mythology

Introduction

You will be using the following activities to learn about Greek Mythology. Each stop on this Virtual Fieldtrip will lead you to an understanding of mythology and how it fits into our lives today. Read the information and answer the questions on the handouts provided. After completing a group of activities you will be asked to produce a site souvenir.

Before you begin the activities you will need to open a new folder and name it Mythology. You will save all of your pictures and documents in this folder. Open the worksheet and save it as a Word document. Questions Worksheet (doc)

If there are words in your reading that you don't know look them up in the student dictionary at Word Central http://www.wordcentral.com/

Section 1--Greek Mythology: What's It All About?

Activity #1 :
Introduction to Mythology

Go to the site World Myths and Legends in Art and write the answer to the following questions on your worksheets. http://www.artsmia.org/world-myths/whatismyth.html

1. What is the definition of a myth?

2. What is the difference between a myth and a legend?

Activity #2:
Origins of Greek Mythology

Visit the site Origins of Greek Mythology and find the answers to the following questions. Write or type the answers on your worksheets.

http://messagenetcommresearch.com/myths/index.html

3. Who were the Olympians and who believed in them?

4. When were the myths started?

5. What do Homer, Hesiod and
The Homeric Hymns have in common?

Activity #3:
Greek Mythology Overviews

Use these sites to answer the questions and record on your worksheet.

http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/GREECE/home.html
choose the Gods and Goddesses section.
http://www.mrdowling.com/701-mythology.html

6. What purpose did the myths serve for the ancient Greek people?

7. What were the oracles and in what ways were they used by the Greeks?

Activity #4: The Immortals

http://messagenetcommresearch.com/myths/index.html

8. Read about three or four of the Immortals. Select any TWO and write a short summary of who the deity was and what powers he or she had.

Activity #5:
Greek vs. Roman Gods

http://www.mythweb.com/gods/index.html

http://messagenetcommresearch.com/myths/index.html

9. Pick six gods or goddess and list their Greek and Roman names.

Activity #6:
The Lifestyle and Beliefs of the Ancient Greeks

http://techcenter.davidson.k12.nc.us/
spring5/goddess2/Influences.htm

10. List a total of six facts, beliefs or customs of people of ancient Greece.

11. How might these facts, beliefs or customs influence the mythology of those people?

Activity #7:
Heroic Myths Cartoons

http://www.mythweb.com/heroes/heroes.html

Read several of the cartoon stories. Note how the adventures are organized by topic heading

Note the well-explained actions described in the adventures. This will help you prepare for the site souvenir.

Section 2--Influences of Greek Mythology

Activity #8:
Mythology's Influence on Language

Many of the words that we use everyday come from Greek Mythology. Go to this site http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/
jo/roman/months.htm and look up months to see which ones have myth origins.

You might use this site to learn new words Calliope:Muse of Eloquence

Open a Word document. Add a TABLE that is two columns wide and 20 rows long. Label the top left cell WORD and the top right cell MYTH. Use this table to complete activity #8 and activity #9. You may use color borders and shading on your table if you would like.

Activity #9: Word Origins

Continue to look at the origins of words we use today by going to these sites or any other to find the meaning of the following words, what does the meaning of these words have to do with Greek Mythology? Use the table from Activity #8.

http://www.dictionary.com http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/myth.html
Kids.net.au

Arachnid	Echo	Herculean
Achilles heel	Narcissist	Siren Song
Titans (Titanic)	Adonis	Atlas
Midas Touch	Pan (panic)	volcano
hypnotic	Tantalus (tantatize)	Trojan horse

Activity #10: Mythology in Art

Open this site:
http://www.theoi.com/

Look at several of the art pieces that depict mythological beings, selected from the links along the left side of the page. Find one art piece you like and download the picture in your folder. Insert the picture into a Word document and tell what you know about the image such as:

Who is depicted?
Give a two to three sentence explanation of the deity.
What is the art piece made of?
What is its size?
Where is the piece being displayed?

NOTE: BE SURE TO SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT IN YOUR FOLDER

Activity #11:
Mythology's Influence on the Heavens

Using the sites below read myths about the sky:

Greek Gods, Goddesses, and Creatures as Constellations http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/
mythology/stars.html
http://www.dibonsmith.com/constel.htm
http://www.emufarm.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html

Planets - http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/planet-lore-4.html

Open a word document to complete the following activity:

Select 1 constellation and explain the myth behind it. Also draw a picture using Microsoft Paint of the constellation. Save the drawing as a JPEG or GIF, add it to your document. ONE PAGE ONLY!

Site Souvenir #1
Sports News Report

Now you get to be a sports writer! From all of the reading you have done at this stop, select a Greek god, goddess, or mythological hero and write a blow-by-blow news report of one of their battles or adventures. Remember the 5 W’s and an H of news reporting.

Fill out this chart before you write your news report. After you open the chart save it as a Word doc before you try to type in it. If you want to fill in the chart by hand then print it and fill it out.

Site Souvenir #2
Greek Mythology Today Poster

Create a poster that highlights the evidences we have of Greek mythology today. Include examples from language, art, and science. Also consider advertising logos you may have seen that use mythology characters. You may use paper and colored pencils/markers or you can create using computer images and words.

NOTE: BE SURE TO SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT IN YOUR FOLDER

Follow this link to continue


	What meanings did myths about gods, goddesses, and heroes have for the ancient Greeks? What meanings do the Greek myths have for us today? Thanks to Mrs.Sunda for designing these activities.