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Overview
From reed boats, papyrus, and amulets to pyramids, pharaohs, and mummies, this interactive activity book explores the fascinating lives of ancient Egyptians with more than two dozen hands-on projects. The text covers ancient Egyptian food and housing, games and toys, farming, medicine, clothing and jewelry, as well as gods, pharaohs, hieroglyphs, pyramids, temples, and mummies. Engaging projects that use easily obtainable materials and require little adult supervision build on what is taught in each section and include building a shaduf, making a 1:1,000 scale model of the Great Pyramid, cooking flatbread, recreating papyrus, mixing perfume, designing a cartouche using hieroglyphs, and making sandals in the style worn by King Tut.
Synopsis
From reed boats, papyrus, and amulets to pyramids, pharaohs, and mummies, this interactive activity book explores the fascinating lives of ancient Egyptians with more than two dozen hands-on projects. The text covers ancient Egyptian food and housing, games and toys, farming, medicine, clothing and jewelry, as well as gods, pharaohs, hieroglyphs, pyramids, temples, and mummies. Engaging projects that use easily obtainable materials and require little adult supervision build on what is taught in each section and include building a shaduf, making a 1:1,000 scale model of the Great Pyramid, cooking flatbread, recreating papyrus, mixing perfume, designing a cartouche using hieroglyphs, and making sandals in the style worn by King Tut.
School Arts Magazine
This truly fascinating book makes connections to history, math, and science while focusing mainly on the art and culture of ancient Egypt.
Editorials
School Arts Magazine
This truly fascinating book makes connections to history, math, and science while focusing mainly on the art and culture of ancient Egypt.KLIATT -
Former teacher Van Vleet has written other titles in this Build It Yourself series from Nomad Press. They are all intended for a middle school or mature grade school audience. A timeline at the beginning of this book explains the period that the book discusses and there is a map of the region. The map, while helpful, needs to be labeled more clearly—for example, the Nile is never identified, although there is a special section about the river and its importance to the region. This section describes the path of the river and allows the reader to make the assumption that the north-south line on the map must be the river. The chapters are laid out in a style appealing to younger readers, with information included in sidebars in addition to the main chapter heading, a glossary for each chapter and one or two projects to try at home. There are photos and drawings included, all sepia toned. The chapters cover a broad variety of topics, from farming to funerals, and the projects include instructions for making flatbread and building a papyrus boat. Each project gives a list of supplies, an estimate of the amount of time it will take and step-by-step instructions. The difficulty level ranges from very simple to fairly complicated, including some projects that require tools and techniques that will challenge the most able youngster. There is a list of additional resources at the end of the book as well as a glossary and an index. Middle grade students will get a good introduction to a subject that many of them find fascinating. Reviewer: Ellen WeltyChildren's Literature -
There is a wealth of interesting information and clever hands-on projects in this slim book. There is a good timeline of pharaonic history, but most of the text concerns daily life—building boats of papyrus and houses of mud bricks, using the waters of the Nile in ingenious ways to irrigate fertile farmland, making jewelry and make-up, and playing games. For each chapter, there is at least one activity—making a papyrus boat with drinking straws, plastic beads for an Egyptian necklace or amulets, and board games. Many of the projects could help teachers fulfill curriculum objectives without anyone having to fill in spaces on a worksheet, but the activities should definitely be tried ahead of time. Many will take longer than the 20—30 minutes suggested in the text, and some of the ingredients will be unfamiliar. A recipe for date candy, for example, calls for cardamom seeds, which are actually large pods and need to be ground for use in most food. The sepia-colored printing and the variety of fonts is often distracting and unappealing, but these are minor problems in an otherwise interesting presentation of an overdone subject. The glossary, index, and additional resources are thorough.School Library Journal
Gr 4–6The fascinating text in this collection of 30 projects is supplemented by sepia-colored illustrations or photos on each page. The "Timeline of Ancient Egypt's History" lists nine periods from the early dynastic years to Greek and Roman Egypt, with each entry briefly described. A simple, clearly labeled map of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt precedes the introduction. The projects are tied to many aspects of this civilization, including the Nile River, agriculture, craftsmanship, pyramids, mummies, family, farming, bartering, the Egyptian calendar, Royal Library of Alexandria, temples, hieroglyphs, and more. Areas of boxed text throughout give additional information on such topics as obelisks, the legend of Osiris, etc. The ideas will be useful for school projects or individual crafting fun. A few require adult assistance, such as when using spray paint, plaster of Paris, an oven, a saw, or a sharp knife. Children can immerse themselves in ancient Egypt by making a papyrus boat, berry ink, a tunic, sandals, perfume, a pyramid, a cartouche, and much more. Back matter includes a glossary of 122 words and resources (13 books and periodicals and l5 Web sites). This title will be a useful and popular addition to any collection, along with Avery Hart and Paul Mantell's Pyramids!: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt (Williamson, 1997) and Nancy Fister and Charlene Olexiewicz's Make History: Ancient Egypt (McGraw-Hill, 1999).
—Augusta R. MalvagnoCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.