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Updated: April 8, 2002

 

Architecture in East Asia - Grades 4-12 - While titled as a site about architecture, this site - created by two university students - includes photos and descriptive information about dozens of buildings and cities in east Asian countries. While the treatment is far from definitive, the information appears accurate and is reasonably current. photos are available as both thumbnails and large size images. Great resource for cultural studies.

Fifty Years of Communism in China - The Peoples' Republic is celebrating fifty years, and the world media are viewing the event with mixed reactions. Your students may want to compare and contrast the coverage in:

The Peoples Daily - semi-official news outlet.

The South China Morning Post - One of Hong Kong's leading newspapers

The BBC's Special Report

 

China Online - Grades 9-12 - China Online is a business-oriented site providing information on matters, including politics, which affect economic relations. Content is written at an adult level, but would be suited to students doing research on present-day Chinese issues.

Chinese Garden Markets - Grades 4-12 - This site is a photojournal of a tour through the Chinese countryside, noting the ways in which local "farmers' markets" contribute to the vitality of an otherwise centralized Chinese economy. Interesting for its purely local and village focus, as well as for the photos showing what life in small Chinese villages really looks like.

 

Exploring Ancient World Cultures - Grades 7-12 - Source: University of Evansville. Ancient cultures in China, Rome, Greece, the near east, early Islam, Egypt, and India.

 

Fairbank Chinese History Library - Grades 9-12 - This is a privately maintained site dedicated to the memory of John K. Fairbank, Sinologist and former US ambassador to China. It covers 19th and 20th century Chinese political history, and would be a good introduction to the chronology of historical events during this time period.

The Great Wall - Grades 4-12 - This student-created site includes lots of pictures of the Great Wall, along with a surprisingly detailed history of the construction and expansion of the wall by various Chinese dynasties. It's a thorough presentation that's well illustrated, and a nice research source.

Searching for China - Grades 6-12 - This is actually a set of several web activities dealing with China from the PacBell site. All are designed as instructional tools to be used on-line by students. They approach China in an interdisciplinary format.  The site contains a lot of information. It is complete with vocabulary words, dictionary and news articles. It involves students working as teams to research and discuss using high level thinking skills. It also encourages free exploration. The site has an evaluation rubric for both individual and team evaluations. It is applicable for both student and teacher assessment.

Searching for China - Webquest - Grades 6-12 - This web quest, which grew out of the PacBell's larger Searching for China site, asks students to develop an American foreign policy towards China, considering political, economic, and human rights factors. Students must conduct their own research and develop a policy backed by the information they collect. Plenty of depth in this one!

Secrets of the Great Wall - Grades 6-12 - This site from Discovery Online presents a visual history of China's Great Wall, explaining why it was built and how it came to be a symbol of China's determination to guard against "barbarians." True to Discovery's style, there are lots of pictures, features, and cultural information as well.

Touring China - Grades 4-12 - This site from the Chinese National Tourism Office provides very general information on the features of China's various regions, paying particular note to places interesting to tourists. Despite the lack of detail, there's more than enough here to get a sense of the variations in China's geography, cultures, and history.

Visions of China - Grades 6-12 - This site from CNN offers a look at internal and international issues affecting China, considering everything from the rise of a new middle class to the ecological impact of a new dam to the future of relations with the United States. While there's plenty of history here, the focus is clearly on how China fits into the current world order. Beautiful design and artwork!

 

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