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Jay Ziegler
09
Project
Summary
Hendy Avenue
Elementary
Elmira City Schools
Understanding the
role geography plays in the settlement
of an area
through the use of a geography board.
1. General Overview of the Proposed
Project.
The proposed project will attempt to further
students understating of geography and how geography influences the
ways in which an area is developed and settled. The project will
address New York State Social Studies Learning Standard #3 Geography
Key Ideas 1 & 2. Students will develop and apply the skills of
asking and answering geographic questions. Students will study how
people live, work, and utilize natural resources. The students will
create a three dimensional model that will serve to represent
places, physical features, and objects. This can be best described
as students creating a geographic relief board. Students will study
the effect human settlement has on an environment. Students will
investigate how people depend on and modify the physical
environment. The students will describe the relationships between
people and environments and the connection between people and
places.
2. Clear Purpose and Objective: That
students will become active learners in the study of geography and
will successfully meet the objectives outlined in the Key Ideas
described above from the NY State SS Learning Standards.
3. Stake Holders: This project will
involve a class of 19 heterogeneous fifth grade students. The
students differ in academic ability and social development.
4. US History Content Area: This
project will focus on several content areas. European Colonization,
Westward Movement, The Trail of Tears, and the Homestead Act will
specific areas of study during this project.
5. Outline describing content: How the
geography of an area affects settlement will be addressed during the
study of European Colonization and Westward Movement. How natural
resources and geographical features favorable to farming affected
the forced removal of the Cherokee people by the US Government will
be analyzed when students study the Trail of Tears. The Homestead
Act will be studied in an effort to teach students the ways in which
large tracts of land were distributed to settlers by the US
Government.
6. Software to be used, internet
materials: Students will access a number of internet sites devoted
to American History to supplement text book content.
7. Level of Student Involvement:
Students will be actively engaged creating a three dimensional
geography board. Students will create models of several different
landforms that they will place on the geography board. They will
choose several different natural resources for land mass
simulation. Later during this unit of study, students will
construct a model town and decide as a class the best way to
simulate human settlement when considering the available natural
resources found in the land area and the geographic features that
are present.
8. Evaluation process. Evaluation of
the academic objectives will be done through skill sheets and open
ended questions. It is hoped that students will be able to draw on
their experience of using the models to formulate answers that are
more in depth and show a genuine understanding of the concepts being
taught. Teacher evaluation of the overall project and its
effectiveness will be done through analyzing student journals in
which they will write their reflections on their experience using a
geography board with model buildings.
9.
Timeline: The project will be carried out over a four to six
week period during the winter months of the 2008-2009 school year..
Content for the project will be introduced in the Fall and then
followed by hands-on activities in the months that follow. It is
planned that students will then transfer knowledge learned in the
readings application and creation of a geography relief board. At
the conclusion of the project students will serve as interpreters to
visiting classes as they view the relief board and ask questions.
10.
Comments or questions: This has been a project that I have
thought about for many years but have decided to finally implement
it as a result of my participation in the Teach American History
Grant. I am excited about the prospects and potential for genuine
student learning with the students engaged as active learners. I
briefly mentioned the idea to the students and their response was
very enthusiastic. I look forward to gathering the necessary
materials and getting the students involved.
Title of Teach
American History Grant project: Understanding the role geography
plays in the settlement of an area through the use of a geography
board.
Stakeholders: A
class of 18 heterogeneous fifth grade students.
Time period for
project: Three to four weeks
Materials used: HO
Scale model buildings, student constructed buildings and geographic
features. One 4'x8' sheet of wafer board, paint, and joint compound.
Description of
project: Prior to beginning the construction of the geography board,
students were asked to describe what they knew about the factors
that would influence settlers to choose a particular area for
settlement. They were also asked to write any thing they knew about
the Homestead Act, Eminent Domain, Ordinances, Business districts,
zoning, and funding for roads and bridges. Once this was completed,
students were shown the 4'x8' sheet of wafer board and reviewed what
they knew about finding the square foot of an area. The students
then figured that the wafer board could be divided into 32 square
feet. They were then given a piece of graph paper in which they
outlined a four square by 8 square rectangle which would represent
the piece of wafer board. Each student then chose one of the square
foot sections as their piece of the property. They also recorded
ownership of each square onto to their graph paper. The students
agreed beforehand that 8 squares would be set aside for a business
district and three additional squares for be earmarked for public
use. This too, was also marked on their graph paper.
