Egyptian Number System
Age group
- Junior/Intermediate (Age 9 to 12)
Curriculum Goal
Junior: Number Sense
Read and represent whole numbers up to and including one million, using appropriate tools/strategies. Describe various ways whole numbers are used in everyday life.
Junior (Social Studies): Understanding Context
Identify, acknowledge and describe scientific and technological contributions from the ancient and medieval eras.
Related Links
Context
Whole class teacher-led activity.
Materials
- Introductory script (Appendix A)
- Number hieroglyphs with Arabic numeral equivalent (Appendix B)
- One bingo card and several chips, per student (Appendix C)
- Story cards (Appendix D)
- Bag
Lesson
- Print all five versions of the bingo card. Cut out the squares and place in a bag.
- Read the introductory script (Appendix A) and ask students to tell you what else they know about Ancient Egypt.
- While hiding the Arabic numerals, show students the different hieroglyphs (Appendix B) and have them guess which numbers they represent. Invite them to practice using the Egyptian hieroglyphic number system.
- Review bingo rules with students and distribute bingo cards (Appendix C) and chips.
- Play the game: have student volunteers draw the previously cut Egyptian numeral bingo squares from the bag at random and read them aloud.
- When an infinity card (rod-and-ring symbol) is drawn, engage students in a non-fiction story about an Egyptian fact or figurehead (Appendix D).
- Have them complete the associated task.
Extension
Incorporate literacy and promote research skills by having students write their own story cards.