All Modules 51-From Raw Materials to Us - Module 3 | Page 12

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ability to cast and shape metal. Up to that time, wood
structures had to be built by interlocking adjacent boards
geometrically a much more hard construction process.
Meanwhile, the screw a stronger but harder-to-insert
fastener is thought to have been invented by the Greek
scholar Archimedes in the third century B.C.
Create a timeline on how we went through wood structures, to metal nails and screws.
Provide students with plastic nails and screws to explore and/or to build something in the
Blocks center.
Connect with the country of October, Greece.

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The compass
Ancient mariners navigated by the stars, but that method didn't work during the day or on
cloudy nights, and so it was unsafe to travel far from land. The Chinese invented the first
compass sometime between the 9th and 11th century; it was made of lodestone, a naturallymagnetized iron ore, the attractive properties of which they had been studying for centuries. The
compass enabled explorers to navigate securely far from land, increasing sea trade and
contributing to the Age of Discovery.
Explore different compasses and provide students with them. Allow them to use the compass
and travel around our school! In which side of the school my classroom is located? I used to
think…/Now I think!
Connect with the country of November, China.

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From wood to paper and the invention of the printing press