February can be a bit of a slump for students (and teachers, TBH). So, here’s a thought to liven up a day or two during what is sometimes the shortest and longest month of the school year.
Did you know that in 2013, a winter storm named Alexa dropped snow in Egypt? Here’s a link to the story from NASA: https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2013-12-18
It snowed in Syria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, West Bank, and Jordan. According to this site, it was the first time snow had been recorded in Egypt in 112 years!
This got me wondering…what if a freak snowstorm occurred during a crucial point in ancient history? Ask the students to retell, enact, draw a story of a key event that might have been remembered a bit differently if there had been a storm at the time. Imagine the Egyptian/Hittite Peace treaty. The interested parties come together and – bam – winter storm comes out of nowhere. King Cyrus is about to release the Israelites from captivity in Babylon and – bam – snow starts to fall. Would Alexander’s entry into Egypt have been viewed differently if a freak snowstorm hit upon his arrival?
This could be fun. If nothing else, it would allow the students to personalize some events in history. And. . . make those winter doldrums a little less . . “doldrummy.”