Third Graders had the opportunity to learn about one of the most renowned parts of Chinese history on Friday by visiting a special exhibition on the Terracotta Warriors at The Franklin Institute. The Terracotta Warriors are a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the army of the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuangdi. Students made strong connections to their second grade study of Egyptian pyramids as they learned about the elaborate and incredible tomb made for the first emperor of China. Before our visit, our classes asked questions and hypothesized about the grand creation of these life-size clay warriors and our visit to the museum led to our exploration of the motivation and process of how they were built.
Students discovered that more than 700,000 workers were involved in the grueling process of creating this secret tomb. Thousands of laborers undertook the task of making 8,000 terracotta warriors, each with unique facial expressions and characteristics, to protect the emperor in the afterlife.
Students learned about the different battle formations that the soldiers were found in which included chariots, foot soldiers, archers, and horses. We were amazed by the craftsmanship of each piece, including the stone armor that took over 400 hours to piece together.
We also learned that Qin Shihuangdi's actual tomb has not yet been excavated because archaeologists to not want to disturb the contents. When they excavated the other terracotta warriors, starting in 1974, they found that when the paint hit the air, it disintegrated. Hopefully one day scientists will find a way to excavate the site without this happening. Then we may get to see the full contents of Qin Shihuangdi's tomb! After our 3 hour visit to The Franklin, we came away with a greater sense of the magnitude and scope of this marvelous project, and we can't wait to find out more in our studies back at school!
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