The Ten Commandments

K.Shore

North Syracuse JHS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

You have just been appointed emperor of Rome in 300 A.D.  As emperor of Rome you must make important decisions that positively affect society and solidify your position as ruler of the largest empire in the world.  As ruler you need to establish laws that will be fair as well as keep order and stability within your society.  With the expansion of the Roman Empire, you have acquired ideas and information about various legal systems.  However, the religion of Christianity is quickly on the rise throughout your empire and they already have religious laws called the Ten Commandments that govern their people.  It is up to you to decide if the Ten Commandments are a good basis for establishing laws within your empire.  Are these laws fair?  Are these laws realistic?  Can these laws be enforced throughout your vast empire?  Do you think these laws will establish order and stability within your society?

 

 

Problem

          There are a variety of legal codes/systems for governing your society and Rome lacks a central legal system upon which to develop its laws.

 

 

Task

            As Emperor, you will be applying the Public Policy Analyst to address the problem of the lack of a legal system and evaluate whether the Ten Commandments are the best foundation for Roman society.  Your group will be responsible for researching legal codes/systems and creating a podcast that addresses the problem.  Your podcast must include the following:

 

You will work in groups of three and each student will focus on one of the legal systems.  It is the responsibility of each student to record their findings on their legal system in your group’s podcast.

 

 

Process

  1. Using OPAC Destiny, research your legal code/system and include the following information in your podcast:

 

2.      Use the public policy analyst skills to deeply investigate your legal code/system.

 

· What issues in life does the legal code/system attempt to rectify?

  Define the social problem

 

· How do you know that the identified problems existed in this time period?  Use OPAC Destiny to obtain information.

  Gather evidence to support the existence of the problem

 

· Why were these problems present in your time period?

                        Determine the causes and factors contributing to the problem

 

· Was your legal code/system the best solution to these problems?

  Evaluate the policy

 

  1. Create a podcast that effectively evaluates each of the legal codes/systems investigated in this project.  Include your group’s opinion of which code/system you think would be the best for Roman society.  Include images, music, relevant factual information and creative transitions in your podcast.

 

 

Resources

Please click on the following links to access OPAC Destiny/Webpath Express on the North Syracuse Junior High website or the Syracuse University Maxwell School link to conduct your research.  Use the questions up above as well as the elements of your project under the process to guide your research.

·         OPAC Destiny

·         Syracuse Maxwell School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation

Multimedia Project : Legal System Podcast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher Name: Mr. Shore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Name:     ________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

CATEGORY

4

3

2

1

Organization

Content is well organized using headings or bulleted lists to group related material.

Uses headings or bulleted lists to organize, but the overall organization of topics appears flawed.

Content is logically organized for the most part.

There was no clear or logical organizational structure, just lots of facts.

Attractiveness

Makes excellent use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance the presentation.

Makes good use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance to presentation.

Makes use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. but occasionally these detract from the presentation content.

Use of font, color, graphics, effects etc. but these often distract from the presentaion content.

Content

Covers topic in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.

Includes essential knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.

Includes essential information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual errors.

Content is minimal OR there are several factual errors.

Presentation

Well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.

Rehearsed with fairly smooth delivery that holds audience attention most of the time.

Delivery not smooth, but able to maintain interest of the audience most of the time.

Delivery not smooth and audience attention often lost.

Originality

Product shows a large amount of original thought. Ideas are creative and inventive.

Product shows some original thought. Work shows new ideas and insights.

Uses other people's ideas (giving them credit), but there is little evidence of original thinking.

Uses other people's ideas, but does not give them credit.

 

 

 

 

 

Date Created: Oct 18, 2010 12:51 pm (UTC)

 

 

 

 

 

Standards

 

NY State Learning Standards:

Standard 2:  World History

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

Standard 5:  Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.