A World History Challenge to Prevent the Zombie Apocalypse

Zombies and Devas: A World History Challenge to Prevent the Zombie Apocalypse

The Objectives: - To select two historical personages for Deva or Zombie status - To create two charts listing reasons for the categorization of each historical personage as a Deva – being of good will – or a Zombie – being of ill will - To create a multimedia presentation for each historical personage - To create online questions which will ultimately be merged with other students to create the ultimate Zombies versus Devas online game The Steps:

- During each semester of the school year, one week will be devoted to the project. - Students will arrive in the library for each designated week and select two historical personages to research and think more deeply about. - The following is a list of suggested historical personages:

Sargon of Akkad Hammurabi Qin Shi Huangdi Confucius Laozi Han Feizi Siddhartha Gautama Mahavira Hatshepsut Cleopatra Chandragupta Maurya Asoka Akhenaten Nefertiti Kālidāsa Sundiata Keita Mansa Musa Marco Polo Ibn Battuta Pachacuti Manco Inca Yupanqui Montezuma II Genghis Khan Kublai Khan John Locke Thomas Hobbes Martin Luther John Calvin Augustus Caesar Charlemagne Johann Gutenberg Henry VIII William Shakespeare Miguel Cervantes Christopher Columbus Zheng He Emperor Yongle Socrates Plato Aristotle Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo Galileo Galilei Augustine of Hippo Nicolaus Copernicus Philip II of Spain Joan of Arc Dante Alighieri Boudicca Eleanor of Aquitaine Mirabai Elizabeth I Catherine de Medici Mbande Nzinga Queen Amina Empress Wu Alaric the Visigoth Alexander the Great Archimedes Mvemba a Nzinga or Nzinga Mbemba Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Tokugawa Ieyasu Murasaki Shikibu Minamoto Yoritomo Bartolomé de las Casas Hernando Cortés Francisco Pizarro Abu Bakr Guru Nanak Al-Ghazālī Bān Zhāo Li Po Cyrus the Great Darius the Great Triệu Thị Trinh Zoroaster Tomoe Gozen Grace O’Malley Zenobia Caligula Marcus Aurelius Constantine Suleiman the Magnificent King Rurik Vladimir I - Students are not limited to these suggestions but if a student chooses an individual not on the list, the student’s choice must be approved by the teacher and the librarian. - Students must select two individuals – one male and one female. - Students must research the two individuals and decide how to manage their time.  Does the student wish to research both individuals during the first week and then proceed onto the other tasks necessary for the completion of the project during the second week in the library?  Or does the student wish to research one individual and then create the chart, multimedia presentation on the individual, and the questions for the game before preceding to the next individual?

The How to: - The student must  Select two historical personages  Research information about each person  Create a chart of accomplishments and positive or negative impacts of the individual’s actions on others  Determine if the person’s actions were ultimately beneficial or harmful  Categorize the individual as a Deva or Zombie based on beneficial or harmful actions and effects  Create a multimedia presentation – with images, facts and music – of the individual [Note – each presentation should be no more than five minutes]  Write five multiple-choice questions for each individual

A Reminder and A Caution: It is vitally important that all students are respectful of all cultures and all individuals. While students are creating a game, students must base their conclusions on actual facts. For example, if an individual was responsible for the deaths of many innocent people, the student may conclude that the individual’s actions were harmful and thus, the individual qualifies for Zombie status in the game but of course, not in real life. The student may also realize that people are complicated and that no person is always perfect. Thus, the student will argue as a lawyer why the individual’s actions were more harmful than beneficial but always the student will recognize the need to be respectful of people and cultures. Thus, unless the actions are profoundly harmful, the student should be careful in categorizing the individual negatively.

Of course, the game will be based on answering questions correctly and the more questions answered correctly of individuals categorized as Devas, then the outcome of the game is that the Zombie Apocalypse will not occur. If more questions are answered correctly of individuals categorized as Zombies, then the Zombie Apocalypse will occur in the game. Ultimately, the purpose of the game is to learn more about history and to think more deeply about the actions of individuals. History is more interesting the more deeply you think about it!