Pick Your Own Path Medieval Silk Road, Mongol Empire, Islam, etc

Need something fun to teach World History during medieval times to your students? This Google Slides Pick Your Own Path story is the perfect lesson that engages students in the time period by traveling on the Silk Road. Students are asked to make decisions that will change their storyline, so students will have different experiences and endings. It comes with Reflection Questions for students to answer at the end of their journey. Also check out my other Pick Your Own Path in Renaissance England and Age of Exploration, as well as my Scientific Revolution one.

It is 1250 C.E. You are Dante, a fourteen-year-old merchant's apprentice in Florence, Italy. You join your older brother Mark on an adventure of a lifetime to visit the court of Kublai Khan and sell him your family's olive oil and wine. The road is treacherous, and it is not clear if you will ever see home again.

The story covers the following historical topics:
-geography of Italy, the Middle East and Asia

-Routes taken on the Silk Road

-Mongol Empire/Yuan Dynasty

-Crusades

-Islam

-Buddhism

-Christianity

- Life at sea

-Alexandria

-hammams

-caravanserai

-products traded on the Silk Road

-Golden Age of Islam e.g. invention of Algebra and prototype of camera

-Great Wall of China

-Ming Dynasty

-Camels' physical adaptation to desert travel

-printing press

and more!

I created my own original storyline based on careful historical research using secondary sources. Marco Polo's account was one of my main inspirations. I tried to stay as historically accurate as possible, but this is still considered to be historical fiction. Due to the varied nature of student experiences, not all students will be exposed to every topic listed above.