Classroom Activities
These are some of the items that will go in the archive bin to help students address the inquiry question. I include guiding questions to help students think about the document and unpack it further.
Document A-Democracy Definition for Kids – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LabV7EFHHeo
- What is the definition of democracy?
- What are the two types of democracy and how do they differ?
- What kind of democracy was in Athens? What kind of democracy do we have in the United States today?
Document B-Infographic About Democracy
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-worlds-oldest-democracies/
- According to the infographic, what is the oldest democracy that is still active today?
- What conditions need to be in place for a country to be considered a democracy?
- When did a lot of nations become democracies? Why?
- Why wouldn’t Athenian democracy count in this infographic? What would disqualify it?
Document C-Rome’s Transition from Republic to Empire | National
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-worlds-oldest-democracies/Geographic Society
- How was a republic first established in Rome?
- What did the Roman Senate do?
- What were Assemblies? What powers did they have and what role did the play in conducting the government?
- Who was Julius Caesar and how did he gain power and become an emperor?
- How big did Rome grow as an empire?
- What problems did Rome have that caused it to lose power and influence?
Document D-Exhibit: Ancient Rome & America - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQDhlQ7A6Vk
- Why was the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center important according to the video? What did it cause presidents to do?
- How did the Roman state change over time, especially when the Roman empire fell?
- Why did Rome fall according to the video? Explain the reason provided.
- How does America compare to ancient Rome? What do our societies have in common?
- What is the point of view of this short film? What claim do you think it is making about the United States based on what happened in Rome?
Document E-Is America Falling Like Rome? | Casual Historian - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6UwxurYIFw
- Why do people like to compare Rome with the United States?
- Since Rome had a hard time maintaining an army with Roman citizens, what problem did that create? The video mentions the term mercenary which means a paid soldier.
- According to the video, how are migrants from Latin America that come to the United States thought of by some as being like the barbarians? How are Latin American migrants different from the barbarians that invaded Rome? What do you think about this comparison?
- What was the problem that Rome had in defending its empire? How is it like the United States today according to the video?
- What problem did Diocletian have to address? How is it like the United States today?
- What is the best comparison to make between Rome and the United States according to the video? What do you think about the claim that the person in the video makes about the fall of the Roman Republic and the United States today? Why should we perhaps be worried?
Document F-Greek Influence on U.S. Democracy-National Geographic Society
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/greek-influence-us-democracy/
- When a national government was formed in the United States, why were states created? How did ancient Greece inspire the decision making?
- How was ancient Greece responsible for the creation of law?
- How did ancient Greece inspire the Founding Fathers in writing the Constitution of the United States?
- What is a representative democracy according to the reading?
- Who could vote early on United States history? How has that changed over time?
Document G-Mankind The Story of All of Us: Birth of Democracy-History-Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IndRAsYX4W4
- How did democracy face a challenge in Athens? What happened?
- How did they vote in Ancient Greece? With what item?
- Who could vote in Ancient Athens?
- Why did Athenian warriors beat the Persians?
- Why didn’t ancient Athens have elections? What did they have instead?
- What is a direct democracy?
- What was the ecclesia?
- What purpose did the Council of 500 serve?
- How did ancient Athens stop groups from becoming too powerful?
- Who was denied citizenship in ancient Athens?
- Why does democracy have a positive connotation, so much so that non-democratic countries like to appear democratic?
- What is the problem with elections for office according to the video?
- How do some traditions from ancient Greece survive today?
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