Right now I’m in the process of creating a series of STEM projects for students who are studying Ancient Civilizations.. Next stop, Ancient Israel!
I never heard of Masada until I began researching Ancient Israel for this project. Masada is described as King Herod’s desert fortress in the sky. It was built between 37 and 15 BCE. The fortress is most well known as the place where the Jewish people fought against the Roman invasion.
It is located on top of a giant rock cliff overlooking the Dead Sea. This fortress was built as a refuge and safe place for the King. It was a self-sufficient micro-world, having everything that a large group of people would need in order to survive.
I found the information on Masada fascinating and I thought it would make an excellent STEM challenge for students!
Ancient Israel STEM Challenge: Masada Fortress in the Sky!
Using a list of supplies, students are required to engineer a model of Masada! Their model must contain the Western and Eastern Palaces (a total of three platforms). They can be as creative as they would like in their design, but it must have three levels. After creating their model, they must use wood blocks (Jenga) to built the tallest rock cliff that can support their Masada model. The group with the tallest rock cliff wins! ***Check out the link below for more information about the challenge.
This resource is also part of the Ancient Civilizations Complete Curriculum. The curriculum package contains Ancient Civilization STEM Challenges, Interactive Notebooks, PowerPoints, Google Classroom Projects, and Assessments. The units covered include Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel, Ancient India, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome! There are over 700 pages of interactive material.
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