Once the initial
properties were established as residential or commercial, the
students then went about building their homes on their properties
and also adding any geographical features they desired such as
hills, lakes, or rivers. Students then wrestled with the decision as
to where a main road should be constructed and if that road should
run east to west or north to south. Or, did they want to have two
roads going across their town. Students also discussed where names
for towns originate and then went about debating and discussing the
name for their new town. Students learned about ordinances and the
need for them as well as their overuse. They also learned about
eminent domain through newspaper articles and the possibility of its
use in their town for a memorial park or other public need. Students
also dealt with the issue of automobile congestion and parking.
Consideration was made to incorporate some type of public
transportation to ease this. Student debated the pros and cons of
using public transportation.
Reflection of the
project: I felt that this project proved to be very educational and
leant itself very well to real world applications that students
could relate with and make connections to. They were very excited
about having their own piece of property to do what they wanted
with. Since the choosing of the parcels was done in a random manner,
it was interesting to see how they became concerned who their
neighbor would be. When the initial dividing of the property was
complete, some students made arrangements to trade or change their
property location with another in their effort to live next to one
or several of their friends. When this was done, those students
often began working together to build a large lake that would touch
on all their properties.
Once
the students were settled on their properties, it was interesting to
observe how quickly they saw the need for some type of rules for all
to abide by. This lead to many good discussions on what
"civilization" means. We talked about what the consequences would be
if everyone in a town was allowed to do whatever they wanted. This
being said, the students, as much as they are opposed to having
someone tell them what to do, accepted the notion that for there to
be order and harmony in a family, town, city, country, or state,
someone has to be in charge and all must agree and abide by rules
that they have put into place. Shortly after getting their town
settled, I mentioned to the students about the US Government's
proposal for a memorial for the victims of Flight 93 in
Pennsylvania. The government has decided to create a park by
obtaining land through the use of eminent domain. I was also able to
give them my firsthand experience with eminent domain when I was
forced to sell a house to a school board because the school system
had decided to put an addition on their auditorium and the lot on
which my house stood was needed for an expanded parking lot. This
led to a lively discussion with the students.
Creation of a town also enabled students to understand the reason
why most settlements in America were located on flat or gently
rolling hills. They could understand the ease and low cost for so
doing as opposed to trying to build on or near mountains. They also
could see for themselves the need for ordinances that created
commercial and residential zoning as well as the need for a town to
provide open areas for parks and recreation for the residents.
Students also quickly realized that funding for these things would
have to come in part from the taxes levied on those who were
residing in the town. Debates than started as to who determines if
taxes are too low or too high.
Student
response to this project was highly positive. They were very excited
about choosing their parcel and then building on it. Individual
preferences were able to be exercised as to the type of dwelling
they wanted and the way in which they wanted to landscape their
yard. It was interesting how some students who loved pets
constructed fences around their yards. To other students the fences
to them were unattractive. Many of the students commented that they
wished we could have had the board all year long and used the
created town to learn about different topics as well. In an effort
to help them understand the responsibility for being a landowner, I
set up a reward and consequence system in the classroom using fake
money. The students in turn, had a bank account. Students could earn
money for themselves over the course of each week by being a good
citizen, a homework hero, doing jobs in the classroom, and getting
good grades on homework, tests, and quizzes. This worked well as a
classroom management tool but also allowed the students to see the
relation to working hard and prosperity. We talked about how people
with big houses usually have one because they worked hard in school,
got good grades, got a good job, get a good paycheck and as result,
have more money to spend on their house and their yard than people
who didn't do those things. I felt the whole experience was a
positive one for the students and me as well. The activities created
many opportunities to discuss events in history and local
communities related to city planning and settlement. The only
problem that had to be addressed was the need for space in the
classroom to do such a project. But, whether is was this project or
another, space seems to always be a problem in today's classrooms.
I am
thankful for my participation in the "Teach American History Grant"
program that allowed me to implement this project. It was a project
that I had thought about doing for several years but never attempted
it. Participation in the project reinforced the value of teaching
social studies and provided the funds necessary to turn this idea
into a reality for my students. I am now entertaining the idea of
replicating the activity again next year since I will have the board
and the buildings to use again and I would like my future students
to experience many of the positive learning outcomes that were
achieved by my students this year.
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