‘Age of Empires’

for the Year 8

Curriculum
Game Overview:

Age of Empire II – The Age of Kings is a computer based, real time strategy
game created by Microsoft. The goal of the game is to develop a civilization
from its modest beginnings to the glory years of a vast, world dominating
empire. Age of Empire II spans one thousand years from the fall of the
Roman Empire through to the Middle Ages. The game allows students to
experience what life might have been like for a member of an ancient
community, hundreds of years ago. Students choose to be one of thirteen
ancient civilisations, and develops strategies enabling their chosen community
grow. Students must manage food, gold, wood and other resources. They
must research technologies, provide for the security of their village and
eventually evolve into a thriving civilisation boasting farms, religion, military
and other facilities.

Age of Empires II in the Classroom:

Age of Empires II - The Age of Kings is an important educational tool, for

students of all learning abilities and types. Students are able to be involved
with hands on learning, working as teams, communication and using ICT
within the classroom. Students are able to be actively involved in learning
about life in the Middle Ages. As students play the game, they will:
• Manage resources
• Compare and contrast the benefits of hunting and farming
• Investigate the affects of terrain on a developing community.

VELS and Content area:

Age of Empires II - The Age of Kings can be used to enhance the Humanities-
History curriculum for level 4 and 5. The focus of this level is Ancient
Civilisations and Medieval Life. Specific VELS standards that can be applied
are:

Historical Knowledge and Understanding

4.25
‘ Identification of change and continuity over time in a past society’

4.5
‘Comparison of aspects of different past societies; for example, day life,
community life and governance’

‘understanding and use of key terms and concepts such as ‘ religion’, ‘power’,
‘authority’, ‘governance’’

4,75
‘analysis of social and political structure in past societies’
Historical Reasoning and Interpretation

4.25
‘ comprehension of sources, and questioning of their point of view, values and
attitudes ‘

4.5
‘ development of appropriate research questions and plans for an inquiry’

‘ in historical explanations. Use of evidence, relevant concepts and terms, as

well as conventions such as references and a bibliography’

4.75
‘ analysis of the context, purpose and completeness of sources in answering
particular inquiry questions’

Teachers are able to focus on the Communication, Interpersonal and Thinking

Processes, and Personal Learning strands within the VELS documents.

Goals and Objectives of Unit:

Students are able to work as a team, respecting their opinions and ideas
throughout the process of the game. Students learn to communicate, and
understand the importance of participation and collaboration through learning.

The unit also aims to:

• Provide an entertaining and educational supplement to the Humanities

lesson;
• Provide an opportunity for students to experience life as it may have
been hundreds of years ago;
• Encourage students to learn through hands on activities, targeting all
learning abilities and levels;
• Provide lessons that are student driven and student-centred;
• Provide opportunities for students to make connections between game
play and classroom learning;
• Meet with VELS standards of education.

Age of Empires II and the Humanities Curriculum:

If teachers plan to use the game during Humanities lessons, it is important to

note that the game does not teach history on its own; the game is meant to be
a curricular activity to help process the material learnt during class, in a more
hands – on manner. The game is not content based, hence needs to be
supported by subject theory and other such learning practices. The creators
of the game have carefully researched the different attributes and
technologies of each of the thirteen civilisations present. As the students play
the game, they will be able to access only those technologies available to
their civilisation and only for the era they are currently playing in. As they
progress through the game, more civilisations specific technologies will be
made available.

Age if Empires II enhances the Humanities curriculum by giving students

hands on experience with medieval life. They will not only be reading about
these civilisations but, they will be personally involved in the survival and
advancement of their community. Students will be able to see how the
availability of resources, the natural geography and the development of
technologies affects the progress of their people. The game permits students
to be actively involved in the learning process.

Using Age of Empires II – The age of Kings in the classroom:

There are a variety of ways teachers can incorporate the game as part of their
curriculum.

1. Students need to do some research before hand. Teachers can

distribute part of the How to Play booklet, outlining the various
civilisations involved, then formulating certain inquiry questions.
Students will need to research certain aspects of their chosen
civilisation including: religion, politics, warfare, role of Church, role of
Women, role of Men etc. This will help them when they are forming
their community.

2. Students can use the game as a process of clarifying research

projects.

3. Students can keep a day to day journal of how their community have
expanded over time. They will need to keep details of what resources
they have used, who in the community was able to make key growth
levels.

4. Students can compare Hunter-Gatherer societies to Farming societies.

In this lesson the students can be broken up into two groups; the hunter-
gatherers and the agrarians. The hunter-gatherer group of students will
only be allowed to forage for food, fish, hunt for and kill sheep and wild
animals. The agrarian group will be allowed to participate in all the able
activities and will be allowed to create farms. The students will see that as
time passes, the agrarian society has a huge advantage over the hunters
in that can continue to easily procure food while the hunter-gatherers need
to travel further and further from their town centre and eventually will
deplete their food resources.

Key questions for Hunter-Gatherer vs Farming societies activity:

 • Which society was better able to meet the demands of their
growing population?

• What were some of the advantages of hunting?

• What were some of the disadvantages?

• What were some of the advantages of farming?

• What were some of the disadvantages?

• Which society was best able to support a rapidly growing

population?

• Which society was able to advance to a new age more quickly?

• Which society had the biggest impact on the environment?

• How was the environment specifically by each manner of food

collection?

• How was the distribution of labor in the village affected by the

manner in shich food was gathered?

Students are able to then conduct a research assignment based on

Ancient Egyptians. Did agriculture play a roll in their ability to develop
complex civilisations?

5. Students can analyse the affects of Geography and Climate on the

development of civilisations:

Students are able to see how advancements in technology allow humans

to better adapt to their environment.

Key questions for the analysis of Technology and the Environment:

• What resources were available to you in your assigned

geographic location?

• How did the availability or lack of resources affect your ability

to support your village? Be specific.

• What natural resource had the biggest impact on your village’s

ability to grow and advance?

• How did the new technologies help your village to progress?

• What two technologies had the biggest impact on your
progress? Why?

• How did your villagers adapt to their geographical location? In

other words, what did they do to the environment to ensure
their survival?