| Teacher Notes | What are Virtual Field Trips? | Benefits of Virtual Field Trips | Introduction |
| The Task | Background Building Activity #1 | Books | Background Activity #2 |
Created by: Cheryl Phillips
This project is designed to help students understand more about The Five Themes of Geography by integrating Virginia's 5 Regions.
During the process, students will investigate their journey, and uncover the unique characteristics of each region. The students will be introduced to some wonderfully entertaining historical fiction to help build background information. The evaluation will come in the form of a PowerPoint Presentation. A PowerPoint Booklet has been attached to assist the students. A background of basic computer skills, including how to navigate on the Internet and word-processing is needed to complete this Design project.Completing this project will take a considerable amount of time. You may do this as a “contract” type project where students work independently and pace themselves, as a center, or as a whole class. You’ll need approximately 4-6 weeks to complete this. Because students work at different paces, you may want to encourage them to set goals and to stick to them. It’s recommended that you guide their progress by implementing a weekly schedule of task accomplishments.
Virtual field trips are elaborate names for Internet accesses to places of interest without actually going there. Virtual tours are beneficial for all ages and all academic disciplines. Virtual tours range from simply accessing information about a place of interest to having live cameras and audio of the site.
Virtual tours allow students to learn about information at the location in a medium that accommodates all three learning styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic), making learning fun and memorable. Virtual tours can be used to:
1. Enable students to visit places of interest.
2. Enable students to access current information and live video.
3. Enable students to create tours of their own for viewing by others by using a PowerPoint presentation.
Virtual field trips are just like regular field trips except
that you don’t get on a bus, pack a lunch, and miss school. You will
design a virtual field trip by using the Internet and PowerPoint to take us
through any region of Virginia!
You have been hired by the Virginia Department of Tourism Travel to promote all
five regions of Virginia in order to attract tourist to travel all over our
state! Your presentation may result in a brochure made by you for children
entering our great state! The catch is you have to journey through Virginia in
the same way Lewis and Clark made their expedition. To make it interesting, you
can even present your project through the eyes of a dog!
You will create a Power Point Presentation to promote each region of Virginia. Remember to organize your information about your regions around the 5 Themes of Geography: Location, Place, Movement, Regions and Human-Environmental Interactions. Your journey will include a scavenger hunt in which you will collect pictures that illustrates a characteristic from each of the 5 themes (from each region). You may collect more than one picture, but don't over do it. A sample picture page has been made available by clicking here. You may not use these pictures. Don't forget to cite your sources for your picture. Your pay for this job will depend on the quality of the presentation.
Keep in mind that the purpose of your Power Point presentation is to create interest in your region so that tourists will be encouraged to visit. As a result your visual presentation should be colorful, attractive and informative.
Read The Five Themes of Geography before you begin these stories. You can choose one from the list below.
Two hundred years ago, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the other members of the Corps of Discovery traveled nearly 4,000 miles from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Not only did they do this on foot, by horse and boat, they also had to do it without accurate maps!
To
familiarize yourself with a journey across many different regions and observe
the five themes of Geography, a good place to begin is with the Lewis and Clark
Expedition. During this first step,
students will investigate Lewis and Clark’s eight thousand mile journey
through the eyes of their faithful companion, Seaman, the 150 pound loyal
Newfoundland that made the entire journey with the Corps of Discovery. You will
be introduced to some wonderfully entertaining historical fiction to help build
background information.
Seaman’s
Journal On the Trail with Lewis and Clark by Patricia Reeder Eubank
You will find this book
extremely helpful with your project. It contains beautiful full-page
paintings that illustrate the animals, plants, and the Native Americans Lewis
and Clark encountered.
Seaman:
The Dog Who Explored the West With Lewis and Clark
by
Gail Langer Karwoski
This is a fun read for kids. It is a fictionalized biography, based on the journals of Lewis, Clark, and other members of the team. The highlight is the introduction of Seaman, a 150-lb, Newfoundland dog. Seaman serves as a key role in the expedition's success. He catches and retrieves game, protects the expedition from wild animals and hostile Indians, and proves a genuine friend.
Dog of Discovery: A Newfoundland's Adventures With Lewis and Clark
by Laurence Pringle
Written for ages 9-12, this book supplements the story with sidebars and maps. Despite many hardships and encounters with grizzly bears, rattlesnakes, and wild rapids, the Corps of Discovery traveled more than 8000 miles and returned triumphantly in the summer of 1806. Among this group was a most unusual member-a Newfoundland dog. As a hunter, retriever, and guard dog, Seaman was a valuable member of the expedition!
5 Themes of Geography
Using
the information from one of these books, break into small groups and answer the
following questions:
Did
the Lewis and Clark Journey rely on absolute or relative location to
navigate? How do you know?
Describe
some of the human and physical characteristics they encountered along their
8,000 mile trek.
What,
if any, differences were there in the relationship the Natives showed to the
land compared to the Lewis and Clark expedition? What can you tell us about
some of the Indian settlements, did the landscape have any influence in
where they placed their homes?
Since we know that we are dealing with Native American how did they rely on movement for their needs? Did they communicate and have good relationships with other tribes? Again, how did movement affect their relationships and communications with others?
It was up to William Clark to create the maps as they traveled through each stream and forest. Check out a virtual field trip on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Can you find any common characteristics that would help you to break their trip up into regions?
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