History challenges

In the process of teaching history, the teacher has to face a lot of problems. Often the greatest difficulty for students is the memorization of dates, especially in isolation from events, in the form of various chronological tables and dictations.
While knowing dates in the study of history should not be an end in itself, it is much more important that students understand history as a process. And yet, just as mathematics cannot be without numbers, so history cannot be without dates.
To facilitate the memorization of dates, it is necessary that the date is necessarily combined with the event, so that students can start from something. To facilitate this work, I have developed interesting problems on history, which can be used in studying the history of Russia in grades 6-7. The tasks take into account not only the relationship of dates and events, but also the mathematics program. Moreover, the problems are built so that, without knowing the event, you can start from another, call for the help of mathematics and solve. Having solved the problem, students develop an algorithm of action, a cause-and-effect relationship is revealed, and students will easily remember the dates.
Let me give you the following example.
At this place at the mouth of the Neva, an outstanding Novgorod prince defeated the Swedes. And after 463 years, axes were knocked here, the construction of a new capital began on the orders of the king?
1. Which prince is in question and when did this happen?
2. By order of which king began the construction of the new capital?
3. When was the new capital founded and what was it called?
4. What connects these two events?
St. Petersburg was founded in 1703, and was founded on the third anniversary of the Northern war, which Russia fought with Sweden for access to the sea. That the city was founded on the place where Alexander Yaroslavich defeated the Swedes in 1240, that St. Petersburg was founded not at the whim of the tsar, but by state necessity.
1. Alexander Yaroslavich (Nevsky); 1240 – Battle of the Nevsky.
2. Peter I.
3. 1240 + 463 = 1703, where 1240 - the Battle of the Neva; 1703 - the foundation of St. Petersburg.
4. 1240 - Battle with the Swedes; 1703 was the Northern War (1700 - 1721), in which Russia also fought with the Swedes.
Studying the foreign policy of the times of Peter I, you can use the following type of problem.
The turning point in the Northern War occurred after the Battle of Poltava. It is known that the two armies totaled 72,000 men. It is also known that the number of the Russian army exceeded the Swedish 12,000 people. The Russian casualties were 1,300, and the Swedes 9,000 killed and 3,000 captured. What was the size of the Russian and Swedish armies before and after the battle?
(X + 12,000) + X = 72,000
2X = 72,000 - 12,000
2X = 60,000
X = 60,000: 2
X = 30,000
(30 000 + 12 000) + 30 000 = 72 000
42,000 + 30,000 = 72,000
42,000 – Number of Russian Army before the Battle
30,000 – Swedish army before the battle
42,000 – 1,300 = 40,700 – Russian army after battle
30,000 - (9,000 + 3,000) = 18,000 - Swedish army strength after battle
Having solved the problem, the Poltava battle will be cut into memory not just as one of the battles of the Northern war, but, having calculated the ratio of both armies and losses, the guys will remember that after the Poltava battle there was a turning point during the Northern war.
These tasks not only allow you to remember the years of life of historical personalities, but also the nature of their activities. In the process of this, preparation for the exam is underway in tasks that meet issues related to the compliance and type of activity of personalities.
When studying the foreign policy of Catherine II, it is appropriate to propose the following task.
The first partition of the Commonwealth was in 1772, the third in 1795. When was the second partition, if it is known that the time between the first and the second is equal to the duration of the Northern war. Which countries participated in the division? What was the result of the divisions of the Commonwealth?
1700–1721 – The Northern War lasted 21 years.
1772 + 21 = 1793, where 1772 - the first partition of the Commonwealth; 1793 - the second partition of the Commonwealth. In the section of the Commonwealth, along with Russia, Austria and Prussia participated. The Polish-Lithuanian speech ceased to exist.
After completing the tasks, students will remember once again the war with Sweden for Russia’s access to the Baltic Sea and better remember the dates of the sections of the Commonwealth.
Tasks of this type contribute to the study of educational material, its systematization, generalization and analysis. And it will have more effect than just memorizing dates.
Challenge 32
How many years was the Rurik dynasty at the head of the Russian state, if it is known that the last of this dynasty was the son of Ivan the Terrible – Fyodor Ivanovich?
Objective No. 32.
1598 - 862 = 736, where 1598 - the death of Fyodor Ivanovich; 862 - the calling of Rurik in the Novgorod land.