World Heroes Hall of Fame

Project 10
Project Duration About 8-10 hours
Curriculum Links
This project is aligned to the Revised National Curriculum Statement for Senior Phase. It could also be used as enrichment for Grade 6 learners. See Appendix A: Curriculum Links, for detailed explanations.
  • Technology
  • Social Sciences
  • Arts and Culture
  • English Language
  • Life Orientation

In this project, learners examine world cultures and investigate heroes from the past that are still admired in these cultures. Learners discover that societies and civilisations throughout history and around the world share many things in common, and it is a society’s culture that makes it unique and interesting to study. After reviewing the definition of culture, learners look at a list of features of culture and find examples of these features in their own culture.

As they examine the features of culture, encourage learners to think about people who are associated with these features in their culture. This will help introduce how heroes can become linked to a culture or society and reflect and magnify the culture they represent. Learners define what it means to be a hero and they explore cultural heroes in more detail. Then they investigate several world cultures through their heroes. The project involves several areas of social studies  geography and world history  as well as English language. Learners discover what makes a person a hero in their own and other cultures, and they also make connections to the fields that these people are associated with, including maths, science, politics and the arts. To complete the assignment, learners conduct research, evaluate material, and create a magazine devoted to the lives of heroic individuals from the past.

Project Objectives
In this project, learners will:
  • develop a working definition of culture and identify features of world cultures
  • discuss what it means to be a hero
  • create their own definition of “hero”
  • research world cultures and civilisations and their heroes
  • evaluate the contributions of leaders in science, maths, literature, government, religion, and other areas of culture
  • determine what types of leaders and heroes are most important and influential
  • write magazine articles about the heroes and leaders they research.

Challenge for Learners

You can give this challenge directly to learners or read it to them. A copy of the challenge (Project 10 Challenge) is also included on the CD-ROM.

The Institute for Culture is creating a World Heroes Hall of Fame. The Institute has assigned you and your team the difficult task of developing a list of candidates for the Hall of Fame. Your team will be responsible for researching a world civilisation in search of heroes from that civilisation. Team members must look at all aspects of the culture to develop a balanced list of candidates worthy of inclusion in the Hall of Fame. Your team will be assigned the following tasks:

1.Research the history of a civilisation and then nominate three candidates.

2.When your team has determined the top three heroes to represent that civilisation or country, use Microsoft Word to create a magazine to illustrate the lives of these heroes.

3.In your magazine articles, be sure to include biographical information and a historical perspective of the hero. You will also be expected to justify why the heroes your team chooses should be nominated for the Heroes Hall of Fame.

You will submit your completed magazine to the Institute of Culture to help them choose which heroes will be the first inductees into the World Heroes Hall of Fame.

Project Details

This project encourages learners to look at world cultures and heroes from the past. Learners discuss cultures and the features of cultures and then connect the features with a civilisation’s heroes. People shaped these world cultures, and people represent their cultures as bigger-than-life icons that we call heroes. As you cover the introductory material for this project, make sure learners understand the concept of culture and its importance. Review the definition of “culture” and emphasise to learners that their investigation of the features of culture is an important part of their research.

Learners must also know how to define “hero” and understand the part that these cultural icons play in a society’s civilisation. They will read an article about heroes and develop a working definition of what it means to be a hero. Then they investigate several world cultures through its heroes.

This project begins with learners working individually to examine features of culture and examples of world civilisations. After they finish this introductory work, they will work in teams of five. Choose teams that will work well together to conduct their research, evaluate the material, and create a magazine about the heroes they chose.

The suggested Web sites for this project provide access to information about many historical figures and include graphics that learners can use, but if Internet access is a problem, suggest that they consult encyclopaedias, magazines such as National Geographic, and textbooks. Most libraries also have biographical dictionaries that learners can use to research heroes’ lives.

Learner Prerequisites

Internet

  • Web navigation skills
  • Copy and pasting graphics

Microsoft Word

  • Opening a document
  • Saving a document
  • Printing a document
  • Inserting page numbers
  • Inserting a graphic

Classroom Technology Resources

  • Internet access
  • Microsoft Word

Materials for Teachers

  • Copies of the Challenge (above) for each learner, also located on the CD-ROM (Project 10 Challenge)
  • World maps, posters of scenes from other countries, and pictures of artefacts and people from a variety of world civilisations to illustrate the introductory information about world cultures
  • Copies of the Features of Culture Worksheet for each learner, located on the CD-ROM (Project 10 Culture)

The Magazine Assessment Tool, located on the CD-ROM (Project 10 Magazine Assessment Tool)

Suggested Web Sites

This list includes several excellent Web sites to help learners with their research. Provide learner teams with a list of the Web sites for their research or bookmark the sites using the Internet Explorer Favorites feature.

This site provides a good overview of great thinkers and leaders from around the world and throughout history. This is an excellent site that will provide learners with necessary background information.

This fabulous site documents South African history. It provides information about people, place, events, etc.

Additional References
and Resources

For Learners

  • Encyclopedias, either online such as MS Encarta, or in hard copy format.
  • History textbooks

For Teachers

  • World geography or world history textbooks can assist you in preparing for the discussion on cultures.
  • Use maps to show learners where the cultures and civilizations you talk about are located.
  • The MLA Website at can help you teach learners how to complete a works cited page for their magazine.

In-Class Steps

1.Discuss culture and its features with learners as you begin this project. Learners must understand what culture is and what it involves. There are many definitions of culture. John Bodley, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Oregon, defined culture as follows: “Culture involves at least three components:what people think, what they do, and the material products they produce. Thus, mental processes, beliefs, knowledge, and values are parts of culture.” Other definitions to discuss with learners include:

  • Culture is ideals, values, or rules for living
  • Culture is the way humans solve problems that help them adapt to their environment or live together efficiently

2.Have learners brainstorm features or characteristics of cultures. Make a list for learners to use as a reference. Add other important features as necessary. Refer to the Features of Culture worksheet on the CD-ROM
(Project 10 Culture).

