Hellenistic world · 2560-280 BC

The Seven Wonders of the ancient world

Greek travelers in the Hellenistic age made a list of seven sights everyone should see. Students find all seven on the map, from the pyramid of Giza to the lighthouse of Alexandria, work out which ones they could still visit, and decide what makes something a wonder.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
10–13
On the map
3 steps, 560 BC to 140 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

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.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 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.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Greek travelers in the Hellenistic age made a list of seven sights everyone should see. Students find all seven on the map, from the pyramid of Giza to the lighthouse of Alexandria, work out which ones they could still visit, and decide what makes something a wonder.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Name the Seven Wonders and locate each on the map.
  • Order the wonders by age and say which still stands today.
  • Explain why the list was made by Greeks in the Hellenistic period and what it tells us about their world.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

560 BC

The oldest wonder

Open the map in 560 BC on the Aegean and turn on Historical Events (Cultural and Religious). The temple of Artemis at Ephesus was being rebuilt with gifts from Croesus of Lydia. Then travel to Giza: the Great Pyramid was already 2,000 years old when the Greeks saw it. Find both on the map.

Open this view on the map
b

280 BC

New wonders

Jump to 280 BC. Within a few years the Colossus of Rhodes and the lighthouse of Alexandria were finished, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the statue of Zeus at Olympia were already famous. Find all four in Historical Events (Cultural). What do the newest wonders have in common?

Open this view on the map
c

140 BC

The list is written

Go to 140 BC, around the time a poet from Sidon named Antipater listed the seven. Zoom out until all seven places fit on one screen: Giza, Babylon, Ephesus, Olympia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes and Alexandria. All of them lie in lands Alexander had conquered. Why might that be?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. All seven wonders lie around the eastern Mediterranean, in the Greek-speaking world after Alexander. What does the list leave out, and why?
  2. Only the Great Pyramid survives. Earthquakes destroyed the Colossus, the lighthouse and the Mausoleum. Why do the oldest things sometimes last longest?
  3. No Babylonian text mentions the Hanging Gardens, and some scholars think they were in Nineveh or never existed. Should a wonder stay on the list if it may be a legend?
  4. The statue of Zeus and the Colossus were huge images of gods. The pyramid and Mausoleum were tombs. The lighthouse was a machine for ships. Which kind of wonder impresses you most?
  5. Today people make new lists of wonders by vote. What would you put on a list of seven wonders of the modern world, and would any ancient ones stay?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Ramesses II, who built on a scale to rival any wonder, then as Cleopatra VII, who ruled beside the lighthouse and the Library. Ask the class: why do rulers build things too big to be useful?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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