Top 10 Magazine - Ancient Civilisations

The editors of Scholastic Top 10 magazine want to publish an Ancient Civilisations volume and have asked you to contribute. They are asking for a magazine article that compares top inventions from two different ancient civilisations.

Your Task 

You will be creating a magazine article complete with titles, subheadings, pictures, captions, relevant graphics and anything else you consider enhances your article. You will choose two Ancient Civilisations, and compare their inventions. You will also compare them to what we have today and judge the degree to which modern modifications have improved the invention.

You may choose from:

Ancient Egypt
Ancient Aztecs
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Ancient China

If there is another Ancient Civilisation you would like to investigate please discuss with me.

The Process

1.Knowledge Attack

Watch the slides of the Wonders of the World. How many do you know? What do you know about them? What do you know about the people and places of the times when they were made?
Complete the K (what do I know) and W (what do I want to know) of a KWL chart.

2. Info Seek
You will need to find some INTERESTING information about the inventions of your two chosen Ancient Civilisations. (Remember your are informing AND entertaining your reading audience.) You may use books from the library, or click on the links below.

Get to know your Civilization Better!


Ancient Egypt
Ancient Aztecs
Ancient Greece

3. Make Meaning
You will need to ensure you really understand the information you find. Does it raise further questions? Do you need to find more information? Does it make sense to you? Do you understand it well enough to explain it to someone else?

Now, select the MOST INTERESTING similarity or difference between the facts found under ONE of the topic categories.

"For example, my most interesting facts are found under the topic of BURIAL. I have facts about the pyramids from Ancient Egypt and tombs from Ancient China. These methods of burial are so similar even though they occurred in places so far apart, I'd like to compare them in my magazine article." 

Use this 3 + 1 Graphic Organiser to help you write a paragraph about 2 inventions from your 2 civilisations... so that you can compare them...

TOPIC: In _____  , they _____ (did what, had what?)

 E.g. In Ancient Egypt they built pyramids.
1st fact (eg. What is it ?) 

1st fact (what is it?)
Pyramids cover the same area as 10 football fields put together.  

 3rd fact (What's it made out of?) 

  "Pyramids are made of sun-baked bricks formed by water and sand."  

 2nd fact (eg. what's its purpose?)   

Pyramids were built to house the famous leaders who died and all of their belongings, including live wives and animals.   		 Now write the topic sentence, then the 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd sentence here and you have your paragraph all done !! 
Eg. In Ancient Egypt, they built pyramids.  Pyramids cover the same area as 10 football fields put together. Pyramids are made of sun-baked bricks formed by water and sand. Pyramids were built to house the famous leaders who died and all of their belongings, including live wives and animals.      


Remember you need to include pictures, graphics, captions, a title, sub headings if needed.

4. Investigate Further
Do this for both Ancient Civilisations so that you will have two paragraphs written. If you don't have three interesting things to say about each invention you will need to go back to Step 2, Info Seek!

If you need to find more information, now is the time. Does your information come from credible sources? Can you find the same information in multiple sources? Is the information you have found REALLY relevant to the task?

When your information paragraphs are complete use the 3 + 1 to write an introductory paragraph for your article. You can use the following questions to guide you:

  • Topic Sentence: This article will compare __________ from the ___________ (civilisation) and the ______________ (civilisation).
  • 1st fact: Why did you choose to write your article on this topic ( housing, law, etc.)?
  • 2nd fact: why did you choose to write your article on these two civilisations?
  • 3rd fact: What do you hope we will learn by reading your article?           
5. High End Application
You are almost done!

For your final 3 + 1 paragraph, and to conclude your article, you are required to compare the inventions to what we are using today and judge the degree to which they have been improved by modern modifications.

  • Topic Sentence: "Today, we ______ (still use, do not use) ____________(inventions from the ancient civilisation) for ___________ (topic area)."
  • 1st fact: If we do still use one or two of these inventions, explain how and whether or not it has changed. If we don't, explain the closest thing we do have.
  • 2nd fact: Explain the tool/invention we use today and its purpose.
  • 3rd fact: Comment on whether the changes that have been made are improvements and why/why not.

You will probably need to find more information for this stage. Are there experts you can ask about your invention?

6. Informed Evaluation
 Now it's time to reflect on your learning. what did you do well? What could you do better next time? Have new questions been raised?

 7. 7. Acknowledgements and Celebration
The Scholastic Top 10 magazine on Ancient Civilisations will be added to our school library and copies will be available for sale!

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