Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to understand the expansion of the Roman Empire and apply arithmetic skills to calculate distances and areas related to the empire's growth.

Materials and Prep

• Paper
• Pencil
• Ruler

No prior knowledge is required for this lesson.

Activities

• Activity 1: Mapping the Roman Empire

Using a map of the Roman Empire, mark the different regions and cities that were part of the empire. Measure the distances between some of the major cities using a ruler and record the measurements.

• Activity 2: Calculating Area

Choose a region within the Roman Empire and calculate its area. Divide the region into simple shapes (squares, rectangles, triangles) and measure their dimensions. Use the appropriate formulas to find the area of each shape and sum them up to find the total area of the region.

• Activity 3: Growth Comparison

Research and find information about the expansion of the Roman Empire over time. Create a bar graph or line graph to compare the size of the empire at different periods. Use arithmetic skills to calculate the percentage increase in size between each period.

Talking Points

• During the Roman Empire, the Romans expanded their territory by conquering neighboring regions and establishing control over them.
• One way to understand the expansion of the Roman Empire is by looking at the distances between different cities and regions.
• Let's use a ruler to measure the distances on the map. Remember to draw a straight line between the cities and place the ruler along it to get an accurate measurement.
• After measuring the distances, we can compare them to understand the vastness of the empire and how far apart the different cities were.
• To calculate the area of a region within the Roman Empire, we can divide it into simpler shapes.
• For example, if we have a square region, we can measure the length of one side and multiply it by itself to find the area.
• If we have a rectangle, we need to measure the length and width and multiply them together to find the area.
• For a triangle, we can measure the base and height and multiply them together, then divide the result by 2 to find the area.
• By adding up the areas of the different shapes within the region, we can find the total area of the region.
• Comparing the size of the Roman Empire at different periods can be done using graphs.
• We can create a bar graph or line graph to show the size of the empire over time.
• To calculate the percentage increase in size between two periods, we can subtract the initial size from the final size, divide it by the initial size, and multiply by 100.