Ancient Civilisations. An Open Minds Adventure.

In September, Grade 5 classes were in the midst of one of the most interesting units of inquiry: Where we are in place and time, their first unit of the semester. This unit saw students learning about the past through a study of ancient civilisations and making connections to the modern day, and in turn developing a deeper understanding of the modern world. These studies provided students with an insight that allowed them to make educated guesses that will help shape our future.

A powerful storybook called Weslandia was the perfect provocation to get students thinking about how they would build their own civilisation. Wesley, the protagonist in Weslandia, an outcast from his own civilisation, decided to build his own civilisation as a summer project, based upon what he learnt at school. Wesley grew his own staple food crops - a brand new crop that didn’t exist in any plant books. Wesley was very enterprising. He dried the fruit of the crop to make cereal out of it, squeezed and drank the juice, he wove a hat and a robe out of the strips of the plant, produced a sun block lotion and a mosquito repellent out of the seed oil, which he sold to his schoolmates. He also developed a new counting system, his own concept of time and renamed constellations, and he made up his own sport games! His new and unique civilisation was called “Weslandia” and had its own new language. What an inspiring story to start a whole new civilisation from scratch!

After reading about the fictional civilisation of Wesley, Grade 5 students studied world civilisations across the globe and centuries, from Ancient Egyptians to Incas. They studied the concept of time and how relative time can be when it comes to ancient civilisations.

They learnt that while Ancient Egyptian and Roman civilisations lasted a few thousand years, the Inca Empire was only around for one hundred years. A key question in these studies was, Why? Why did some civilisations last for so long, and others for so little? What learnings could we take away and apply to the modern day?

Students developed an understanding of timelines, as they connected time and civilisations by coming up with a timeline and linking all milestones in numbers. The vastness of these long periods were really understood when students had to come up with their own timeline, allowing them to really understand the notion, and vastness, of time.

Taking Learning Outdoors

This in-class learning was the precursor to Open Minds, where students applied their new knowledge, turning facts they had learnt in class into reality, under the guidance of Open Minds Coordinator, Franklyn Heisler and classroom teacher Ms. Smith. The Open Minds learning venues included a visit to NUS Heritage Centre, an artefact dig in the East Coast Park beach, a tour of Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) and cultural immersion at traditional Chinese shops in Chinatown.

Day One Open Minds

Asian Civilisations Museum offered the perfect environment for making connections between different civilisations and related artefacts. Each student chose an artefact and came up with a unique story about its history, use and owners. It was an amazing opportunity for students to use their creativity, make authentic connections between what they learnt in class and centuries old artefacts. After completing their tour in the museum, they sat down along the Singapore river and drew old and new Singapore beside each other in order to compare and contrast differences in use and materials.

Day Two Open Minds

The most memorable Open Minds day was the day of the archaeological dig at East Coast Park. Parent volunteers reached the venue at 6:30am on the morning of the dig to bury artefacts that included coconut, wooden baskets, and shards of pottery. Ms. Smith and Mr. Heinsler told the students to treat the artefacts very gently as they were very fragile. They uncovered the sand slowly with brushes and applied extreme care for delicate items. Each student found 6 to 7 artefacts - with great excitement! Mr. Heisler then asked them to sort these delicate pieces as they wished. Classification of the objects varied - a few students wanted to sort them by size, some by material and colour, and others by item types. They examined each object and tried to determine which civilisation and age it represented and whether it served for religious or practical purposes.

Day Three Open Minds

At NUS Heritage Centre, Mr. Heinsler showcased an amazing gallery of photos that spanned civilisations. These ranged from iron tools to bronze drums, stone pottery to atomic bombs, TV to computers and space stations. Students were asked to classify the images to a civilisations category. Students in return did a great job describing each photo and making connections to the corresponding civilisation and age (from prehistoric ages to space age and digital age).

Day Four Open Minds

Chinatown was an excellent neighbourhood to visit in order to grasp the cultural roots of today’s Singaporean traditions. Why were there effigy shops in Singapore? What were the symbols on mooncakes? How should tea be prepared and served according to Chinese tradition? How did Chinese music instruments find their way here to Singapore? The class visited an effigy shop where they browsed through paper versions of everything - from cars to watches, golf club memberships, and cosmetics, and learnt about the Chinese religion and beliefs with a strong emphasis on the after life. During mooncake testing, students understood the concept of auspiciousness, and the significance of the phoenix, King of Birds, and the dragon, the imperial power.

Open Minds provided memorable hands on learning experiences that built deeper understanding of the civilisations we live in. Students made greater connections with the past and the present thanks to the minds on, hands on learning in carefully selected Open Minds venues. Inspired and equipped with a thorough understanding of the elements of a real civilisation, Grade 5 students concluded the unit by building their own unique civilisation they named after their teacher “Smith the 5th”.