1. Topic: Silk Road vs. Internet Session: 53 Date: Warm-UP: How did the Silk Road impact societies? How has the Internet impacted our society?

2. Objective: As we conclude our study of ancient China, SWBAT compare and contrast the impact and effectiveness of the Silk Road to that of the Internet by analyzing sources and media to gather details to draw a conclusion. Students will share their positions by publishing them on a class blog. NCSCOS 6C, 6E

3. Vocab: commerce: The buying and selling of goods, especially on a large scale, as between cities or nations disseminate: To spread abroad Explain which pictures goes with each term and justify your reasoning.

4. Table Questions for Discussion 1. What do you use the Internet for? 2. How do you think this differs from the way that the Chinese used their trading route? 3. How do you think people shared ideas and information with a wide audience before the Internet was around? 4. How did the trading routes connect people in China with the rest of the world?

5. Brainstorm what you already know... Silk Road Internet

6. Throughout history, people from different cultures have shared tools and other inventions, ideas, and goods with other cultures. In ancient China, this sharing took place along the trade routes. In modern times, this sharing often takes place via the Internet. The images below show two different ways that information and products are shared among people. How is the camel similar to or different from the Internet?

7. Imagine that you work for a marketing company. Your company has just been hired to sell a new product to the general public. Your boss has asked you to research and write a report on the most effective ways to spread information and products globally. To do so, you will compare the spread of ideas, technologies, and goods along the trade routes of ancient China with the use of the Internet in our modern world. Then you will express your opinion to the following questions:

8. Big Questions: How was the spread of goods, ideas, and technologies in ancient China similar to how the Internet is used today?

9. How did most goods travel across ancient China and into European markets? Who were the Chinese able to share goods and information with via the Silk Road and other trade routes? What were some of the major goods and technologies that were traded along the ancient routes? How were ideas spread along the ancient trade routes? What kinds of ideas were spread? What other countries/regions did China trade with? How far did Chinese ideas reach? What were some issues or dangers associated with the ancient trade routes? How did most goods travel across ancient China and into European markets? Information collector for sources 1 & 2:

10. “Ancient Trade on the Silk Road” from World History: Pre-History This video segment describes the economic power gained in China through trade during the Han dynasty. To what extent did China gain economic power as a result of its trade efforts? Source #1

11. Source #2 “Transporting Asian Goods to Europe: The Silk Road and Sea Routes” from Exploring the World: The Age of Exploration Begins This video segment describes the routes that were traveled to transport goods in and out of China. What were some of the major Silk Road and sea routes?

12. How does the Internet compare and contrast with the ancient trade routes? How is information spread via the Internet? How are goods traded via the Internet? Who is the audience or consumer that is targeted with the Internet? Is the Internet an effective method of transfer? Why or why not? Information collector for sources 5 and 6

13. Document #3 Excerpt from the U.S. Department of Commerce "Fact Sheet: Digital Literacy," May 2011 We Live in an Internet Economy Global online transactions currently total an estimated $10 trillion annually. In the United States alone, according to the U.S. Census, domestic online transactions in 2008 were estimated to total $3.7 trillion annually. By one estimate, American jobs related to the Internet contributed an estimated $300 billion of economic activity to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2009. Digital Literacy is Necessary for Today’s Jobs Ninety-six percent of working Americans use new communications technologies as part of their daily life, while sixty-two percent of working Americans use the Internet as an integral part of their jobs. Between 1998 and 2008, the number of domestic IT jobs grew by 26 percent, four times faster than U.S. employment as a whole. By 2018, IT employment is expected to grow by another 22 percent. According to one estimate, as of 2009, advertising-supported Internet services directly or indirectly employed three million Americans, 1.2 million of whom hold jobs that did not exist two decades ago. High-speed Internet access and online skills are not only necessary for seeking, applying for, and getting today’s jobs, but also to take advantage of the growing educational, civic, and health care advances spurred by broadband. For example, an increasing amount of activities – such as taking college classes, monitoring chronic medical conditions, renewing your driver’s license, tracking your child’s school assignments – are now commonly conducted online. U.S. Department of Commerce. Fact Sheet: Digital Literacy. May 13, 2011.

14. Excerpt from “Economic Perspectives on the Internet” from the Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission, 2000 Introduction The information technology sector of the United States economy, spurred on by the expansion of the Internet, has undergone explosive growth. According to a recent study by the University of Texas at Austin and Cisco Systems, the “Internet Economy” has led to the creation of over 1.2 million jobs, and generated over $300 billion in revenue (Barua, et al. 1999). In terms of user base, recent estimates project that by the end of 2000, 72 million Americans will have access to the web—up from 14.3 million in 1995 (Atkinson and Court 1998). The Internet, by all accounts, has drastically changed the manner in which business is done. Anything from material goods, such as groceries and compact discs, to information goods, such as database access and newspaper text, can be acquired with the ease of a mouse click or key stroke. The ease with which goods and services are purchased has corresponded to a dramatic expansion of web-based businesses, known generally as electronic commerce. One source has estimated that there were over 4.9 million commercial websites, as of December 1999, and that the number of commercial websites was growing in the last months of the year at a rate of almost 500,000 per month. This proliferation of commercial websites, as well as the potential profitability associated with such ventures, has motivated entrepreneurs to attempt to carve out niches in this new marketplace. Their activities have, in turn, also drawn attention from the legislative, executive, and regulatory arms of the government as they seek to understand this new medium, and its potential for both growth and misuse. Wiseman, Allen E. Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission. Economic Issues: Economic Perspectives on the Internet. Washington, D.C., 2000. Document #4

15. Source #5 eBay and the Start of the Internet Bubble from Download: The Story of the Internet Bubble This video segment describes how eBay grew to become a major economic force. How did the company make an impact on the economy?

16. Internet Safety Review from Internet Safety: Pitfalls and Dangers This video segment describes safety issues associated with sharing information on the Internet. What are some safety concerns that developed in conjunction with the rise in the popularity of the Internet? Source #6

17. Pre-Writing: Organize Information to Compare Past and Present Trading Methods

18. Big Response: How was the spread of goods, ideas, and technologies in ancient China similar to how the Internet is used today?

20. Attachments Ancient_Trade_on_the_Silk_Road.wmv Transporting_Asian_Goods_to_Europe__The_Silk_Road_and_Sea_Routes.wmv eBay_and_the_Start_of_the_Internet_Bubble.wmv Internet_Safety__Pitfalls_and_Dangers.wmv