The Silk Routes

Traveling the Silk Routes

In this cluster, students will explore what the “Silk Routes” were and the goods, people, and geographic features of the Silk Road by investigating artifacts, stories, and sources. They will begin by activating prior knowledge of the development of Asian cultures. Students will then explore the region's geography and its impact on traders and travelers. Throughout the lessons, students will begin to understand how cultures change through cultural diffusion and interaction. Students will use the information they gather to write an argument explaining which goods or ideas were the most important to move along the Silk Routes.

In-Depth Inquiry: Exchange at the Oasis

Cluster 2 comprises the simulation activity and debrief. Through question development, research in sources, character development, and presentation in the simulation, students demonstrate their command of PS 2 and PS 5 as well as W1 and W9. Students will review multiple sources and synthesize information to embody a character during the simulation. Finally, students will interview each other to learn more about the experiences of traders and travelers along the Silk Routes.

The Silk Road Legacy

With the Silk Route travel and contact came an exchange of ideas, religions, technologies, cultural forms, and tolerance in different ways. In the last group of lessons in Cluster 3, students investigate ancient and current policies toward religious and ethnic diversity, specifically in China. They ask: What happened over time to the Silk Road legacy of tolerance? The cluster culminates with students writing a one-pager that illustrates the contrasts between religious tolerance in the past and present along the Silk Road.