Approximate Timeline: Spring 2003 (2 weeks)

Organizers:

What implication does the period of Western expansion (Louisiana Purchase to Civil War) have for discovering how this nation was formed, how we define ourselves today, and our vision for the future?

Targeted Standards and Demonstrators:

1.1 Students use reference tools such as dictionaries, almanacs, encyclopedias, and computer reference programs and research tools such as interviews and surveys to find the information they need to meet specific demands, explore interests, or solve specific problems.

• Analyze and compare information accessed from different sources.

1.2 Students make sense of the variety of materials they read.

• Interpret reading using different modes of presentation.
• Analyze appropriate print materials for a variety of purposes.

1.10 Students organize information through development and use of classification rules and systems.

• Apply a classification system based upon multiple criteria to organize objects, information, and/or ideas.

1.11 Students write using appropriate forms, conventions, and styles to communicate ideas and information to different audiences for different purposes.

• Enhance ideas that stimulate language expression and form (e.g., cluster, discuss, question, read).
• Refine writing as a learning tool.

1.16 Students use computers and other kinds of technology to collect, organize, and communicate information and ideas.

• Analyze relationships/patterns to draw inferences using technology.
• Expand knowledge by identifying and using technology for a specific purpose.

2.2 Students identify, analyze, and use patterns such as cycles and trends to understand past and present events and predict possible future events.

• Analyze collected data to discover patterns and predict outcomes.
• Investigate the relationships and interactions of two or more patterns.

2.10 Students understand measurement concepts and use measurements appropriately and accurately.

• Extend the concepts of length, area, volume, mass, weight, capacity, time, angle, perimeter, money, circumference, and temperature using measurement tools and models.

2.13 Students understand and appropriately use statistics and probability.

• Make predictions and evaluate conclusions based on statistical analysis.

2.16 Students observe, analyze, and interpret human behaviors, social groupings, and institutions to better understand people and the relationships among individuals and among groups.

• Examine the consequences of prejudice and discrimination (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity) on social systems.
• Analyze the impact of social institutions (e.g., religious, educational, occupational, and political systems) in society.

2.19 Students recognize and understand the relationship between people and geography and apply their knowledge in real-life situations.

• Analyze geographic characteristics (e.g., landforms, waterways, climate, and natural resources) to explain human/regional relationships.

2.20 Students understand, analyze, and interpret historical events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop historical perspective.

• Examine the interpretive nature of historical accounts.
• Evaluate the impact of historical factors on the development of current issues.

2.25 In the products they make and the performances they present, students show that they understand how time, place, and society influence the arts and humanities such as languages, literature, and history.

• Assess the contributions of various cultures to the expression of various art forms.

3.4 Students demonstrate the ability to be resourceful and creative.

5.3 Students organize information to develop or change their understanding of a concept.

• Gather information from multiple sources to derive meaning.

6.1 Students connect knowledge and experiences from different subject areas.

• Determine the relationship among learning strategies, processes, experiences, and/or knowledge across various subject areas.

6.3 Students expand their understanding of existing knowledge by making connections with new knowledge, skills, and experiences.

• Discover relationships among existing knowledge and new ideas, objects, and actions.

Essential Questions:

Why did people move west?

What technology helped people survive and succeed, and how did this technology evolve to where we are today?

What social/cultural influences and customs followed them into the West?

How did this movement affect how they interacted with each other, their environment, and others?

How did what happened during Western expansion influence American society/culture today?

Culminating Performance:

Have the students construct an exhibit which displays the contribution of the core content classes, viewable by other students and classes, including:

Electronic display (continuous PowerPoint) of inventions' and inventors' impact on society and culture today, including:

->Biographical information,

->Technical information,

->Impact

->Effects of inventions on today

->Future evolution/uses.

Writing examples using compare and contrast with the present.

Graphs and tables comparing data (immigration, population, miles of track, etc.) with today, demonstrations of an application of the Pythagorean theorem.

Level 4:

For PowerPoint:

Student will complete 90% of all assigned tasks.

Writing: [holistic scoring guide]

Graphs/Tables/Demonstration: Execution displays an accurate and complete understanding of the underlying theory and tools, and is able to project into the present.

 

Level 3:

For PowerPoint:

Student will complete 75% of all assigned tasks.

Writing: [holistic scoring guide]

Graphs/Tables/Demonstration: Execution displays a generally accurate understanding of the underlying theory and tools, and is able to display some insight into project into the present.

 

Level 2:

For PowerPoint:

Student will complete 60% of all assigned tasks.

Writing: [holistic scoring guide]

Graphs/Tables/Demonstration: Execution displays some understanding of the underlying theory and tools, and is able to display some insight into the present.

 

Level 1:

For PowerPoint:

Student will complete 50% of all assigned tasks.

Writing: [holistic scoring guide]

Graphs/Tables/Demonstration: Execution displays minimal understanding of the underlying theory and tools.

 

Knowledge:

Social Studies:

Must know geographical expansion, social/cultural expansion into the west, effects on native populations and environment, connections to modern day, political and social issues tied to technology, and personal/community needs.

Science:

Understanding of ecosystems and the impact of technology on them, time zones and transportation, navigation means and tools.

Math:

Determine and apply the Pythagorean theorem.

Collect, compile, interpret, compare, and display data to analyze, interpret, and support real life situations.

Language Arts:

Must know the lifestyle, homes, food, school, religion, authors of the time

Skills/Abilities:

Social Studies:

Ability to construct a PowerPoint presentation, research using the Internet and reference materials, read and create a map and key, and make connections to present day.

Science:

(See SS), understanding the necessity of time zones, navigation tools.

Language Arts:

Must read materials, must complete cause/effect or compare/contrast essays using correct format.

Math:

Must be able to use spreadsheets to perform calculations, and display results graphically; Using graphing calculators to enter data in a list, find measures of central tendency, collect, analyze, and represent data.

Critical Resources:

Access to computer lab with a complete installation of Microsoft productivity applications and Internet access, floppy disks with plastic doors, library, display capability in the showcase (including digital display, display boards or other materials), large quantity of soft drinks, access to graphing calculators, photocopy capabilities.

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