Oct. 24, 2007: A Mini Guide to Mummies

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Design a mummy costume. Draw a mummy on a piece of paper. Now draw a costume on the mummy. Write a sentence about the costume.

2. What would people put in a tomb today? Draw a picture of a pyramid. Then cut out words and pictures from the newspaper that show items people would put in a tomb to help a person in the afterlife. Think about food, entertainment items and clothing. Paste your words and pictures on the pyramid.

3. Select a famous person from the past. Write the person's name at the top of a piece of paper. Now find items in the newspaper that show something about the person's life. List your items on your paper.

4. Why were these items important to ancient Egyptians who made mummies: (a) amulets, (b) natron, (c) linen and (d) a sarcophagus?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about other civilizations that used mummification. Use these questions to guide your research: What is the society? When did it exist? Where was it located? What techniques were used in mummification? Where were the mummies placed? What was buried with the mummies? Write a paragraph discussing your findings.

This week's standards:

• Students understand the major characteristics of civilization and how civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus valley. (History)
• Students explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies and cultures address similar human needs and concerns. (Social Studies: Culture)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)