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Overview
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Materials
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Introduction:
These activities
are designed to help students observe their neighborhood environment more
carefully and to start to think about the relationships of locations and
activities. It will also help them to begin to understand that objects
in the environment tell stories and that when we know the reason for objects,
they make more sense. In addition, it starts the collection process that
will ultimately lead to the creation of a neighborhood map.
Skill Focus:
Observation and analysis of primary source data from the build and natural
environment. Community study. Identification of architecture and statuary.
Vocabulary: site, landmark, infrastructure, man-made environment,
natural environment, architecture
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- "What Is My School Address"
handout--copies for the class --Example
Worksheet
- disposable or other cameras and/or sketch
pads and pencils
- student journals
and/or area maps for individuals or small groups
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Activities
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Discussion Points
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| 1) Warm-Up Discussion: Explain what a site is -- the place where something
is built. Have a discussion in which students share what they know about
what used to be on the school's site or what might have been there. Move
to more local information about what is in the vicinity of the school now--eating
establishments, parks, rivers and the like. Discuss how the locations of
services and other build features are often planned to provide easy access.
Discuss why some of the neighborhood features are where they are. Explain
what a landmark is and discuss area landmarks. Explain how they can help
tell the story of an area. |
- What was on the school site 200 years
ago?
- How many eating establishments are in
the school's neighborhood?
- How are the locations of neighborhood
features related to the places people live or the paths they travel?
- What makes a landmark?
- How do landmarks help tell the story
of an area?
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| 2)
My School Address Activity Sheet: Hand out the "My School
Address Activity Sheet." Have students work in small groups or individually.
Allow time for students to answer as many questions as they can. Discuss
and share information that the class has gathered on the sheets. (Keep in
mind that they do NOT need to have all of the answers. You will come back
to these sheets later to fill in the gaps after neighborhood walks.) Have
students brainstorm and identify the many types of services they might encounter
in the neighborhood, and continue a discussion of landmarks. |
- See questions from handout.
- How many kinds of services might you
find in the school's neighborhood?
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3) Walking Tour:
-Make sure students are equipped with appropriate
gathering equipment--either cameras or materials for sketching along with
journals or documentation worksheets.
-Take students on a walking tour of the school grounds or to a specific
location. Explain to the students that they are fact-finding, investigating
the elements of the neighborhood so that they can construct a map the
following week. Also, explain that through observation, they can begin
to understand the history of the school's neighborhood. Reinforce compass
directions by noting them as you cross city streets. Looks at the sun
prior to leaving the school and note where it is upon your return. Try
to identify directions in relation to the sun.
-Throughout the tour, ask students to photograph or sketch their observations,
taking notes on locations for future reference. Alternatively, they may
mark the location of the drawn or photographed item on a map.
Specific Tour Items:
-Identify landmarks mentioned in previous discussions.
-Discuss and identify infrastructure elements--drain systems, cable access
boxes, gas and electric lines.
-Talk about what happens under city streets.
-Note architectural details such as gargoyles, stone, decorative woodword,
iron rods, doors, etc. Explain connections of cultural groups to architectural
symbols or details.
-Have students look for objects they have never
seen before and the guess their functions.
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- What is important to you in your school's
neighborhood?
- What is interesting or fun?
- What tells a story?
- What is extraordinarily beautiful or
ugly?
- What happens under city streets?
- What do details of buildings tell us
about who lives in them or who built them?
- Why are landmarks in their current locations?
How might the neighborhood have looked when the landmark was built?
- What is the difference between man-made
environment and the natural environment?
- How was the environment altered to meet
the needs of the human population?
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| 4) Extensions: Invite
students to discuss what was missing form the tour and what types of services
were not available in the neighborhood. Discuss possible explanations. Discuss
possible reasons for the school's site location. Invite the principal to
explain why the site was selected. Interview local proprietors about their
choice of site for a business. |
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Follow-Up:
-Ask students to observe the services and landmarks they pass on their
way to school.
-Have students create map from school to home or related worksheet.
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Site Production / Copyright 2002 Rosenbach Museum and Library