Introduction
As Mrs. Sonderman's letter indicates, the Franklin County Historical Society is looking for student investigators to research our areacomparing the way it is now with what Lewis and Clark found. Three elementary schools are participating: Amistad, Canyon View and Southgate.
Amistad's task is to research the "THEN" partthe Lewis and Clark expeditionfor the museum. The fourth grade class will research the trip west in October 1805 while the fifth grade will research the trip east in April 1806. We will combine results for our final presentations.
We will be collaborating with students at Canyon View and Southgate who are collecting data on plants and animals in our area for the "NOW" part.
Getting Started
To complete this assignment we will be forming research groups. Let's define a shrub steppe habitat. What makes our area different from the rest of the state?
Now that we know what makes this area a shrub steppe habitat, let's review the following:
- What is our main research question? Can we list other questions related to the main question?
- What do we already know? What do we need to find out?
- Where can we find resources?
- Are there experts with whom we could correspond?
- Does Pacific Northwest Lab have data we could use?
- How will we keep track of our work?
- What is our final product?
- What research groups should we form? Check out these possibilities.
Presentation
- The Historical Society has asked us to create a Website. Groups will share their research results including a list of URLs with short descriptions. What information will be appropriate for the Website? We may get some ideas from other student-created WebsitesWetlands in Dangerand Simply Prairie.
- Guidelines for creating Webpages.
- A KidPix or Hyperstudio slide show will also be part of your final research group's presentation.