Learning Objectives

Students will:

1. learn about the history of the Great Sphinx of Giza;
2. be able to use Laserbox to design and create a mysterious creature.

Preparation

1. Pens
2. Pictures of different animals
3. Engraving materials: 3mm basswood sheets
4. Laserbox

Session 1  Lead-in

Story 1 Sphinx

To start this lesson, you can play videos about sphinxes, or have students gather information on sphinxes and discuss what they find. A sphinx was a mythical creature. In the Greek folklore, the sphinx was a female monster with the head of a woman, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle and the tail of a serpent. In the mythology, she was notorious for her cunning and cruelty and she killed and ate all those who failed to solve her riddles.

By Marie-Lan Nguyen

Unlike the Greek sphinx, the Egyptian sphinx was a male monster that was believed to be a figure of mercy with mighty power. However, either in the Greek or Egyptian mythologies, sphinxes were usually placed outside temples as guards.

If students show interest in sphinxes, you can share the links below with them:

1) https://youtu.be/q3PyWBdKOJs

2) https://youtu.be/-zAaITf65pI

3) https://youtu.be/FcgL0Is-pVU

Story 2 Coco

Alternatively, you can start the lesson by bringing up the animal characters in the film Coco and show students some pictures of the characters.

Story 3 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Collect some pictures of the animal characters in the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, and show students the pictures to start the lesson.

For the complete lesson plan and instruction manual, please download the Lesson Plan.