KS3 Lesson Plan - A27 History Game

Introduction

Working with archaeologists on the new A27 Road Scheme in England, this game was developed to showcase the vast history of the Arundel area. In this game students will be guided through the past, visiting Roman Britain, the Medieval period, and the Tudor period, ending on a model of the proposed scheme in the future. They will then be asked to complete different tasks in each period, and can document all of it using a camera, book, and quill.

Learning objectives

  1. Complete tasks at each period and answer the questions at the end of each level using the workbook.

  2. A basic understanding of life in the different time periods.

  3. An understanding of the different kinds of jobs involved in such a scheme.

Guiding Ideas and Questions

  1. Which era would you most like to live in the most and why?

  2. How is your life today different to the lives of these people?

  3. What job role out the ones showcased at the end of the game would you most like and why?

Performance expectations

The students will be expected to produce a workbook with answers to each of the questions (two questions per period), complete the tasks set in each period, and take pictures of their journey.

Lesson Structure

The video below is a guide on how to play through the lesson 

This game can be played quickly over one lesson or spread out over two lessons as there is a lot of detail.

Students have video guides for each lesson, but teachers/facilitators can use this as a guide to follow along with, or if they chose not to use the video guide for some/all the lesson.

The game begins once the students are all logged into Minecraft Education Edition and loaded into the A27 History Game

Part 1 –

Students will spawn into the National Highways offices. Here they can interact with the NPCs (non-player characters) who will either give them bits of information or say generic greetings.

Allow them to explore for 5 minutes.

At the end of the 5 minutes get them to go to the corner office and find the ‘Loic’ NPC. They are not to click on the NPC, or teleport, until the next part.

Part 2 –

Get the students to click on the NPC. They can then click the button to be teleported to Arundel in the past. The students will be teleported to Roman Britain. Professor When will explain details to them and they can get a workbook and camera to capture things that interest them. They can then continue forwards, following the road to the main area. If you are wanting to complete the game faster allow them 5 minutes to talk to the local NPCs, who will give them information about life during this time.

Once they have spoken to the NPCs, they can then complete the task. For this era the first task is to continue building a Roman road. The second task is to fix the broken Mosaic inside the Roman villa. Once they have done this (or time is up) they can continue down the road. Here they must answer two questions on the period using their workbooks –

Question 1 – What are some of the ‘new’ inventions the Romans brought? (toilets, pottery wheel, paved roads, writing)

Question 2 – What are their homes made out of? (stone)

Once they are done, they will then continue walking down the road until they come to the next era.

Part 3 –

The students will then be in the Medieval Period. Professor When will explain details to them again. They can then continue forwards, following the road to the main area. If you are wanting to complete the game faster allow them 5 minutes to talk to the local NPCs, who will give them information about life during this time. Once they have spoken to the NPCs, they can then complete the task. The task is to make armour for the local knight.

Once they have done this (or time is up) they can head down the road again. Here they must answer two questions on the period using their workbooks –

Question 1 –

What is the name of the Duke of Normandy? William the Conqueror

Question 2 –

According to the Doomsday book, what was the population of England in 1086? 1.5 million (currently 68,548,221)

Once they are done, they can click on the NPC ahead who will teleport them to the Tudor Period.

Part 4 –

The students will then be in the Tudor Period. Professor When will explain details to them again. They can then explore the area and talk to all the NPCs. If you are wanting to complete the game faster allow them 5 minutes to talk to the local NPCs, who will give them information about life during this time. Once they have spoken to the NPCs, they can then complete the tasks. The first task is to continue building a Tudor home for the locals. The second task is to fix the Cannon and fire cannon balls, there is an NPC that will teleport them onto Arundel Castle for this task.

Once they have done this (or time is up) they can head down the road again. Here they must answer two questions on the period using their workbooks –

Question 1 –

When was America, or the ‘New World’, discovered? 1492

Question 2 –

Which houses were at war during the Wars of the Roses? Lancaster and York

Once they are done, they can head to the end of the road and find the ‘To The Present’ NPC and click on them to head to the final stage.

Part 5 –

The students will now be teleported to the future road scheme. Here they can interact with various NPCs who will tell them about their job roles. This is the end of the game, allow them as much time as is available to talk to the NPCs, and they may start the game from the beginning if there is time by clicking on the ‘Back to Highways’ NPC.