What did I work on?  

Our 2nd Unit was all about the past and why it is so historically important to us humans. We disguised ourselves as archeologists and explored the death of Ötzi, also known as the 5300-year-old ice man that was found in the Italian Alps. We investigated his death scene and observed the smallest details that was found at the time of his death hoping to answer our question, was Ötzi murdered or not? After we researched Ötzi thoroughly, we were confident enough to choose a side on whether he was murdered or not. We soon became lawyers learning about open and closed questions and wrote CER paragraphs to try and prove our point. At the end there was a mock trial that was hosted, and the lawyers would question the expert witnesses hoping the jury would vote for their side. It was fun and interesting to learn about Otzi’s death and the past  

What did I learn? 

I learned about why we should care about the past and Ötzi the iceman. I learned that the past is important because it teaches us valuable lessons and helps us connect to our cultures and identities more. By looking at the past, we can also learn from our mistakes and build a more peaceful better world from either our violent or wonderful past. I also learned about Ötzi the iceman and his death. Though we are still not certain if Ötzi was murdered or died from natural causes, I learned a lot about Ötzi like how he was 40-50 years at the time of his death, how his body was preserved in the ice and freeze dried. I also learned about his health issues and the belongings he had at that time. I learned so much more about the past through Ötzi.  

What went well? 

This unit was super fun, and I thought the Ötzi mock trial was especially interesting because I was prosecution lawyer number 3 which means that I had to prove to the jury that Ötzi WAS murdered by another prehistoric man. The funny thing was that I was on the defense side, and my personal opinion was that Ötzi WASN’T murdered by another prehistoric man, and I had to know go against that side. It was hard for me to come up with questions, but I think in the end they were good and quite convincing. I’m also proud of myself for speaking confidently and I didn’t stutter or murmur. I also liked me and my partner’s closing statement.  

What did not work? 

I think I was struggling to come up with open questions for the prosecution team because my opinion was on the opposing team. It took me a while to come up with actual convincing questions, and I had to edit them to make them. I also think I should have spoken more slowly because the expert witnesses didn’t understand what I was saying that easily.  

Personal relevance 

For this unit I had to team up with people I usually don’t, which was hard but REALLY fun at the same time. I got to met lots of different people with different opinions and I think our teamwork skills were great. I also had to work on critical thinking for I needed to come up with solutions to prove Ötzi was murdered.