Upper Key Stage 2 Earliest Civilisations: Shang Dynasty

Worship

Research the answers to questions about the Shang gods; discover what they look like and create their own. Take a look at how people worship in the world’s major religions.

Teaching Outcomes:

• To find out about which gods the Shang people worshipped.
• To make a statue of a nature god or ancestor in the style of the Shang.

Children will:

• Address research questions.
• Report back on the gods that the Shang worshipped.
• Use a mixture of materials to create a sculpture.

• Research questions about Shang gods
• Information about the Shang gods
• Some examples of sculptures of Shang gods
• Presentation about how different people worship today

• Clay/FIMO
• Pipe cleaners
• Foil
• Scraps of material and tissue paper

Information about Shang religion from ancientchina.co.uk
Information on the Shang Dynasty including religion from ushistory.org
Shang and later religion from historyforkids.org
Shang religion, technology and military from boundless.com

Devise questions about worship and research them. Discover the idea of making sacrifices to gods.

Teaching Outcomes:

• To find out about how the Shang people worshipped gods.
• To make vessels to hold offerings to the gods.

Children will:

• Devise research questions.
• Address research questions.
• Make a functional vessel.

• Information about how Shang people worshipped
• Some examples of ritual vessels from the Shang Dynasty
• Two ways to make a vessel

• Modelling dough
• Card and paper

About the Shang religion from ancientchina.co.uk
Information on the Shang Dynasty from ushistory.org
Shang and later religion from historyforkids.org
Shang religion, technology and military from boundless.com

Devise philosophical questions about the burial of Fu Hao and discuss them.

Teaching Outcomes:

• To find out about the burial of Fu Hao.
• To take part in a philosophical discussion.

Children will:

• Devise philosophical questions.
• Take part in a community of enquiry.
• Explain what was found in Fu Hao's tomb.

• Presentation about Fu Hao's burial
• Question sorter diagram
• How to run a community of enquiry information sheet

You do not need any particular resources for this session.

An interactive tomb to explore from ancientchina.co.uk
About Fu Hao from ancientchina.co.uk
About Fu Hao and her tomb from ancient-origins.net
About Fu Hao from washington.edu

Make replica dings, jade figurines and pots to go into a replica of Fu Hao's grave.

Teaching Outcomes:

• To find out about the burial of Fu Hao.
• To recreate Fu Hao's tomb in miniature.
• To calculate the measurements needed to create an accurate temple.

Children will:

• Choose what materials and methods to use to make replica objects from Fu Hao's tomb.
• Create miniature versions of objects.
• Arrange their objects in a 'tomb'.
• Calculate ratio problems to make scale models.

• Cards depicting objects from Fu Hao's tomb
• How to use the materials to make some of the objects and working at scale

• Large cardboard box with no lid
• Pear's soap
• Modelling dough with sculpting tools.

An interactive tomb to explore from ancientchina.co.uk
Fu Hao and her tomb from ancient-origins.net
About Fu Hao from washington.edu

Like Fu Hao's grave, which is a time capsule of her life, children will choose an object to go into a class time capsule

Teaching Outcomes:

• To choose a personal object to put in the time capsule.
• To write about why they have put their object in the time capsule.

Children will:

• Learn to think aloud to generate ideas for writing.
• Draft a piece of writing.
• Amend a piece of writing after receiving feedback.
• To choose significant symbols to go in a time capsule.

• Template for writing about the object

• Plastic box
• Children’s own object for the time capsule

Creating a time capsule from ancientchina.co.uk