December 11-17, 2014 Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event: Greece Contests Ownership of Ancient Greek Statues
The British Museum in London recently loaned one of the Elgin (EL gun) Marbles to the Russian State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The sculptures were once part of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon in Athens. Greece disputes ownership of the sculptures, claiming that Lord Elgin, a British aristocrat, stole the sculptures in the early 19th century, when the Ottoman Turks occupied Greece. The British maintain that Lord Elgin saved the statues by removing them because the Ottoman army was using the Parthenon as a target for artillery practice.
Objective:
Ancient Greece was the birthplace of civilization about 2,500 years ago. Greek civilization developed chiefly in small city-states, which consisted of a city or town and the surrounding villages and farmland. The Greek city-states were fiercely independent and often quarreled among themselves. The best-known city-states were Athens and Sparta. The ancient Greek city-states never became united into a nation. However, a common language, religion, and culture bound the people together. The magnificent achievements of the ancient Greeks in government, science, philosophy, and the arts still influence our lives. The most advanced city-states established the world’s first democratic governments. The ancient Greeks were pioneers in biology, mathematics, medicine, and physics. Philosophy originated in ancient Greece during the 500′s B.C. Greek architects, painters, sculptors, and writers made important contributions to the arts. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore Ancient Greece and other ancient civilizations.
Words to know:
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students to name some ancient civilizations besides the Greeks. (Students might say the Assyrians, Babylonians, Chinese, Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians, Romans.)
2. Ask your students to name some famous ancient Greeks. (Students might say Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Archimedes, Euclid, Homer, Pericles, Plato, Ptolemy, Pythagoras, Socrates.)
3. Ask your students to debate, “Who should own archaeological artifacts, the archaeologist who finds them or the country in which they are found?”
4. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to view or add to the History of Ancient Greece timeline. (Students may wish to use the “History” section of World Book’s “Ancient Greece” article for help.)