by Stephen Belyea, Cathedral High School
A team of two students will review architecture, painting and decorating styles that were in use at Pompeii and then design a home for Roman Senator and his family.
Teacher Introduction
As a teacher of art and art history I have found the study of Pompeii to be one of the most compelling. The idea of a city stopped in time, a day in August of 79 A.D., draws students in. How did these Romans live? What things did they enjoy? The excavations at Pompeii can answer questions like these. As students look at the evidence and place themselves in the past they connect with the human drama. This WebQuest asks students to think, design, create and present. As they do so they are engaged with a discipline that ties in social history, art history, drafting and studio art.
This WebQuest, if used as listed, will take two weeks to complete. You will find that student will also want to work at home when they see how much information is on line. This WebQuest can also be shortened to focus on just one aspect: floor plans with the use of math and geometry, studio art as the students paint in the Roman style or the study of what furniture works best for a given space.
One caution:
The Roman world had an open view of sexuality. I have not included this in my discussion of Pompeii in any detailed way. In fact I do my best to work around it. The links that the students will go to as part of this WebQuest do not bring up sexual images, but you my find a student asking questions if they Google on the web at home. If the WebQuest is done in the classroom filtering systems should halt any possible problems.