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Historic District Project
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Grade Level: 3-8 Academic Areas: Language Arts Duration of service: 1-2 months Character Virtues: Respect, Civic virtue and Citizenship Technology: GPS, Remote Sensing Service Areas: Education/Tutoring |
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Service Learning Project: |
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Elementary and Middle School students will be engaged in a two month
long project during which they gain and share an awareness of the natural and
cultural history of the Deposit area.
Through the creation of maps, pictorial and written records of
historic places, and the authoring of a book of quests, service learning and
character education will be integrated. At the fourth grade level, students
will examine modern and historic maps of the community and surrounding area.
Where the older structures and landmarks still exist, students will take
photographs. Photos will also document the location of important structures
that no longer exist. As a culminating activity, students will learn about
letterboxing. Each class will create a book of quests that consist of maps,
rhyming riddles, and illustrations of their favorite historic sites. Classes
will swap books and traipse the community in search of hidden boxes. The
final products will be given to the historical society during a community
presentation that will be followed by a celebration of the students’ work. At the middle school level, students will examine modern and historic
maps of the community and surrounding area. After instruction in how to use
GPS technology, a catalog of waypoints and digital images will be developed
for each selected historic structure. Through a series of fieldtrips to the ArcView
technology will be used to assist in the development of an historic map of
the area that integrates student work with that done by members of the
Historical Society. The Historical
Society will help seek funding to help support these projects. |
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Goals and Objectives Academic Learning Goal: Through an
investigation of the natural and cultural history of the Deposit area,
students will listen, speak, read and write for information and understanding. Standard: English Language Arts Standard 1: Language for
information and understanding Learning Goal: Through the use of GPS, ArcView,
and imaging techniques, students will combine technical knowledge and skills
with English language arts in the development of maps, quest books, and a
documented history of the Deposit area. Standard: MST Standard 5: Technology Service Community need: There
is presently no digital record of the area. Also, historical information is
not organized in a user friendly manner. Possible Community Partners: The Deposit Historical
Society; The Deposit Arts Council; interested citizens Objective 1: Students will produce a
digital record of historic sites. Objective 2: Students will organize
and produce user friendly materials for the community to use. Objective 3: Students will present to
the community. Technology Learning Goal: Students will learn the use of GPS units to record
coordinates of historic sites. Objective: Students will be able to take
GPS coordinates and record point locations using GPS receivers. Learning Goal: Students will utilize
digital photography to record historic sites. Objective: Students will
take digital photographs and import them into a Word or PowerPoint document
in the production of a document that records the historic significance of
selected sites. Learning Goal: Selected
participants will learn to use ArcView. Objective: Selected
participants will use ArcView in the development of
an historic map of the area. Character Virtue: Civic virtue and citizenship Objective: Students will share their knowledge of the history of Deposit with each other and the community. Virtue: Respect Objective: Students will come to value their past and become stewards of their historical and cultural environment.
Key Activities Key Planning Activities 1. Determine
the availability of digital cameras and GPS units for the project. 2. Seek
continued involvement of the Historical Society 3. Find
and/or develop specific lesson plans for instruction in the use of the GPS
units, ArcView, and digital photography as needed
in the project. 4. Present
the project to the appropriate fourth grade and middle school subject area
teachers. Key Service Activities 1. Students will collect location data for historical
sites using GPS technology. 2. Students will take takes photographs of local historic
sites. 3. Students will construct a community map of historic
locations. 4. Students will present and make available their work
for community use. Key Reflection Activities 1. Participants
will brainstorm a definition of historical sites and why it is important to
preserve their history. This will be done both at the beginning and the
conclusion of the project. 2. Student
will be asked to keep a journal while working on the project. Entries will
address what the most important thing they learned that day and why it was
important to them as a Deposit citizen. At the conclusion of the project,
students will be asked to reflect on their writing and to summarize what they
most enjoyed learning about or how to do and why. 3. Participants
will share their thoughts with the news media. Celebration Activity Students
and members of the community will be treated to refreshments by the
Historical Society. The media will be invited to record the event. Parents
will be sent a written invitation to the student presentation at the
Historical Society. |
