AFRICAN-AMERICAN BIOGRAPHIES
An
Integrated Unit of Study
By: Sarah Hughlett, David
Wilson, Vi Doty, Adele Hill
Unit Overview:
America, a cultural mosaic. We
are a nation of diverse cultures coming together to create a cohesive whole.
Where would we be without the contributions of the African heritage?
Organizers:
“How have the contributions of African-Americans affected our lives
today?”
Essential Questions:
1.
Who are some African-Americans that have made contributions?
2.
What are the contributions?
3.
How have these people and their contributions made a difference in our lives?
4.
What can I do to make a difference in my community?
Expectations and Demonstrators:
1.5-1.9 Students use mathematical ideas and procedures to
communicate, reason, and solve problems.
- Use
deductive and inductive reasoning to synthesize information related to
problems, making conjectures, exploring, validation, and convincing others.
1.11 Writing
- Establish
and use criteria for effective writing to evaluate own and other’s
writing.
1.16 Students use computers and other types of
technologies
- Integrate
the use of a variety of technologies
2.1 Students
understand scientific ways of thinking and
working and use those methods to solve real-life
problems.
- Formulate
models to illustrate or predict phenomena.
2.20 Students understand, analyze, and interpret historical
events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop
historical perspective.
- Evaluate
the impact of historical factors on the development of current issues.
Supporting Academic Expectations:
1.1 Locating
Sources of Information:
- Use
a variety of telecommunication resources to obtain information on a specific
need or problem.
1.12 Speaking
- Refine
formal presentation for a variety of audiences and purposes.
2.19 Students recognize and understand the relationship
between people and geography and apply their
knowledge in real-life situations.
- Evaluate
the influence of geographical factors in real-life decisions.
Culminating Performance:
At the end of our investigation on this topic, you will
showcase for the school the contributions made by African-Americans through:
1. Character
portraits in the form of a PowerPoint presentation
2. Persuasive
writings about making a difference in the
form of a collection of editorials and news articles.
3. Experiments
based on the ground-work and
theories of African-American scientists.
4. Model
cities based on the contributions
of African-Americans.
5. Video
presentation of a living time-line showcasing the contributions of Ancient
Africans.
Student Skills/Procedures Needed:
- Science
Process Skills-Observing, classifying, measuring, observing, predicting, and
communicating
- Obtaining
and using resources
- Incorporate
media, print, technology and community resources
- Writing
and speaking skills
- Collect
organize and display data
- Draw
conclusions from data
- Synthesize
information from multiple sources.
Content Knowledge:
- Principle
of Bernoulli’s Law
- Newton’s
Laws of gravity and centrifuge
- Drawing
diagram and scale drawings
- Recognizing
and analyzing 3 dimensional figures
- Making
a model
- Basic
knowledge of physical and chemical properties
- Body
systems
- History
of African/Roman interaction
- Persuasive
techniques/defend a position
- PowerPoint
and Videography
- Costume
making and script writing.
Rubric:
|
Demonstrators
|
Scoring
Guide
|
Points
|
|
Mathematical ideas and
procedures
|
- Appropriate
diagram/scale drawing of a model
- Analyzing
placement of components of a model
- Making
the model
|
25
25
50
|
|
Writing
|
- Focused
on a purpose; communicates with an audience; evidence of voice and
suitable tone
- Depth
of idea development supported by relevant details
- Logical,
coherent organization
- Controlled
and varied sentence structure
- Acceptable,
effective language
- Few
errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization relative to length
and complexity of paper.
|
20
20
20
20
10
10 |
|
Use computers and other types of technologies
|
- Use
technology to gather information/bibliography
- Use
of graphics
- Use
of technology skills/PowerPoint and
Video presentation Understand and apply universal laws.
|
50
25
25 |
|
Scientific methods/Consistency/Time over change
|
- Describe
a Scientist’s major contribution.
- Relate
major contributions to society (How used in our lives today)
- Describe
methods scientist used to collect and analyze data
- Discuss
future implications of invention or development (Where do we go from
here? Who cares?)
- Communicate
the life experiences and obstacles this person had to overcome that
sparked their interest and led to their contribution.
|
20
20
20
20
20
|
|
Historical perspectives
|
- Research
via multiple sources of historical data
- Design
and creation of appropriate costume
- Construction
of a timeline
- Writing
a script
- Production
of a video
|
15
15
20
20
30 |
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to Bryan Station Middle School
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