1. Silk Road Towns Teachers’ Notes - Overview Connecting East and West in the First Century CE through a dangerous journey

2. COMPONENTS of this package: Silk Road Towns #2 Connections, Environments Silk Road Towns #3 Teacher Notes for #2 Silk Road Towns #4 Teacher Notes Using Satellite Image Silk Road Towns #5 Population Today This is the main presentation. A series of maps shows connections among regions and shows environmental conditions in various parts of the Silk Road network. Maps that have numbers in the upper left may be used as transparencies or handouts. This is an annotated version of the main presentation, with background notes and focus questions to help teachers review before making an in-class presentation. This is an annotated version of one frame (a satellite image) from the main presentation. It can be used as a presentation by itself, or for background review by teachers who prefer to comment on the satellite image during the main presentation. This has some additional maps of present-day population, along with a few maps from the main presentation for comparison. Silk Road Towns #6 Climate This has some additional maps of temperature and precipitation, along with maps of the largest towns in the world in 100 CE and 1000 CE. Silk Road Towns #1 This overview Silk Road Towns #7 Teacher Notes for #5 and #6 This is an annotated version of the Population and Climate “investigations.”

3. GOAL: Integrate geography with social studies and history via maps that focus on the area around the ancient “Silk Roads” and the “Silk Roads towns.”

4. -- Geography Conveys Concepts Using Maps -- 1. What big ideas, major concepts, or important skills can we engage through geography? 2. Can we build scaffolds that prepare younger students for the high school world courses or for late elementary emphasis on eastern hemisphere history?

5. 1-Big ideas and important concepts: *Population density (more vs. less crowded) *Interaction of physical environments & human activities: - Continents, Rivers, Mountains vs. Flatter Places, - Deserts (dry places vs. places with more precipitation), - Cities, Towns, Rural Areas (human settlement patterns) *Movement for different purposes: trading, raiding, sharing a religion

6. 2-Scaffolding preparation in early grades: *Use location words (in the middle, next to, East, West) *Use journey stories to focus on a sequence of places (The Relatives Came, Make Way for Ducklings) *Contrast long ago with today (Horses, camels vs. Cars, trucks, trains)