Teaching the Ancient World through Making
Nathalie Roy engages students with projects that reflect the everyday life of Romans
Nathalie Roy presented this week on MakerEd’s live event. She teaches Latin, snd two elective classes, Roman Technology and Myth Makers, all at Glasgow Middle School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She explained how she guides her students to recreate the products and processes of ancient Roman daily life through various hands-on STEM labs. Natalie also presented two different projects based on cryptography: an astragal and a scytale.
Transcript
Here’s a cleaned-up version of the transcript.
Godwin Morris:
Welcome. My name is Godwin Morris. We’re here with MakerEd (makered.org), and we’re running a virtual workshop series. I’m going to turn it over to Natalie, who’s going to explain her amazing work.
Go ahead, Natalie—it’s all yours.
Natalie Roy:
Hi everybody. I’m Natalie Roy. I teach at Glasgow Middle School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
In addition to teaching Latin—which I know might seem crazy, but I do—I also teach two other classes that are year-long electives for any student who wants to take them. Both come from a maker perspective, which is why I’m here tonight.
One is called Roman Technology. In that class, we recreate the products and processes of ancient Roman daily life using experimental archaeology and hands-on STEM labs.
The other is Myth Makers. In this class, we use ancient Greek and Roman myths as inspiration for maker projects.
These are not language classes—they’re STEM classes centered on the ancient world.
Types of Learning Experiences
In both classes, there are four types of learning experiences. I’ll talk about each briefly.
1. STEM Challenges
We love STEM challenges. For example, we spend a whole month on catapults, introducing students to the engineering design process.
We also do projects like Caesar’s bridges and a dice tower challenge. These are small-scale builds using simple materials—nothing dangerous or elaborate—but they help students understand how STEM works.
One example is the dice tower challenge. Ancient Romans, Egyptians, and Greeks used dice towers to prevent cheating. Students learn the history, design their own using cardboard and tape, and then play games with them.
2. Making & Tinkering
In Myth Makers, students create things like scepters—symbols of power inspired by mythology.
We also did a sustainable Mardi Gras throw challenge, connecting mythology to local culture. Students designed eco-friendly parade throws using simple materials like cardboard, glue, and tape.
This project also addressed sustainability—after Mardi Gras, streets are covered in plastic waste. Students asked: How can we redesign this tradition responsibly?
3. Experiential Learning
These are hands-on history experiences—dyeing, weaving, ink-making, hair styling, and more.
For example, we make oak gall ink, used from ancient times through the 1800s—even for the Declaration of Independence and by Shakespeare.
Students make the ink and write with period tools. It’s a powerful way to connect history across time.
Weaving is another favorite. Students learn the craft and sometimes apply it to real-world projects, like beautifying a school fence.
4. Experimental Archaeology
This is the core of Roman Technology. Students recreate ancient processes to understand daily life.
Examples include:
Building a mosaic sundial
Constructing kilns
Creating a Roman road to solve a real school traffic problem
Making Roman shoes, followed by a fashion show
These projects often involve community partners, engineers, and real-world applications.
Why This Approach?
People often ask: Why not just teach Latin?
The answer is that traditional texts focus on wealthy male citizens. They don’t show everyday life.
These projects help students understand how ordinary people lived, worked, and solved problems.
Cryptography Activity
Tonight’s project is ancient cryptography.
We’ll make an encryption disk (an astragal). It’s a simple device using cardboard, holes, and yarn. You encode a message by sewing between letters. The recipient decodes it by retracing the path.
We also looked at:
Steganography (hidden messages)
Cryptography (encoded messages)
Ancient examples include:
Messages hidden in sandals
Messages concealed in jewelry
Even tattooed messages hidden under hair
Second Activity: The Scytale
Another method is the scytale:
Wrap paper around a rod (like a pencil)
Write the message across it
Unwrap it—the message becomes scrambled
To decode it, the recipient must wrap it around a rod of the same size.
Q&A Highlights
Question (about ink): How do you make oak gall ink?
Natalie:
Oak galls form when a wasp lays eggs on an oak tree. The tree produces a growth rich in tannic acid.
To make ink:
Crack open oak galls
Soak them in water
Add iron (rusty nails or dietary iron)
This creates a rich brown ink used for centuries.
Question: How did you get funding for projects?
Natalie:
Lowe’s had teacher grants (at the time)
Exxon provided local grants
Many states have organizations that manage industry-funded grants
Closing
Godwin Morris:
I just admire the scale of your projects and how accessible they are—using cardboard and simple materials.
Natalie Roy:
It doesn’t have to be authentic everything. It can be a mix of materials—what matters is the learning.
More about Nathalie R. Roy, NBCT
Here is more about Natalie’s work.
2026 Co-Director, NEH Ancient Olympics and Hands-On History
2024 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions
2021 Louisiana State Teacher of the Year
Latin, Roman Technology, Myth Makers
Glasgow Middle School (the Best Middle School in the Parish)
Here's the link to the presentation, Teaching the Ancient World through Making: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1f3WhyeNdJiMdGYzqSdDeM-_XVdeBEN93Q9S3bLNi8Vs/edit?usp=sharing (lots of links within the slides to lessons)
Here's the slide deck link for Ancient Cryptography: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mJHy_2RbZJ3wAIw3xz20UeYkCH4EKHtyVvwIpEfk6lE/edit?usp=sharing
Last, I encourage everyone to read my blog where I talk about project inspiration and development.
The next event in the series is on May 12 with Christine Girtain on obtaining grants. Register here.
