Student Group Activity

Luke Johnson & Kyl Rucker

February 1, 2016
Comparing the Development of Empires: Social Studies/High School Grade 10
Description of the Activity: Students have already been taught about the Roman Empire and
Han China through prior lessons. Each student has notes that were taken from prior lessons on
each civilization, which will be used in the snowball activity. In this activity, students will form
pairs, while using their notes and knowledge to create a Venn diagram, comparing and
contrasting the two civilizations. This activity will allow students to become more familiar with
their civilization as they must compare it to their partners civilization. This requires each student
to teach their partner about their empire, which reinforces their understanding of Rome and Han
China.
Objective: The students will analyze the civilizations of Rome and Han China by comparing the
development of the empires.
Standard: SSHS S2C3 03
Social Studies High School, Strand 2, Concept 3, Performance Objective 3
World History: World in Transition: Compare the development of empires (e.g., Roman, Han,
Mali, Incan, Ottoman) throughout World History.
How groups will be assigned:
Students will be assigned a number from 1-2 and will hold up their index finger to signal they are
in group 1 and students in group 2 will hold up both their index and middle fingers. The students
in group 2 will be assigned to the Roman Empire then the students in group 1 will be assigned to
the Han Empire.
Snowball groups:
Each student will conduct research on their civilization by revisiting class notes and handouts for
6 minutes. Then the students will be given 57 seconds to pair up with another student who has
the same civilization i.e. a Rome student with another Roam student and Han China student with
another Han China student. The students will compare notes and information that will be written
on each of the students Venn diagrams, the students will have 8 minutes to work together. Then
the signal Ladies and Gentlemen will be given and the teacher will ask, who needs another 2
minutes? then the extra time will be allotted if need be; if not then the students will have 57
seconds to find a partner who has the opposite civilization as themselves. Once the students have
found a partner with a different civilization from their own they will have 8 minutes to compare
and contrast their civilizations on their Venn diagrams. The signal Ladies and Gentlemen will
be given again and the teacher will ask, Who needs another 2 minutes? The additional time
will be allotted if need be; if not then the students will return to their assigned seats with their
completed Venn diagrams.

Ask:

Please hold up your assigned number.

If you are a number 1 what civilization to you research?
If you are a number 2 what civilization do you research?
How long do you have to find a partner?
How long do you have with each partner?
Someone please summarize what we are going to do.

Materials: notes, paper (loose-leaf or notebook), and pencil