Scaling the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt

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Scaling the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt
Don Minney
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Learner Outcomes

• Students will utilize CD-ROM encyclopedias and
  internet sites to research pyramids and their
  architectural structure.
  
• Students will construct a pyramid to scale, using
  an outline provided and compare it to other
  scaled down objects using standard and
  non-standard measurements.
• Students will construct scaled models for two
  pyramids given their dimensions.

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There are days when the sand blows ceaselessly
, blanketing the remains of a powerful dynasty
that ruled Egypt 5,000 years ago. When the wind
dies down and the sands are still, a long shadow
casts a wedge of darkness across the Sahara,
creeping ever longer as the north African sun
sinks beyond the horizon. This is where our
history of Egypt begins, in the shadow of the
Great Pyramid of Giza, where stone meets sky as a
testament to one of the greatest civilizations on
earth
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Who Built the Pyramids?

• Long debated by experts
• 100,000 laborers?
• Where did the laborers live?
• Seasonal Workers
• Slave Labor or True Believers

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Vocabulary
1. Pyramid 6. Dynasty 2. Giza 7. New Kingdo
m 3. Pharaohs 8. Middle Kingdom 4. Time Li
ne 9. Old Kingdom 5. Hieroglyphics 10. S
cale
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Groups to complete an assignment in the SUCCESS
Lab Log on the Internet and complete the lessons
for Exploring the Pyramids Review of findings at
our next class
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Scaling the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt
References httpwww.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/