In end April 2022, our Grade 6 students put together an Ancient Greek & Roman Exhibition. Many teachers, students and even parents were on campus to be part of the this. The lovely works, costumes and props were created to demonstrate the power system of the society back then. GESS Magazine puts the spotlight on the event, the students and the teachers Thomas Davies and Nicholas Cornish behind it.
Is this the first time GESS has organised a similar activity? And how much time was spent preparing for this?
Historically, there was a Roman Day for Grade 6 which included a feast at lunchtime. You can imagine, nothing similar has happened in the past two years. Because of the success of this recent event and how much fun we had, the team has decided to get this back on track moving forward, possibly as a whole day event! It was also nice having parents back on campus to look at their children’s work. The students had been working on their artefacts for more than a month, which also served as the final assessment for their I&S unit. We saw some serious research work that took place by the students, as they decided on their artefacts.
Looks like we will be seeing this activity turned into a signature event series. Could we have a teaser on upcoming or new plans?
We plan to moved from ancient civilisation and into current global issues closer to home in Asia. We’ll see how this works out!
What do teachers hope the students can learn/benefit when they work on projects like these?
One of the main goals of this project was for students to take the lead in their own “investigation”. This will also allow students to be more engaged in the project, as they get to choose what they want to do.
We were amazed as the students went above and beyond, in creativity and dedication to this exhibition. So many young individuals spent a lot of time thinking about their projects and creating beautiful pieces that they were proud to display.
Another objective was that students would not just create an artefact, but they would understand the importance of that artefact to the ancient civilisation in mention. This tied back to our Statement of Inquiry which was all about innovations, and the impact they can have on power systems. When walking around the exhibition and asking students questions, it was clear to us they had really come to grasp a deeper understanding of what they created.
What were some of the highlights of the event, be it preparation or coming to fruition as an event?
A particularly fun aspect of the preparation and the day itself were the togas. We admit, some students were initially nervous about looking silly, but once they realised that we would all look silly together, nobody backed out. In reality, we received so many compliments on the costumes and props – these helped make the event more complete and holistic. Teachers and students involved in this really felt the day was made a bit more special, having so many students dress up and really presenting our exhibition seriously.
Among the many lovely works by the students, we spoke with one of them, Amelia Chai, on her Trireme.
What was your inspiration for your project?
I decided to work on the Ancient Greek trireme as it fascinated me from the beginning of the unit. I knew that it played an important part in the rise of Ancient Greece as an ancient power, but I wanted to learn more. Since I also enjoy creating projects like this, a model of a trireme was an excellent opportunity to show how its features enabled it to have such an influence.
How long did you take to complete your project?
I worked on the model on and off over three weeks, using part of the Easter break. At one point I ran out of materials and had to purchase more to make my work as realistic as possible.
What was the fun and interesting part about working on this? Any key learning?
I enjoyed working independently on this project, especially being able to do my own research, and integrate it as part of a larger exhibition, for visitors to view it in an aesthetic as well as informative way. I learned some new skills when making the model of a trireme. In addition, I learned that the Ancient Greeks were not only renowned for their culture, but also for their technology, and that their technology greatly influenced them.
