a
The starting point
Open the map in 336 BC on Macedonia. Compare its size with the Persian Empire to the east. What would you have advised the young king?
Open this view on the mapHellenistic world · 334-323 BC
Alexander: an empire in ten years
From a small Greek kingdom to the edge of India in a decade. Students follow the campaign route and discover why the empire broke apart just as fast.
- Length
- 45 minutes
- Ages
- 11–14
- On the map
- 3 steps, 336 BC to 300 BC
- Live lesson
- 7 rounds, 4 on the map
- Homework
- The same rounds, a week long
- Worksheet
- Two A4 pages, with Classroom
- Slides
- 22 slides, with Classroom
- You need
- A projector; phones for live
A call from history · new
Alexander III of Macedon is on the line. The class decides.
Late autumn, 336 BC
Pella, Macedonia
“You must decide whether to launch an invasion of the Persian Empire or to stay in Macedonia and secure your rule over Greece. The Persian Empire is vast and powerful, but conquering it could bring glory and riches. On the other hand, your position at home is not fully secure, and many Greek city-states resent Macedonian rule.”
Should I risk everything and invade Persia, or stay and strengthen my hold on Greece? The caller speaks English, in their own voice, from a short brief of textbook facts, knows nothing of what came later and never tells the outcome; the screen does, after the call. On the live board the telephone rings the whole class: the teacher answers on the room's microphone, and students write to the caller from their phones.
Sign in to take the call
Calls come with Pro (5 a month) and Classroom (20 a month, ringing the whole class). How calls work
Live lesson · new in Classroom
Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.
Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.
€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.
- 7 rounds
- 4 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
- About 15 minutes
- Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
- A report
- Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
Or as homework · new
No lesson hour to spare? Set it as homework.
The same 7 rounds, without the board: each student walks through them alone on their phone, sees every answer at once with the explanation, and the report fills in as they go. Open for a week, with a code and a link you can paste anywhere.
Homework comes with Classroom, like the live lesson. The free lesson can be set as homework by everyone.
Hellenistic worldAlexander: an empire in ten years
Slides · new
The whole lesson as a deck.
22 slides: the plate, the 3 map steps with their pictures and a link to the live map, the discussion questions, the quiz with the answer on the next slide, and the worksheet. Speaker notes carry what to say. It is a .pptx, so it opens in PowerPoint, Keynote and Google Slides, and you can change anything.
Preview: the first 4 slides
€19 per month: the deck of every lesson, every worksheet, every live lesson. Rome at its height comes whole for free.
Introduction
5 minRead aloud
From a small Greek kingdom to the edge of India in a decade. Students follow the campaign route and discover why the empire broke apart just as fast.
By the end of the lesson, students can
- Trace Alexander's campaign route from Macedonia to India on the map.
- Explain why his empire fell apart after his death.
- Give one example of Greek influence that stayed behind in Asia (Hellenism).
Explore the map
12 minProject the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.
a
b
Follow the journey
Open Stories (top left) and play Alexander's Conquests. Follow his route and count the cities named Alexandria that he founded.
Open this view on the map
c
After his death
Jump to 300 BC. The empire is split between his generals. Name the two biggest successor kingdoms.
Open this view on the mapClass discussion
14 minPick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.
- Alexander founded over twenty cities named after himself. Smart policy or vanity?
- His soldiers refused to go further at the river in India. Were they right?
- Why did such a huge empire depend so much on one person?
- Greek became a world language for centuries after Alexander. How does a language spread with an army?
- Who deserves the title "the Great" more: someone who conquers an empire or someone who keeps one running?
Game round
9 minRule History: set the era to the Hellenistic world. Students play one ruling each as a successor king (Diadoch) and explain how their choice would keep Greek culture alive far from Greece.
Open Rule HistoryWorksheet
5 minThis worksheet comes with Classroom
€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, the slides of every lesson, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.