Activity 01
Inquiry Circle: Design a Roman Town
In small groups, students use a large grid to place essential Roman buildings (Forum, Baths, Amphitheatre, Temple). They must justify why they placed certain buildings in the centre and others near the walls.
Identify the essential features of every Roman town and their functions.
Facilitation TipDuring Collaborative Investigation, move between groups to ask students to point out where the cardo and decumanus would intersect on their draft map.
What to look forProvide students with a blank outline of a Roman town. Ask them to label at least three key features (e.g., Forum, Amphitheatre, Grid Streets) and write one sentence explaining the purpose of the Forum.
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Activity 02
Gallery Walk: Town vs. Country
Display images of an Iron Age hillfort and a Roman town. Students move in pairs to find five major differences in how people lived, focusing on materials, layout, and public services.
Explain how the Forum served as the heart of the community in Roman Britain.
Facilitation TipIn the Gallery Walk, stand at the midpoint between town and country images and ask pairs to describe what they notice about the density of buildings and roads.
What to look forPose the question: 'If you were a Roman mayor, what would be the most important building to place in the center of your town and why?' Encourage students to justify their choices based on the functions of Roman public spaces.
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Activity 03
Think-Pair-Share: The Forum
Show an image of a busy Roman Forum. Students pair up to list all the different activities happening (trading, voting, praying) and discuss why it was the most important place in the town.
Compare how town life differed from village life in Iron Age Britain.
Facilitation TipDuring Think-Pair-Share, listen for students to link the forum’s central position with its functions: market, justice, politics and religion.
What to look forShow students images of different Roman town features (e.g., a forum, a bathhouse, a section of grid streets). Ask them to hold up a card with the correct term or write down the term and its primary function for each image.
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Start with a quick aerial photo of a modern grid town so students feel the shock of the Roman departure from winding Iron Age lanes. Use peer-teaching moments when one student helps another label the cardo on their own grid. Avoid overwhelming them with every building name up front; introduce amphitheatre, bathhouse, and basilica as the town evolves in the design activity.
Students should leave able to trace the grid on a map, name at least three public buildings, and explain why the forum was the town’s heart. They should also distinguish between urban order and rural scatter, using vocabulary such as cardo, insula, and forum with confidence.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
During Collaborative Investigation: Watch for students who place buildings without aligning them to the cardo and decumanus.
Prompt them to re-measure the perpendicular lines and tape new strings on the floor so the grid matches the Roman standard.
During Gallery Walk: Watch for students who say both town and country look similar.
Ask them to count the number of buildings and straight roads in each image and explain how these features differ.
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