Silk Road Expeditions - Interactive Map & Journals!

Students researched and created an interactive map and set of journals for a famous explorer along the Silk Road and/or sea routes during the era surrounding ancient China.  Their choices of explorers were Chinese explorers such as Zhang Qian (imperial envoy for the Han Dynasty), Xuan Zang (Buddhist monk who traveled to India), Zheng He (mariner and explorer for the Ming Dynasty), and European explorer traveling to China, Marco Polo.  Below you see examples of students interactive PowerPoint presentations--the map slide which shows the route and places the explorer stopped are linked to the slides for each journal entry (Some students even used Google Translate to really get into character!).  For example, when clicking on the "star" for the city of Beijing, I will be brought to a slide with a journal explaining Marco Polo's time in the capital city and meeting the Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan.  Enjoy examples below!

Student Journal #1:

Student Journal #2:

Student Journal #3:

Student Journal #4: