We chose ancient Egypt as this month's topic, in anticipation of the King Tut exhibit coming to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia this February. (For more information about the exhibit, click here). We began by reading the book Who Built the Pyramids? Then we formed small groups and deciphered some hieroglyphics, played the ancient Egyptian game of Senet, toured some websites on ancient Egypt and experienced a simulated archaeological dig.

Who Built the Pyramids examined all the many people involved in building a pyramid.

Each participant had a different hieroglyphics to decipher using a key.

Sometimes it helps to work with a partner.

A little extra effort turned the hieroglyphics into a book mark.

There are many fun and informational sites about ancient Egypt on the Internet.

Students investigated tomb paintings at this site sponsored by the British Museum. Click here to visit the site yourself. 

The game Senet was a very popular board game in ancient Egypt.

In this version of Senet, the object is to be the first player to move all his/her pieces off the board.

In an attempt to simulate an archaeological dig, participants searched for artifacts buried in sand.

They used brushes, shovels, and sifters to carefully examine the sand in a particular area.

Each item found was recorded on a list. Then students made educated guesses about the age of the site based on the list of items.