Connecticut China Connection

So I found out you can’t really see the Great Wall from outerspace.  It seems that the myth about seeing it from space has been around for quite a long time.  According to Wikipedia the first reference to being able to see the wall from space was made back in 1754 by William Stukeley. The myth was repeated again in the 1930’s by the Ripley’s Believe it or not cartoons. Some astronauts have even claimed to see it, but that is still debatable.

The Great Wall of China is over 4,000 miles long  from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west. It was built between 500 B.C. and 1600 A.D.  Though it was not consistently worked on during that time.  There were many years that no work was done on the wall.  The wall was used for many different things but it was mainly used as protection from invaders from the north.  It is said that during the Ming Dynasty more that one million soldiers were stationed on the wall!

Zaijian,

Mr. Crawford

In preparation of our visit to the Great Wall of China, I thought I would share some links and history about the Great Wall.

In researching about the Great Wall, I came across a website that seem to answer many questions I had about it.  The first thing I wanted to know was if the Great Wall was really big enough to see from space? I think it is a myth but I’ll follow up with you in a later post to share the answers. Look at this site to see if you can find the answer.  Also see if you can find out how long it is and how old.

Teachers, you can use the activities on the website Enchanted Learning with your class to learn more about the Great Wall.

Zaijian,

Mr. Crawford