Main task: China journey.
Investigation: Did China get there first?
Extra: Sweet and sour spaghetti?
Thursday 6 September 2007
Sweet and sour spaghetti?
Did the Chinese invent pasta?
A big argument is goling on between the Italin and Chinese governments.
The Italians say they invented pasta.
The Chinese say that Italian travellers like Marco Polo saw Chinese noodles and took the idea back to Italy.
Who is right? You decide. You'll have to find evidence first, though....
China journey
In the late Middle Ages the Ming emperors ruled in China.
Ming China was rich and powerful.
During this time huge Chinese ships sailed far and wide.
Chinese goods such as china pottery became famous all over the world.
The Great Wall of China was repaired.
The palace of the Emperors was inside the Forbidden City.
From time to time European visitors travelled to Ming China.
You are one of those visitors. You see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. You visit the fleet of wooden ships and meet its admiral Zheng He. You admire Ming porcelain vases and find out about how people live.
Create a PowerPoint presentation about your visit to show people back home.
Follow these links for information and ideas:
Wednesday 5 September 2007
Did China get there first?
Only 500 years ago the advanced civilisations of the world were not in Europe or North America. They were in West and Central Africa, China, India, Turkey, Central and South America. Great cities, powerful empires, complex cultures. So much has happened since...
Each week the blog will look at a different story from those times. This week, were the Chinese the first to discover Australia and America and sail round the world? Were they in fact the greatest explorers ever?
Each week the blog will look at a different story from those times. This week, were the Chinese the first to discover Australia and America and sail round the world? Were they in fact the greatest explorers ever?
'1421 -the year China discovered the world' is a controversial book by Gavin Menzies about a Muslim admiral called Zheng He.
History books say the Portuguese were the first to sail round the world, the Spanish were the first outsiders to reach South America and the British 'discovered' Australia. But did Zheng He's massive treasure ships get there first? Menzies says they did, and the Europeans used Chinese maps later to do the same journeys. Others accuse Menzies of getting it all wrong. They say there is no real evidence.
TASK
What do you think? Read the evidence and write down or post your views.
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