chinggis Khan as conquerors, destroyers, and empire builders?

Grades 9-12

• Produce a European newspaper "special edition" dated at the time of the collapse of the Mongol rule in China. Include interviews of several persons who speculate what caused the downfall. Review the threat the Mongols once posed to eastern and central Europe. Interview several merchants and traders for their reaction to the possible end of Pax Mongolia.
• Compare the conquests of Timur with those of Chinggis Khan. How did their treatment of resisting and submitting peoples contribute to their successes? What were the benefits and disadvantages of their rule for their Mongol followers and their subject peoples? To what extent was each influenced by values or ideas of the cultures with which he came in contact?

Era 9: The 20th Century Since 1945: Promises and Paradoxes

II. The search for community, stability, and peace in an interdependent world.

A. How population explosion and environmental change have altered conditions of life around the world.

Grades 9-12

Prepare a graph illustrating China's population growth from the 1700s through 1990. Analyze the effects of China's "one-child" policy of the 1990s. Why did China's population growth rate increase dramatically? How has China's population growth affected economic development from the 1800s onward?

B. How increasing economic interdependence has transformed human society.

Grades 5-6

• Make a map centering on the Pacific Ocean that identifies the established and newly industrialized countries of the Pacific Rim. What is the Pacific Rim economy?

Grades 7-8

• Construct a case study of two developing countries. Compare and contrast development in the two countries. What are some of the challenges to economic development? How can the countries address these challenges?

Grades 9-12

• Assume the role of a representative to a world forum called to discuss the disparities between industrialized and developing countries. Examine statistical information regarding resources, production, capital investment, labor, and trade. What accounts for the disparity? What measures should be taken by industrialized states to assist developing nations? What programs should developing nations undertake?

• Write a report explaining why the countries of East Asia have experienced comparatively rapid economic development in the late 20th century. What factors may explain why the economies of some countries of Africa have not significantly advanced in the late 1980s and 1990s?

C. How liberal democracy, market economies, and human rights movements have reshaped political and social life.

Grades 7-8

• Research the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights of 1948. Why was this document written? Write an expository essay on the progress or lack of progress of human and civil rights around the world or in one country.

Grades 9-12

• Analyze the writings of male and female members of religious groups of various religions. How do they differ in their views of women's roles?

• Evaluate the relationship between demands for democratic reform and the trend toward privatization and economic liberalization in developing countries and former communist states. Assess the influence of multinational corporations in supporting or challenging these trends.

D. Major sources of tension and conflict in the contemporary world and efforts that have been made to address them.

Grades 5-6

• Examine photographs of student protest in Tiananmen Square in China in 1989. What were the reasons for the protest? Why did student protesters demonstrate with miniature versions of the Statue of Liberty?

Grades 7-8

• Research the opening of China and the impact of changes in the communist system in the post-Mao era. How did world events help give rise to a reform movement in 1989? What actions did Deng Xiaoping take to crush the movement? How did world leaders react to the events in Tiananmen Square?
• Compile a list of nations that have faced the breakdown of central authority in the last two decades of the 20th century. What are the pressing problems facing these nations? Why have their respective governments been unable to cope with these problems? What has been the reaction of the international community?

Grades 9-12

Debate the question: "Does the nation-state have a future in the 21st century?"

Define the term "genocide" and analyze possible examples of genocide since World War II. Conduct a tribunal that judges whether or not the Pol Pot regime committed genocide in Cambodia.

E. Major worldwide scientific and technological trends of the second half of the 20th century.

Grades 5-6

• Chart the changes that have taken place in the 20th century in communication. How have these changes affected life? To what extent have they helped bring people from different parts of the world together?

• Assume the role of a 19th-century scientist who has traveled forward in time. How would you describe the social and cultural implications of recent medical successes such as antibiotics and vaccines? What challenges do you see for medical research in the 21st century?

Grades 7-8

• Research the "Green Revolution." What agricultural techniques contributed to the growth in agricultural productivity? What new varieties of crops appeared? What were the benefits of these changes? How have scientists and governmental officials responded to unintended consequences of the "Green Revolution"?
• Research important medical discoveries of the latter part of the 20th century and explain how these have enhanced the quality of life. Have all nations shared in advanced medical research?

Grades 9-12

• Debate the issue: "Resolved: Nuclear power is the most efficient and environmentally feasible energy source for the 21st century." How have demands for energy increased in the last generation? How do the industrialized nations of the world compare with developing nations in energy consumption? How many nations in the world rely heavily on nuclear power as an energy source? How do the costs and risks of nuclear power compare with those posed by continuing use of fossil fuels?

F. Worldwide cultural trends of the second half of the 20th century.

Grades 5-6

• List major challenges confronting contemporary society and explain the ways in which different religions have sought to help solve these problems.
• List 10 consumer items that you consider important today. Would people in other parts of the world select the same items? Why or why not?
• Construct a bulletin board display showing examples of contemporary art and architecture from around the world. In what way do styles reflect local culture? In what way do they show evidence of a "global culture"?
• Using the Internet, compile information and images on a cultural or artistic movement such as Surrealism, Pop Art, musical comedy, animated film, or early rock and roll. How have these movements affected society?

Grades 7-8

• Create a large bulletin board picture and word collage of examples of "global culture." Include examples of global communications, information technology, and mass marketing. How have these developments accelerated social change?
• Research the global influence of CNN in the past ten years. In how many countries of the world can CNN be viewed? What role did CNN play in the Gulf War?

• Debate the proposition that the late 20th century is a time of religious ferment and experimentation around the world.
• Construct a chart listing differences in ways of life in an industrial nation and a predominantly agrarian nation. What consumer goods are valued in each society? How has modern communication affected demands for consumer goods in different parts of the world?

Grades 9-12

Debate the advantages and disadvantages of increased participation in the world economy for a country eager to preserve its traditional cultural identity. Use evidence from specific countries to support your argument.

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