Bubba and Squirt's Big Adventures
Fun Stuff
Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China
Amazing Facts:
The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging for a well in Xi'an, China. The army was buried with the first emperor of China, Ch'in Shi Huang-ti. Their purpose was to help him rule another empire in the afterlife. There are more than 8,000 soldiers. No two are the same!
Ch'in Shi Huang-ti was thirteen years old when he became ruler of Qin. That's when he ordered the construction of the Terracotta Warriors. The construction lasted until his death– nearly thirty-seven years!
Ch'in-Shi Huang-ti's significant contributions include beginning construction of the Great Wall of China, standardizing Chinese units of measurements and currency, and unifying Chinese script.
Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure
Amazing Facts:
Altun Ha, located in the country of Belize, was an important ceremonial center for the ancient Mayan Indians.
It is believed that Altun Ha had been established around the year 25 BC. It covers nearly two square miles and contains more than five hundred structures. The largest pyramid, The Temple of Masonry Altars, rises to a height of 54 feet.
The original name of the site is unknown, but the current name, Altun Ha, means “rockstone pond.” It is named after a nearby village.
Altun Ha is an active archeological site. Over three hundred jade objects have been found there, including an ornately carved head of the Mayan sun god, Kinich Ahua. The head weighs nearly ten pounds and is believed to be the largest Mayan jade carving in existence. Archeologists estimate that there are still between two hundred fifty and three hundred unexcavated mounds, so who knows what treasures have yet to be discovered!
Bubba and Squirt's City of Bones
Amazing Facts:
The catacombs are an underground gravesite located in the Place Denfer-Rochereau district of Paris. The bones were once buried in the cemetery of the Innocent, in the district of Halles. The cemetery became overcrowded, resulting in sickness for the residents of the area. The government decided that the bones should be transferred to a better location. They chose an old stone mine. On April 7, 1786, removal of the bones began, and continued until 1788. The site contains the remains of about six million people. The catacombs were opened to the public in 1874.
French Word Find
Make Crepes
Bubba and Squirt's Shield of Athena
Amazing Facts:
Make Baklava
The Acropolis is the ancient ruins of a city located on a high, rocky hill overlooking the modern city of Athens, Greece. There are several buildings there, but probably the most famous is the Parthenon, a temple honoring Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. Construction of the Parthenon began in 447 BCE and was completed nine years later. It housed a huge forty-foot statue of the goddess sculpted by Pheidieas. The original sculpture is no longer there, but a small copy is on display in the National Archeological Museum.
The Parthenon has been used as a church, mosque, and arsenal. It suffered severe damage through the years. At the time of this writing, projects are underway to restore the Parthenon, along with other buildings of the Acropolis.
Ancient Architecture STEM Challenge
Bubba and Squirt's The Legend of the Lost Pearls
Amazing Facts:
Ama (Japanese translation: woman of the sea) pearl divers are women who specialize in free diving into cold water to gather pearls. Most dive between 12-30 feet down, but some are capable of the extraordinary depth of 60 feet. They can hold their breath for up to two minutes at a time. (Try holding your breath and see how long you can do it!)
The earliest recorded history of Ama divers was in AD 750. They are mentioned in the Japanese collection of poetry known as the Man’yoshu. Ama divers dove to gather food—shellfish and seaweed. When pearls were discovered in oysters, those became even more valuable. Eventually, the Ama pearl divers learned how to insert a pearl-producing particle inside the oysters. This was the beginning of the pearl industry as we know it today.
More activities and teacher resources can be found here.
Make Mugitoro
Make an Origami Fir Tree
