Title: Seven Up 225

Key Words: wonders of the world, natural landscape, cultural landscape, symbolism, criteria,

National Standard: 18 (Applying geography to interpret the past)

State Standard: 15 (Applying geography to interpret the past)

Teaching Level: Middle School

Introduction: The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World hold a fascination for students and teachers alike. Why were they built? What ideas do they symbolize? How were they built? What were the people like who built them? These are questions students will explore as they think about the wonders of the ancient world and discover wonders of the modern world.

Objective: Students will analyze the symbolism of the seven wonders of the ancient world and use this information to discover and evaluate modern "wonders of the world."

Materials: Handout: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Data Chart.
Seven 3x5 cards with the name of one Ancient Wonder on each card.
Handout: Seven Wonders of the Local Community.
Writing Materials to make posters.
Teacher Reference Sheet: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and List of Possibilities for Nomination of Present Day Wonders of the World.
Books and encyclopedias on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Procedure: Activate students' prior knowledge of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World through discussion and photographs if available.

Divide students into seven groups. Have an emissary from each group choose the name of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World from a hat. The job of each group will be to collect information from the resources about the wonder that was chosen from the hat. Have students place this information on the handout Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Data Chart an prepare a poster with that information for display and use by the others students in the class.

Distribute the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Data chart and clarify the categories.
Direct students to complete the following tasks:
1. Fill in the section of the data chart corresponding to the wonder they chose. This information is readily accessible in books and encyclopedias. The World Book Encyclopedia S Volume is an excellent source.
2. Transfer that information from the chart to a large poster

Place posters on walls around the classroom. Have students rotate from poster to poster gathering the data to complete their individual charts.

Regroup as a class. Generate discussion about why only one ancient wonder (the pyramids) remains in the modern world.
Suggest to the class that they have been chosen to replace the six absent wonders of the ancient world with Wonders of the Modern World.

Either on the board or on an overhead projector, display the list of possibilities for nominations of present day wonders. Give students one to two minutes to think and jot down their own ideas about additions to this list.

Reconvene the seven original groups. Direct each group to prepare a poster of their seven present day wonders including the pyramids.
Have each group display their poster and explain the criteria they used for their choices.

Draw conclusions about cultural values. An example is: Elements of the landscape are mirrors of the culture that created them.

Evaluation/Assessment: Choose the one wonder from the list of the ancient world wonders and one wonder from the list of the modern world wonders that you find most wondrous. Compare the criteria you used to make each choice.

Extension/Enrichment: Examine the natural and cultural landscape of the local community. Use the handout, Seven Wonders of the Local Community Data Chart to record local features that qualify as wonders.

Reflection: How successful was this lesson? Did all students benefit? Were there any surprises? What might you do differently another time? Please note any changes that will make this lesson more effective and useful in the future and pass them along to the NHGA. We appreciate your comments.
Thank you,
The authors

Teacher Reference Sheet: List of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and List of Possibilities for Nominations for Present Day Wonders of the World

List of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World:
1. The Pyramids of Egypt at Giza
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
4. The Statue of Zeus
5. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
6. The Colossus of Rhodes
7. The Lighthouse of Alexandria

List of Possibilities for Nominations for Present Day Wonders of the World:
Gateway Arch, Missouri
Taj Mahal, India
Golden Gate Bridge, California
Statue of Liberty, New York
Sydney Opera House, Australia
Wailing Wall (Western Wall), Israel, Jerusalem
Great Wall of China, China
Old Man of the Mountain, New Hampshire
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Buckingham Palace, England
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
Eiffel Tower, France
Niagara Falls, New York and Canada
United Nations Building, New York
Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, Mexico

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Data Chart

Wonder Location Natura Man-made Symbolism Present Condition

Pyramids of Egypt

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Statue of Zeus

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Colossus of Rhodes

Lighthouse of Alexandria

Seven Wonders of the Local Community Data Chart

Wonder Location Natural Man-made Symbolism Present Condition

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Original file name: 210rtf - converted on Tuesday, 20 October 1998, 20:56