Power Webs Activity Sheet
World History Simulation
Power Webs
Name:
Date:
The Premise: No ancient community lived in a bubble. Cities, farming states, and nomadic pastoralists formed an interconnected network—a power web. To survive and thrive in this 15-minute simulation, you must trade, negotiate, and establish power relationships with other groups.
Simulation Rules
- Find Your Role: Read your assigned role below. Your teacher will hand out resource tokens, or you will write your starting inventory.
- The Trading Phase (8 Mins): Move around the room to trade. Every transaction must be recorded in your Trading Log on Page 2.
- Alliances & Coercion: You can merge into a unified "State" or "Empire" to pool resources, but watch out: inequality or aggressive nomadic raids can change the balance of power instantly.
Assigned Factions (You will be one of these)
Role A Uruk Elite
City-State Elites
You live behind massive copper-gleaming brick walls. You control skilled artisans who produce incredible bronze tools and fine luxury items, but you have no direct farmland. Without food, your citizens starve.
Starting Resources: 3x Specialized Bronze Tools
1x Palace Guard Contract
Survival Needs: Requires 3x Grain Surplus
Role B Farmer
Hinterland Farmers
You cultivate the fertile riverbanks. You produce massive grain surpluses, but you lack defensive walls and advanced metal technology. Bandits and nomads constantly threaten your fields, and your wooden tools break.
Starting Resources: 4x Grain Surplus
Survival Needs: Requires 1x Tool AND 1x Protection Contract
Role C Nomad
Steppe Nomads
You raise livestock on the open grass plains. You possess high mobility, meat, leather, and wool, but you cannot grow grain or forge bronze. You can trade peacefully or use military pressure to raid.
Starting Resources: 3x Livestock (Wool/Meat)
1x Raid Threat card
Survival Needs: Requires 1x Tool OR 1x Grain
Unit 3: Origins of Cities & Empires Page 1 of 2
Activity Log & Debate Prep
Your Trade & Conquest Record
My Assigned Faction: ____________________________
My Starting Inventory: ____________________________
1. Trading Log (Write every trade here)
| Trade # | Who did you trade with? (Faction) | What did you GIVE them? | What did you GET from them? |
|---|
| Trade 1 | | | |
| Trade 2 | | | |
| Trade 3 | | | |
| Trade 4 | | | |
Survival Verification:
Did your group meet its survival needs? Did you merge into a voluntary "State" or "Empire"?
2. Debrief & Debate Prep Questions
A. How did the concept of "interdependence" play out in your trades? Who had the ultimate leverage?
B. Read the quote: "Cities were at the top, followed by towns, villages, and rural areas." Is this division of power fair, or did cities exploit the hinterlands to survive?
C. Nomads were often called "barbarians." Based on this activity, what vital role did nomadic pastoralists play in connecting the ancient world?
Unit 3: Origins of Cities & Empires Page 2 of 2
Power Webs Teacher Guide
Teacher Facilitation Guide
Power Webs Simulation
15-20 Min Lesson
Instructional Core: This simulation translates abstract historical arguments from Dennis RM Campbell, Trevor Getz, and Bennett Sherry into an active classroom game. Students experience first-hand how the division of labor created intense, unequal, yet unavoidable networks of interdependence.
Min 0-3 Setup & Roles
Min 3-10 Trading Round
Min 10-14 Empire Surge
Min 14-20 Debrief Debate
Classroom Preparation
1. Token Generation (Choose Option A or B):
- Option A (Tangible): Use small scraps of paper or index cards in three colors (Green for Grain, Blue for Tools, Red for Raid/Protection).
- Option B (Paperless): Have students tally resources directly on their scorecards during negotiations.
2. Student Division:
- Assign roughly 40% of the class as Hinterland Farmers.
- Assign 30% as City Elites (Uruk).
- Assign 30% as Steppe Nomads.
Phase-by-Phase Facilitation Playbook
Phase 1: Setup & Distribution (3 Minutes)
Min 0-3
Hand out the student activity sheet. Set the dramatic mood by explaining that ancient civilization is fragile. Divide students into the three factions. Give each group their respective tokens (or direct them to log their starting inventory in Section 1 on page 2).
Teacher Script: "Citizens of Uruk, Farmers of the Hinterland, Nomads of the plains—the year is 3000 BCE. Look at your survival checklists. None of you can survive alone. You must now find partners across boundaries."
Phase 2: The Active Trading Round (7 Minutes)
Min 3-10
Students stand up and circulate. City Elites must pitch their technology and wall protection to get food. Nomads can negotiate peacefully (sheep for grain) or display their "Raid Threat" card to strong-arm farmers.
- Check that transactions are written on students' Trading Logs.
- Encourage mergers: multiple farmers can pool grain with a city to form a protected state.
Unit 3: Origins of Cities & Empires Page 1 of 2
Phase 3 & Debate Framework
Empire Surge & Debate Guide
Phase 3: The Empire Surge (4 Minutes)
Min 10-14
Introduce a sudden historical disruption: The Borderlands Strike back. Nomads can now execute raids on any farmer who has no guard protection contract.
