Silk Road and the Cultural Diffusion

Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange

Grace Badillo and Jenny Choi (Helim)

Junior Division
Group Website
When we were introduced to the theme of Exploration, Encounter and Exchange,
the Silk Road and Cultural Diffusion stood out to us. As we were discussing what topic we

should focus on we decided to research this topic because we believed that it tied in with the
theme and there was a lot to be said about the Silk Road and Cultural Diffusion. We were
also interested in learning more about how the Ancient Civilization developed along this
trade route and how these interactions affected the world around it.
At first we began outlining facts about what we already knew or what we learned in
school. After that we outlined the different tabs we would have on our website and we
decided that we should make them: Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange. We then moved
on to research information on the internet. With the use of information found on the
internet we then made subtabs that specified more of the main tabs. We used both the Gale
Database and the ABC-Clio sites to find many of our secondary sources. Many of these
sources gave us different interpretations of the Silk Road, which we used in our project
Finding a primary source was difficult, but we found excerpts from the Travels of Marco
Polo which gave us a perspective from the time period. Understanding both old and
modern perspective was important in this project, because it gave us more knowledge on
the Silk Road.
We decided to make a website because we saw an opportunity to do something
unique and it stood as a challenge for the both of us. Doing a poster or a paper seemed to be
a typical presentation and we were looking for something more creative. Also, making a
website was new for the both of us and it was adventurous. Although it was challenging at
first, weebly provided a great template for us to work on our project. With the various
themes and layouts we chose the best that fit with the topic. We found a creative way to
present our project with the use of different tools. We thought it was a better choice to
freely express the ideas of our topic.
The Silk Road relates to the NHD topic by many ways. Our project on the Silk Road
and Cultural Diffusion was a great example of how the ancient world prospered. Also, the
Silk Road had all three elements of the theme tied in. Due to the location of the Silk Road it
connected many regions and because of that there was exploration, encounter, and
exchange. Many explorers used this route to search for new lands and ideas. As a result of
the exploration, many regions began to encounter with one another. Lastly because of the
encounter of these regions, groups of people began to exchange goods and ideas with each
other. Relating to the Silk Road, many explorers such as Marco Polo and Alexander the
Great began to explore different regions of the Ancient World. This led to encounter with
different people and soon led to exchange of goods such as Roman glassware and silk from
China.