How far would you travel to trade something?

Objectives:
To explore which forms of transport were available in Greece. To investigate how useful these forms of transport would have been in different areas and what they could carry

Materials:
Physical map of Greece, pictures of different forms of transport

Class set-up:
Teacher presentation / class discussion

Vocabulary:

Describe the physical geography of Greece. Get the pupils to think about the difficulties of travelling in the country.

• What will affect how far you decide to travel?
• What will stop you travelling easily overland?
• What would be the problems of travelling by boat?
Explore other problems of travel in Greece such as pirates.
• What might attack you as you travelled?

Describe the different forms of transport available at different times. Discuss what differences these would make in how far people could travel and at what speed. Consider if the different forms of transport would allow people to transport different materials.

• Could you carry more by boat than donkey?
• What sorts of things could a donkey carry that would be difficult for a person?
Get the pupils to draw spider diagrams of the advantages and disadvantages of travelling by each of the forms of transport. Think about how distance of transport would make materials more expensive.
• Would you charge the same if you carried some dried fish to your neighbour or to the other end of Greece?