Groups:
Keep students in the small groups from the "Location" lesson, or put 6 students in group. In each group, one student should represent one of six cities: Chang'an, Kashgar, Tashkent, Herat, Baghdad and Byzantium.
Distribute tiles to each child based on the city they are representing.
Chang'an: 3 silk, 1 other
Kashgar: 3 food, 1 other
Tashkent: 2 animal, 2 other
Herat: 1 food, 3 other
Baghdad: 1 food, 1 cloth, 2 other
Byzantium: 4 other
Play:
The goal of the game is to end up with all four items, to get one tile for each category. The students will need to barter with their fellow students in order to get the goods that they need. They may only trade (buy or sell) from each city one time. Set a time limit for bartering. Each group of 6 cities may only trade within their Silk Road group.
Discussion or Writing Activity:
Ask the students what the Other tiles might represent. They can consult their research from the "Location" lesson, or refer to the Silk Road map with the list of goods attached to each city.
What were some of the challenges of trading this way?
Were you able to buy everything that you needed? Why or why not?
Would you have liked to be a merchant on the Silk Road?
Alternative:
Collect cards, and distribute 4 random tiles to each student. Have each student make a
"shopping list" card with a space for one tile from each category. Create groups with 4 or 5 students. Each group will have a pile of cards to draw from and a pile of 20 tiles.
Students will draw cards to determine their fate (you can have the students write these when they cut out the tiles). Cards should have them "buy" or "sell" one item at a time. If they do not have the particular item to sell then they lose that particular term. If they "sell" an item, they will put it on the bottom of the tile pile. Each student will need to fill their shopping list in order to "win" or be finished with the game.
Extension: Prompt the students to think about what goods Europeans might have wanted to buy from the Silk Road. What would Europeans bring with them to sell?
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