Welcome to the ancient world! This term, you will become an expert on one ancient civilisation by exploring it from every angle — its geography, beliefs, daily life, culture, and history — then tying everything together through your own inquiry question.
Before you begin any activities, write one big inquiry question about your civilisation. This is your Golden Thread — it weaves through all five tasks and ties them together at the end.
Every time you complete a task, you'll pause and think: "What did I just learn that helps answer my big question?" You'll write this in the Golden Thread Link box at the bottom of each task.
Words like most important, successful, fair, hardest, greatest force you to form an argument.
You need one task from each column — but which one? Here's how to choose wisely:
Which tasks will give you the best evidence to answer your inquiry question? If your question is about geography, the Map is obvious — but also think about which tasks in other columns connect to geography (food, homes, trade).
Love drawing? Try the Comic Strip or Tourism Brochure. Prefer writing? The Diary Entry or Compare & Contrast could be great. But don't only pick easy options — one challenging task usually produces your best work.
A mix of creative tasks (drawing, designing) and thinking tasks (writing, analysing) will produce richer evidence for your Golden Thread Response.
Open each task and read the green Quality Check box before you decide. It tells you exactly what separates good from great work on that task.
Complete this after 2–3 tasks. Step back and make sure you're on track.
Look at your Golden Thread question and your Link sentences so far.
Can you name at least one source per task? If not, find them now — you'll need them for your response and referencing.
This is where you show that your 5 tasks all build towards a deeper understanding.
Gather first: (1) Your question, (2) your Golden Thread Link sentences, (3) your sources.
Opening (2–3 sentences): Restate your question and give your answer.
"My Golden Thread question was: How did geography shape Ancient Egypt? Through my research, I found that the Nile River influenced almost every aspect of Egyptian life."
Body (3–4 short paragraphs): Use evidence from your tasks. Name each task.
"In my Map Creation task, I showed how the Nile ran through the entire country…"
"My Ancient Menu task showed that most food depended on Nile flooding…"
Conclusion (1–2 sentences): Summarise your argument.
Referencing means telling your reader where you found your information. It proves your facts are real and gives credit to the people who wrote the content.
🌐 Website
🏛️ Museum
📺 YouTube
📖 BBC Bitesize
Your 5 activity tasks are assessed on the first three criteria. Your Golden Thread Response is assessed on the fourth.
| Criterion | A — Excellent | B — Good | C — Satisfactory | D — Developing | E — Emerging |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historical KnowledgeAC9HH7K09, K10, K11 | Comprehensive understanding with thorough, accurate explanations | Clear understanding with effective explanations | Sound understanding with appropriate explanations | Emerging understanding with superficial explanations | Inadequate understanding with poor explanations |
| Historical PerspectivesAC9HH7S02, S06, S07 | Consistently uses evidence; masterfully shows different perspectives or change over time | Frequently uses evidence; correctly shows perspectives or change | Sometimes uses evidence; generally shows perspectives or change | Occasionally uses evidence; vaguely shows perspectives | Limited use of evidence; inadequately shows perspectives |
| Historical CommunicationAC9HH7S08 | Masterfully creates well-structured texts using historical terms consistently | Effectively creates structured texts using terms frequently | Generally creates structured texts using terms sometimes | Creates basic texts using terms occasionally | Poorly structured texts with terms rarely used |
| Golden Thread Inquiry✨ Inquiry Response | Sophisticated question; comprehensive response masterfully drawing on multiple activities with clear connections | Clear question; effective response drawing on activities with good connections | Reasonable question; adequate response referencing some activities | Basic question; limited response with vague connections | Unclear question; minimal response with little connection |
These are teacher-recommended websites that are accurate, well-written, and suitable for Year 7. Start your research here instead of random Google results.
These work for every civilisation on the list:
🔍 Good search terms:
"Ancient Egypt daily life," "Egyptian gods and goddesses," "Egyptian social hierarchy," "life on the Nile," "Ancient Egyptian food," "pharaoh government Egypt," "Egyptian inventions."
🔍 Good search terms:
"Ancient Greek daily life," "Greek gods mythology," "Athenian democracy," "life in Sparta," "Ancient Greek food," "Olympic Games ancient," "Greek social classes."
🔍 Good search terms:
"Roman daily life," "Roman gods," "Roman army," "life in Pompeii," "Roman law and government," "Roman food and feasts," "Roman social classes," "Roman engineering achievements."
🔍 Good search terms:
"Ancient China daily life," "Chinese inventions ancient," "Mandate of Heaven," "Ancient Chinese food," "Silk Road trade," "Chinese mythology gods," "terracotta army," "ancient Chinese social classes."
🔍 Good search terms:
"Maya civilisation daily life," "Maya gods and beliefs," "Maya calendar and astronomy," "Maya cities Tikal Chichen Itza," "Maya chocolate food," "Maya writing hieroglyphs," "Maya social structure."
The difference between okay work and excellent work isn't about length — it's about depth, detail, and explanation. Here's the same Diary Entry task done two ways:
"Today I woke up early and went to work on the farm. I grew wheat and barley. It was very hot. I ate bread and drank beer for lunch. I live near the Nile river. My life is hard because I am a farmer and I have to work for the pharaoh. I hope the floods come soon so we can grow more food. At night I went home and went to sleep."
What's wrong:
"The sun was barely up when I heard my father calling from the doorway of our mud-brick house. Another long day on the shaduf — the wooden lever we use to lift water from the Nile into the irrigation channels. My arms still ache from yesterday.
I am twelve years old and the eldest son of a fellahin farmer in Thebes. We grow emmer wheat and flax on a narrow strip of dark soil that the Inundation left behind when the river retreated last month. Everything we grow belongs to the pharaoh's tax collectors first — they take nearly a third before we keep anything for ourselves.
For lunch, my mother brought flatbread baked on hot stones and a jar of beer made from barley. Even children drink beer here — the river water isn't always clean. I sometimes feel angry that the scribes who measure our grain never have to bend their backs in the sun…"
What makes this excellent:
Regardless of which task you're doing, the difference between D-grade and A-grade is always the same three things:
Words you'll see throughout this project. Refer back here whenever you need a reminder.
Click each item as you complete it. This won't save between sessions — it's just to help you stay organised while you're working.