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G6-7 Youth Development: History Scavenger Hunt

April 1, 2022

During the March 31st Youth Development class, sixth and seventh graders used the LinkedClassroom platform to start an incredible journey of time and space in the Tencent Meeting. This was a history scavenger hunt, an inquiry-based online activity. Students needed to search for more specific information and answer the relevant questions according to the pictures or text materials of historical figures, relics, and monuments given by teachers.

The sixth-grade students study ancient history in history class. In the development of ancient civilizations, water was a vital resource for drink, irrigation, and transportation. Did different ancient civilizations thrive based on rivers? With the pictures of the Pyramids, the Great Wall, Taj Mahal, Parthenon temple, Machu Picchu ruins, Mesa Verda National Park, and so on, students first used online maps to locate the civilization represented by these pictures, and then searched for relevant information through websites to explore the relationship between the rise and decline of these ancient civilizations and rivers.

The students also explored more specific information about the ancient Egyptian and Roman Empires. Was it a good choice to spend much of Egyptians’ resources building massive temples for their dead kings? Why was Rosetta Stone so important? Why are many ancient sites near the Nile River? What did the Romans need to make such a large empire? Why is Italy sitting in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea important? These questions attracted the attention of the students. They searched for the answers online and discussed them with group members. In seeking answers, the students used the source analysis ability they acquire in history class to analyze the information and explore what affected the development of civilizations. At the end of the class, the teachers let the students share what they found. The best five students in each class received a prize.

The G7 activities centered on European history. As time-travel guides, students stepped into virtual Europe, where they discovered snow-capped mountains, mysterious megaliths, and architectural treasures of ancient Rome. The students followed the questions and retrieved all their knowledge about Europe, trying to express their opinions about the land and its people and grasp the impact of ethnic and cultural exchange, war and peace across time and space on individuals, societies, and regions. Grade and homeroom teachers organized discussions for their homerooms, where students shared their knowledge, breaking the physical distance between teachers and students, and making the brief companionship warm and precious.

The two sessions of the online journey were short but enough to lead to further reflection. Starting from March, students of G6 and G7 have been preparing for the World Fair in groups. The 6th graders focused on ancient Chinese history and chose an event in Chinese history to write a script; the 7th graders delved into themes such as the Crusades, the Black Death, and the Renaissance and adapted these historical events to scripts. The students wrote, directed, performed their original plays, and made exquisite props to show the social and character situations in the background of a specific era. The details they perform are their thick descriptions and bold imaginations of history. Even though their performances had to be postponed due to the pandemic, students demonstrated enthusiasm and active involvement in the subject of history through the online exploration activity. The event is over, but the quest for history continues. Let’s look forward to their fantastic performances when back on campus.

Written by Liu Chen, Yu Manqing

Pictures by G6&7 Teachers and Parents

Edited by Huang Shiyuan, Brie Polette