"One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I would never see it again?"" - Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Place has such a powerful connection to all living things living within it. Sometime in education the focus is on other places in the world that are far more glamorous, exciting, and interesting than our own backyards. Having a sense of place is truly an important connection for students to make. Students tend to be interested in far away place and have not yet explored there own unique place in which they live. If students could just be given the time to look a little more closely at his or her same old surroundings, he or she would find that there is always something new to discover, and that our own backyards are in fact pretty interesting places that have rich history .
Question:
How does place shape who you are and who you will be in the future?
Unit Description:
Students will travel through 14 lessons that will help expand their ideas about “place”. Students will look at what is “place” by mapping and identifying special places at home, the school, and the local community of Victor. Students will learn about how the valley was formed and how geology plays a roll in that, what a watershed is and how it is important to “place”, what native cultures help shape this place, what historically developed the place we know today, what wildlife lives here in our “place”, what plants help shape the landscape of our “place”, what recreation shapes our “place”, and what jobs depend on the landscape of our “place”. Students will design a book that relates all that is learned about our “place”. The book will be shared with new incoming students and staff who are new to the Bitterroot Valley. Students will then work as a team to design a Community Service Learning Project that they feel would be beneficial to our “place”.
Goals:
Students will be able create and informational book that shows how place shapes an individual now and who he or she will be in the future. Students will become better scientists this school year by understanding his or her “place”. Students will become more connected to the natural world and how that world can be brought into the community in a positive way.
Objectives:
- Provide students with the awareness, appreciation, understanding, skills, and commitment to address local issues.
- Inspire and empower students to become responsible, productive, and participatory members of society.
- To increase students understanding of our complex environment within the Bitterroot Valley.
Subjects Addressed: Please see each lesson for specific standards covered. Social Studies, Science, IEFA, Communication Arts, Math
Service Learning Project:
Students will learn what service learning projects are. Students will design the service learning project. The project will be based on a way to improve our place here in the Bitterroot Valley. Students will review all the different aspects of our place. Students will then examine ideas that will improve our place. Once students have agreed upon a project, students will contact all agencies and groups needed to help bring the project to life. The class will report all steps in the process on our classroom blog or create a Facebook page for the cause. I believe that students need to create the project in order to have full buy-in and interest in the project. In the real-world people create and bring ideas to life everyday.
Place Unit: Please view the link for lesson plans.
