The students learned how to critically analyze where each artifact could have originated based on stylistic elements. Each student chose an artifact to study in depth, researching both at the Met and back in the classroom through books and online resources. They ultimately compiled a report on their individual artifact. Simultaneously, they read fables from the Silk Road focusing on the elements of a story and especially on the moral. They explored how the lessons of these stories transcend time and place and can be applied right here and now. The students then had a chance to write their own original fables set along the Silk Road around the year 1500. Once they were ready to publish, they rehearsed, animated and recorded their finished piece on an iPad app called Puppet Pals.