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Building
a Community from the Ground Up
Jump to... Students gain knowledge of local history,
their natural environment, native cultures, and community planning.
Alternatively, the project could be a year long experience,
or condensed into a "living laboratory" intense 1 - 2 week experience.
2. For younger students (approximately grades 3 - 5), the
teacher can create and photocopy a grid template for the students to use when
making a map of the model. The grid should have five evenly spaced lines in
the long direction (labeled "1" through "5"), and four evenly
spaced lines in the short direction (labeled "A" through "D".) What do you think our area was like before there were any people? Let the class brainstorm. Brainstorming is a shared process that validates multiple ideas. There is no right or wrong answer here. We are going to build our own "land before time". What landforms, water, or other significant features would you like to include in our scene? Let the class brainstorm again. Make a list of the specific suggestions. What animals are here and what do they need? Let the class brainstorm again. Then categorize, prompting students to recognize any
important aspects not covered.
Working as a class, or in student teams, plan the natural environment for the model. Take the following into consideration: 1. Is there a body of water in the environment? Is there a river flowing into the ocean? Is there a lake, pond, marsh or swamp? Where will it be located? 2. What geographical features will be in the model? Are there mountains, hills, valleys, canyons, plateaus, rocky areas, or beaches? Where will they be located? 3. What environmental features will be in the model? Are there forests, woods, fields, or meadows? Where will they be located? 4. Draw and label the plan. 2. Add paper representations of major geographical and environmental features. (Optional: You may choose a wider variety of media, such as clay, recycled objects, etc.) - Add significant landforms (brown or gray paper), such as hills and mountains and secure them to the base with tape or glue. - Add bodies of water (blue paper) appropriate to your area, such as rivers and streams, and secure them to the base with tape or glue. Note: streams and rivers flow off the mountains. 3. On smaller sheets of paper, groups or individuals create environmental 'background'. In the Pacific Northwest, background will be forested areas filled with trees or meadows, and wetlands. These pieces can be placed on the scene after the major landforms and water are down and secured. Having each student or pair create a part of the background is easiest if they have a small piece of similarly colored paper on which to glue trees, etc. (e.g., a 9 inch by 12 inch sheet of construction paper). 4. Lay down the grid for mapping using lengths of string. Label the spaces with index cards, using five sections for the length (labeled "1" through "5") and four sections for the width (labeled "A" through "D"). (For younger groups it works best for the teacher to work with several students on this. 5. Using a photocopy of the grid with numbers "1" through "5" and letters "A" through "D", each student creates a map of the natural features. (For younger students, the teacher can create and photocopy a grid template for the students to use.) Class decides on symbols for map legend and students fill in own map accordingly. A transparency is helpful so the teacher can model-starting with major landforms, then adding water bodies, swamps, etc. 6. Summarize the environment.
Explore dynamic nature. Have them write a descriptive piece answering the question: How does nature change? Define "watershed". To explore watersheds, and the question "Where does water flow?" try the optional activity Crumple Your Own Watershed. Social Studies Geography Math
Art Reading Writing Communicating Planning involves building on best ideas together and reaching
consensus, or at least a way to move forward. Biome - All plants, animals, and other organisms that make up a distinct natural community in any climatic region. The ocean is an example of an aquatic biome, examples of terrestrial biomes include tundra, temperate forest, and grassland. Ecosystem - The interacting system that encompasses a community of organisms and the nonliving physical environment. Dynamic - Active, always changing. Watershed - The whole region or area contributing
to the water supply of a river of lake. View an printable Adobe Acrobat version of this page. If you don't have the easy-to-use Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.
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