3.Use the class list or the Features of Culture worksheet and invite learners to list their own examples of the features of culture.

4.Introduce the role people play in shaping cultures by asking learners to give examples of people whom they think of when they think of the features of culture on the list.

5.Then lead a class discussion about culture and people’s place in their culture. Use these questions to engage learners:

  • How is culture learned?
  • Do children learn about culture or is it something that you don’t participate in until you are an adult?
  • How do societies pass features of their culture from generation to generation?
  • What happens when features of culture are not learned or not passed to the next generation?

6.Look at the different features of culture from your class list or on the Features of Culture worksheet. Learners have already listed some people they associate with certain features of culture in their own society. Ask learners to share names of people who are associated with culture in different areas. What have they done to make you associate them with that feature of culture? (For example, Walt Disney is associated with the entertainment segment of culture in the United States because he was an innovator in animated films, which became very popular.)

7.Now ask learners to make a list of people who were important to the world in some way. They can refer to their Features of Culture worksheet to make sure they think of people in many areas, but they will not necessarily repeat the names of the people they associate with the features of culture. Tell them to think about people who were leaders in their society.

8.Ask them which of the people they listed might be considered heroes or great leaders. Often, learners will focus on sports figures as heroes. Help them understand that societies have many heroes who are not sports figures. Presidents, inventors, and scientists are also heroes. Discuss ways that these leaders are heroes.

9.Learners should read the article about heroes from U.S. News and World Report at . When they finish, ask learners to write their own definition of a hero. Discuss these definitions. Have learners look back at their list of people who influenced culture to determine which ones fit the definition of “hero.”

10.Present the challenge to the learner and provide each learner with a copy (shown above and provided on the CD-ROM).

11.Place learners in groups of five and assign each group a civilization or world culture. Have learners focus their research on past historical periods through 1980. (Some cultures or civilizations will have histories that end before 1980.) Learners will research the lives of influential people who made the culture or civilization great. Use these suggested cultures/civilizations, add others as needed, or create your own list:

ChinaEngland

JapanFrance

GermanyRussia

United StatesIndia

GreeceRome/Italy

12.Explain to the learners that the leaders they choose to research will be nominated for the World Heroes Hall of Fame, and it is important that all aspects of a culture or civilization are represented. Have them refer to the Features of Culture worksheet to ensure that they examine all areas of culture in the civilization they are assigned, not just the political or military parts.

13.Ask learners to make a list of the five most important heroes of that particular civilization or culture. Then they should research each person’s life and accomplishments and justify their selection. There are no roles for team members in this project, and you should guide them in deciding how to divide the research. Since there are five learners on each team, they can decide to research one hero each. Or they may decide to divide the work by having one or two learners look for graphics and other elements to illustrate their magazine articles while the other learners find biographical information and other facts about the leaders.

14.Monitor and assist learners as they work. You will also need to assist learners as they begin their writing. As learners complete their research, give them information from the MLA Web site to help them track and cite their sources.

15.Learners will write a short biography of each of the five individuals their team selected. The biography should include personal information, accomplishments, the impact the person made on his or her culture or civilization, and reasons why each is worthy of inclusion in the Hall of Fame. They also need pictures and other graphics to illustrate their biographies.

16.Instruct learners to use Microsoft Word to create a magazine that features the biographies of their five heroes. The magazine should have seven pages:

  • One-page features on each hero selected that include biographical information, the importance of the person in his or her own culture, the reasons this person should be included in the Hall of Fame, and pictures or other graphics to illustrate the five articles.
  • A cover complete with a title and appropriate artwork (photographs, clip art, or any other graphics the learners want to use)
  • A table of contents before the first article that lists all the articles
  • A works cited page at the end of the magazine that list all sources used for the research.

17.As teams complete their magazines, make them available for learners in the other groups to read. After all the groups have read each magazine, ask the teams to decide which two people from each magazine they think most deserve a nomination to the World Heroes Hall of Fame.

18.To complete the project, lead a class discussion in which learners from each group defend the selections they made by giving reasons why they think these are the greatest heroes of each civilization.

Assessment Ideas

  • Evaluate the learners’ work on this project by having them complete a self-assessment or self-reflection on their magazine articles. Modify the Magazine rubric (Project 10 Rubric) for the learners to use or simply have them reflect on their team’s magazine in a brief essay.
  • Use the Magazine rubric (Project 10 Rubric) to assess the learners’ final products.

Enrichment Activities

Ask learners to think about the difference between the real heroes they researched and legendary heroes who are either completely mythological, or whose exploits have been fictionalized so much that they are legends, not real people any more. The Internet and many books in the school library will provide information about legendary heroes from many cultures such as Hercules, Finn MacCool, Prester John, and Mike Fink or Paul Bunyan. Ask learners to write a paragraph about a legendary hero and then explain how these kinds of folk heroes also reflect an aspect of their culture.

Support Strategies

Spend time leading learners through a thoughtful and careful discussion of culture and heroes. Learners must understand these concepts to choose heroes from the societies/cultures they study and to complete their research successfully. If learners struggle with these ideas, have them work in pairs to list examples of each feature on the Features of Culture worksheet. Then you can list examples on the board to begin a more in-depth class discussion.

You may also want to compile the definitions of heroes written by learners and provide a copy of the various definitions to each learner. As they move through the project, these definitions will help keep them focused and assist in research and writing. Structure groups to make sure each team includes learners who will benefit from more support along with learners who work well independently.