The Silk Roads were buzzing with trade, ideas, and cultural exchange—kind of like our forums! We’d love your reviews of these favorite classroom activities:
Silk Roads Simulation (World History)
Trade Game (Big History)
Don't hold back!
For the record, this activity was a great hit with my AP students and definitely helped them understand different perspectives and motivations from the different regions, as well as goods, ideas (and disease!) that were exchanged across the Silk Trade Routes. I plan on using it with my on-level (Honors) students in the next week or two
Some observations and questions:
Byzantium was loaded with luxury goods but not a lot of sustainable goods, espec. at the beginning - check. In the end, they did not need to import silk because they gained silk-making techniques and silk worms - check.
China seemed to be in great shape and didn't need to trade much - check (though they were threatening people with the use of gunpowder at one point).
Central Asia determined that they would focus on subsistence instead of luxury goods - check. They were having a hard time selling horses, interestingly
Persia and India were very well located for trade - check.
Arabia had a lot of religions - check.
There was frustration with the spread of disease, and with bandits - check. In fact, at the end of the simulation, four of the six disease cards were on the floor! I reminded them that this wouldn't be possible in real life.
There was some great strategizing as the game went on - medicine for disease, two-for-one offers, etc.
Questions:
Can they use gunpowder as a threat?
Can they access/trade additional items beyond their original 7? (I have a class of 17 - more resources than students)
Can they trade two for one?
Is stealing "allowed" for all parties? There was an attempt at a hostile takeover of Byzantium at one point.
This is cool to see! Thanks for sharing. I've gotta say, I love that the diseases ended up on the floor. Feels very much like the Mongols at the Siege of Caffa!
Here's my 2 cents on your questions:
Can they use gunpowder as a threat? - I'm not sure how this would work mechanically--but if you can come up with a rule that seems fair, I don't see why not. How did students attempt to carry out the threat? How did they make the threat have teeth?
Can they access/trade additional items beyond their original 7? (I have a class of 17 - more resources than students) - I think the answer here is Yes. You're asking that if they get a trade good from someone that was not part of their original set can they trade it on? Then yeah!
Can they trade two for one? Yes! This and the above are great ways to show how certain goods take on more value the farther they move.
Is stealing "allowed" for all parties? There was an attempt at a hostile takeover of Byzantium at one point. - When I ran a game like this in my classroom, and students would raise this issue or accuse someone, my response was always "bandits were very common on the Silk Roads if the ruling states didn't police their routes. Make sure to safeguard your caravans."
How did they think to take Byzantium??
Thank you, Bennett Sherry , for your responses! I just did this activity with my Honors classes yesterday and got similar levels of engagement. I'm going to be intrigued to see what students have learned and retained. I'm inclined to think a lot, and anticipate referring back to the activity quite a bit, as Anne Koschmider has made reference to.
As for "thinking" of taking Byzantium, I think it was a bit more of an impulse move. Uncharacteristically, Byzantium was not "well fortified"/guarded, and some opportunistic marauder just started grabbing things...
Thank you, Bennett Sherry , for your responses! I just did this activity with my Honors classes yesterday and got similar levels of engagement. I'm going to be intrigued to see what students have learned and retained. I'm inclined to think a lot, and anticipate referring back to the activity quite a bit, as Anne Koschmider has made reference to.
As for "thinking" of taking Byzantium, I think it was a bit more of an impulse move. Uncharacteristically, Byzantium was not "well fortified"/guarded, and some opportunistic marauder just started grabbing things...
