Ancient Civilizations: Romans!: With 25 Social Studies Projects for Kids

by Carmella Van Vleet, Tom Casteel (Illustrator)

Overview

What was it like to live in ancient Rome? Ancient Civilizations: Romans! With 25 Social Studies Projects for Kids combines hands-on STEAM projects with riddles, jokes, fascinating facts, comic strips, essential questions, and links to online resources to encourage kids to develop an understanding of how this ancient civilization contributes to our modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619308435
Publisher:	Nomad Press
Publication date:	11/06/2019
Series:	Nomad Press Explore Your World Series
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Carmella Van Vleet is a former teacher and the author of Robotics! With 25 Science Projects for Kids, Aviation: Cool Women Who Fly, and several other titles from Nomad Press. She also writes award-winning fiction for elementary grades. She lives in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Tom Casteel is an illustrator and cartoonist that graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2011. He has illustrated more than two dozen books for Nomad Press. He lives in South Bend, Indiana with his wife, son, two smelly dogs and one old cat.

Table of Contents

Timeline
Introduction: Let’s Explore Rome
Make a keystone puzzle
Make an aqueduct
Make a plumb bob
Chapter 1: Home Sweet Villa
Make a mosaic
Make an oscillum
Make a bottle garden
Make a strigil
Chapter 2: Eat Like a Roman
Make a delicious dormice dish
Make an amphora
Make a round loaf of bread
Make your own frieze
Chapter 3: Time for School
Make your own marbles
Make your own scroll
Chapter 4: Be Glad You’re Not a Gladiator
Make a Roman theater mask
Play charades
Chapter 5: High Fashion
Make a tunic
Make a palla
Make a toga
Make a bulla
Chapter 6: Emperor’s Rule
Make a Roman coin
Play “When in Rome”
Write your own rules
Chapter 7: Gods and Goddesses
Make a votive
Glossary
Resources
Index

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Explore Ancient Egypt! by Carmella Van Vleet

Calliope Magazine
Explore Ancient Egypt! will certainly intrigue readers and have them eagerly turning the pages to check out the next activity. The sidebars with information make excellent complements.

Praise for Explore Ancient Rome! by Carmella Van Vleet

DIG Magazine
“Explore Ancient Rome! By Carmella Van Vleet offers a variety of projects, accompanied by explanatory history text, designed to stimulate readers’ interest in this ancient culture. Among them are making an aqueduct, designing a villa, creating an oscillum and designing a theater mask.”

Praise for Explore Ancient Greece! by Carmella Van Vleet

School Library Journal
“Fun book about an otherwise daunting culture. Kids will enjoy the format of the book with its cartoon-like drawings and jokes. The text is punctuated with fun fonts and sidebars that enrich the historical narrative of the text. Very fun activities make learning about this culture a great experience. This book a worthwhile addition to your library.”

PSLA Teaching and Learning – Literature Review
". . . Great ideas for science fair or independent or group or group projects for students."

From the Publisher

11/22/2019

Gr 3–5—Cartoon guides take readers on a historical tour: a look at daily life, government, education, religion, technology, and other facts. Questions are included to guide the reader, in addition to a good study practices page with an engineering design worksheet and scientific method worksheet. Back matter features a glossary, an index, video links, and resources. Each chapter is followed by related projects, ranging from educational (create an aqueduct) to ineffectual (make a round journal). Project supplies are sometimes items that can be found around the house and other times are fairly specific, such as plaster gauze and brown duct tape. Not all projects include illustrations or photographs, like the Roman mosaic or counterweight project. The institution of slavery is mentioned only a few times and is most often in reference to the value of people sold or the tasks they might do. It's hard to follow information about one culture here, as they are all intertwined throughout, which undermines learning. In a failed attempt to make history fun and accessible, too many facts and details are glossed over, ultimately creating more confusion than comprehension. VERDICT Readers should get their ancient history elsewhere.—Heather Acerro, Rochester Public Library, MN

School Library Journal