China’s Terracotta Warriors Exhibition at the Asian Art Museum

Common Core Standards:

ELA-Literacy. WHST.6-8.1 6-8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Content Standards (California):

History/Social Science: 6.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China; 6.6.5. List the policies and achievements of the First Emperor (Qin Shihuang) in unifying northern China under the Qin dynasty.

Procedure:

1. Re-distribute (from this lesson) students’ K-W-L charts to them so that they may fill in the L column with things that they learn while touring the museum, especially in answer to the questions they generated in the W column.
2. At the end of the visit, check in with students by asking them to share what they learned today. What were they surprised by? What puzzled them? Did they learn anything that they had already talked about in class? Produce the list of words that students used to describe the First Emperor in this lesson; do they want to revise this list based on what they learned today?

   *Virtual Tour Option (for teachers who will not visit the Asian Art Museum in person): Visit a computer lab with students to view the China’s Terracotta Warriors exhibit online.

3. Assign students topics to explore or simply have students browse through the online exhibits and focus on the following suggested topics:
   • Important symbols and elements (horse, dragon, phoenix, water)
   • Organization of the burial complex
   • Weaponry
   • The underground army
   • Chariot components
   • Details of warriors (Armoured General, Armoured Military Officer, Standing Archer, Armoured Kneeling Archer, Cavalryman, Cavalry Horse, Charioteer, suit of armor and helmet, sword, crossbow trigger mechanism, facial features, pigment, etc.)
4. The K-W-L chart may still be used for the virtual tour for students to record what they learn from the online exhibits.

This curriculum was designed by World Savvy in partnership with the Asian Art Museum.