Teaching with videogames: Ancient Civilisations and 'Assassin's Creed'
The Ancient world can feel very abstract to students.
Using Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed: Origins as part of your unit can help your students feel immersed in the culture and intrigued by the human innovation that continues to impact our lives today.
Year levels: 7 & 8
Subject areas: History. There are options for Ancient Greece, Rome or Egypt.
Suggested duration: 1-3 lessons
Equipment you'll need:
- Both Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (Greece) and Assassin's Creed: Origins (Egypt and Rome) have education-specific versions called Discovery Tours.
- Discovery Tours are rated G/PG while the original versions of the games are rated M/MA15+
- Discovery Tours are interactive and playful, but don't have the same action and violence that the original version of the game contains
- Discovery Tours are priced between $11-30, with regular sales (sometimes even free for schools)
- For schools where cost is an obstacle, there are walkthroughs freely available (with time code references) on YouTube. See the lesson plan for these details.
Download the full lesson plan
The lesson plan includes links to the Victorian Curriculum, indications of lesson timing, and ideas for differentiation and assessment.
In this lesson, students will
| 1. Play (or watch) the education versions of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey or Assassin's Creed: Origins |
| 2. Use a graphic organiser to record information about historical events, warfare, weapons, geography, clothing, human activities, culture, art, architecture, art, artefacts |
| 3. Develop their knowledge into research or games |
By the end of this lesson, students should
| physical features of Ancient Egypt OR Greece OR Rome |
| perspectives of key groups in the society, including the influence of law and religion |
| significant beliefs, values and practices of the society |
| interpret a secondary source |
| identify representations of historically significant people, places, events and artifacts |
| explain their significance to civilisation and human progress |
| historical knowledge |
| contextual understanding of human progress and innovation |
| understanding of the relationship between the Ancient world, the Middle Ages and the modern world |