Ancient Rome Art/Culture Lesson Powerpoint

This powerpoint goes along with the Ancient Rome Art/Culture Lesson Papers I also have for sale in my store. This is one of my favorite lessons! Rome was amazing!

I break all of my time period lessons down into a "culture concept". I wanted my students to remember each culture or time period as its own distinctive period. Next is the short review of things that have been covered so far in this curriculum in previous time periods or cultures (Prehistoric, Egypt, China, India, Greece). I briefly narrow all the lessons down into key phrases or ideas comparing them to one another. This leads into talking about the Romans.

I start the new lesson material with the Technologies and Inventions section. We talk about past countries being built on water sources and how Rome used aqueducts to become more versatile. I break down aqueducts into their parts and give multiple examples of how they were using the water and its power (hydropower). I touch on bridges, arenas, apartments, spas, and city blueprints. The arch was used to create vaults and domes which lead to massive interior spaces and paved roads lead to extremely faster and more comfortable traveling.

In the Geography section I talk about how Italy was perfectly positioned to become a leader of the ancient world. They had the natural defenses as well as the resources. I use Pompeii as an example to talk about an average Roman city and its parts. We bounce around the city like a tour stopping at interesting spots before climbing Mt. Vesuvius. I also show some of the sad excavating of people and animals who died in the disaster.

GROUP CHALLENGE!! Students will split up into small groups and rebuild the city of Pompeii. The trick is that they will be using nothing but index cards as their supplies. This has always been a really fun assessment. It forces them to work as a team and to recall structures, technology, and needs of the city.

The next section is the Daily Life. I start with the family talking about the paterfamilias. and the role of each family member. I discuss women, children and they schooling, lucky charms (as other previous time periods), slaves, and fashion. I touch on multiple popular occupations such as farming, merchants, craftsmen, soldiers, teachers, lawyers, engineers, entertainers, and government. I talk about diet and what poor people ate compared to rich people. Before eating, one would need to visit a public bath. This opens a door into talking about how baths were used and what they consisted of (functions, political ploys, as well as some technologies). I end with a little of the entertainment of the time.

The Government section starts with a comparison between our modern US government VS the ancient Roman one. I discuss how it functioned and types of jobs that were needed. Only very specific people could afford to fill such roles in the government. I list some other Roman concepts that we still use today as very every-day concepts (like trial-by-jury, contracts, etc.) Next I talk about their military. (equipment and training as well as organization) One military defeat lead the Romans to become fully armored with metal 1000 years before medieval knights. I bring up Hadrians wall to talk about immigration and trade.

CLASS DEBATE!!! Students will decide on a topic of debate (a list is given) and they will choose sides. The object of the debate is to use Roman public speaking persuasion to convince the other side to join with your side. Roman senators would often sit with the side they agreed with. If someone spoke and made them alter their thinking they would get up and physically switch sides! A simple vote will end the debate.In the Famous People section of the lesson I give overviews of Spartacus, Nero, Trajan, Julius Caesar, and Archimedes. I also highlight some of Archimedes inventions and scientific discoveries (Pi, steam cannon, death ray, etc)

In the Religion section I first show a comparison of Greek and Roman mythology. I then go into temples and personal home shrines. This leads into talking about other cultures having divine halfGod rulers. After Julius Caesar was assassinated his replacement proclaimed himself to be a God and ruled as first emperor. They had their own temples and citizens were expected to pray to the emperor as if he was one of the Gods. I give a little more comparison between other cultures and end with sacrifices.

In the Sculpture section I automatically point out differences the Roman portraits show compared to the rest of the ancient world (Focusing on realism and old age). You'll see ancestor worship and genealogy bragging as well as psychological brainwashing and military propaganda. Romans preferred fine relief sculpture on their potter VS Greek paint.

In Painting I dive into frescoes and many types of decoration touching on their shading an optical illusions. I also give examples of mosaics (design and pictures). This leads into the Students art projects for the unit. Students will either create a mosaic in the form of a geometric symmetrical design or a 3D shaded picture. Lots of awesome examples given.

In Architecture I start with the two main contributing factors: the arch and concrete. I discuss and show benefits of using the arch in its many forms. I lead into the Colosseum with talking about its original reason for being built: crowd control. We discuss and see many working parts of the Colosseum such as its retractable roof, its underground with many trap doors and raisable platforms, its flooding pipes, hierarchy of seating, and more. I also show another lesser famous arena the Circus Maximus for a few slides. The Pantheon is easily recognizable as the only temple in history up to this point that is a giant cylinder topped with a dome. We see and talk about its parts and functions. I compare its dome to our US Capitol dome (142ft VS 96ft) and talk about repairs needed over the years. The difference is Roman concrete! Modern concrete is cheap and falls apart while Roman concrete was amazing! I give pictures and explanations why.

The next section is the What Else Is Going On In The World part of my lessons. I show a brief chronological overview of some of the most important or recognizable events, people, and inventions in history. I do this to show students that all of these time periods and world event happened at the same time; not one at a time.

I end the lesson powerpoint with an Interesting Facts section. I give many off the wall facts about Rome; some are funny; some are gross, and some are just unbelievable. My favorites are to show off the amazing capabilities these ancient cultures had! (performing eye surgeries, moving 800 ton stones across land, some of the most deadly and accurate weapons of the time, etc.)

The last few slides are the explanation for the small group student presentations. Students will become the teacher as they must form mini lessons on one of the given Roman topics. They must use all three of the major learning styles as well as create some kind of handout and activity to help teach their classmates. Active learning at its best!