Progression

She showed it

to her slavedriver

who saw the possibilities

He promoted slave Hannah

to supervise

the sawing team

Before,

hundreds pulled the immense stone block

on its log rollers

A team of twenty waited at the back

to grasp the log-load

when it had been run over

The back log had to be

hauled to the front

to be run over yet again

If only the stone could stay still

on the logs while they kept rolling

Clearly impossible. Hannah scowled

But a slice of log sawn from one end

would roll the same way

With a hole in the middle

supporting – well we’d call it an axle

and a second round piece from the log

On her model it worked perfectly

Wheels! Wooden wheels!

The first cart

Wheelbarrows, trains, cars, trucks

cogs, pulleys, clocks,  machines

Life on earth would never be the same.

Virginia Lowe

Notes:

The Israelites or Jews were kept slaves by the Egyptians, so I’m imagining it was the same time as they built the pyramids – that’s why I called the slave Hannah, originally a Jewish name.

In fact it wasn’t the same time – the pyramids were built about 300 years before the Israelite’s turned up. But it makes a more interesting story. A very very old story.

I couldn’t think of any way to describe the axle apart from our word, but it’s a concept they wouldn’t have had. I’d like to hear if anyone can think of how the rod holding the two wheels together and on the ground, could be described otherwise.

The Jews escaped from Egypt with the help of Moses, who persuaded the king, Pharaoh, to let them go with the help of ten plagues. It is all there told in the Bible in the book Exodus, and is celebrated each year by the Jewish community as Passover.

Ideas:

Maths:           Looking at shape make Pyramids with cardboard

Humanities: Research the logistics of the building of the Pyramids

Learn about Jewish history and culture

Music:          “Let my people go” This includes images that will help in learning about

Jewish history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEmS3hWmmU

Art:               Paint: Make a giant class cardboard pyramid and creatively decorate it