Systems of Transportation and Communication Grade Three

Transcription

1 1 Ohio Standards Connection: Geography Benchmark D Analyze ways that transportation and communication relate to patterns of settlement and economic activity. Indicator 8 Identify systems of transportation used to move people and products and systems of communication used to move ideas from place to place. Lesson Summary: Through small group and whole class activities, the teacher will lead students to identify common systems of transportation that are used to move people and products and to identify systems of communication used to move ideas from place to place. In addition, students will expand their knowledge of other transportation and communication tools that are not common in the local community. The lesson alone is a two-day lesson but you will need additional time for the culminating activity, which is a project that is to be used as the post-assessment. Estimated Duration: Two to three hours Commentary: There are many community resources that can be used to help implement this lesson such as local and state historical societies and museums. Also, technology resources can be used such as the Internet, CD-ROMs, videoconference programs and videos. It is suggested that teachers use a wide variety of resources in planning and implementing this lesson and modify the duration of the lesson as necessary. One teacher who field-tested the lesson commented that the students particularly liked the extension activities. The teacher also suggested that, rather than a two-day lesson, the lesson be implemented over several days using multiple resources so students have enough time to reflect and gain a deep understanding of the information. Another field test participant stated that students enjoyed the post-assessment projects: Students were able to demonstrate what they learned in a creative manner and were thrilled to do so. Pre-Assessment: Whole class activity: Write the words transportation and communication on the board or chart paper. Ask students what the definition of transportation is and record their responses. Then ask the students to define communication and record their responses. 1

2 2 Come to a consensus for the definitions of transportation and communication. Transportation is the movement of people and things from one place to another. Communication is the exchange of any kind of information from one person or place to another. Give each student a blank white paper to make a graphic organizer for taking notes. Tell students to write Transportation on top of one side and fold the paper into thirds vertically. Tell students that we want to categorize the different types of transportation. Ask how we can do that. Assist the students to come up with the categories: land, air, and water. Have the students write these categories, one category in each column as shown below. Transportation Land Air Water Give the students 10 minutes to write down all the related methods of transportation. Have students use a separate sheet of paper, fold it in half, and write Communication at the top. Suggest to the students that there are two main categories of communication, oral and print. Based on your students prior knowledge, discuss what oral and print communications are and supply examples for each category to start the brainstorming activity. Have the students write these categories, one in each column as shown below. Communication Oral Print Give students 10 minutes to brainstorm different communication tools for each category. Collect both sheets for assessment. Scoring Guidelines: Use the pre-assessment to analyze students prior knowledge and to adjust instructional procedures. 2

3 3 Post-Assessment: For the culminating activity have students create a project consisting of two parts: transportation and communication in the 21 st century. The students are to first use graphic organizers to record their information. The graphic organizers can be separate or combined. Several ideas for the project are to create a poster using pictures or other types of illustrations, accordion book, flip book, etc. See Attachment A, Post-Assessment, and adapt it as necessary (e.g., add project ideas or change criteria). Scoring Guidelines: Score the post-assessment using the rubric in Attachment B. The rubric evaluates the project based on the students knowledge of transportation and communication, organization, inclusion of the five categories and creativity (effort). Adapt the rubric as necessary to fit your needs. Instructional Procedures: Instructional Tip: If the concept of centuries/decades has not been taught, you will want to teach this concept before the instructional procedures. Day One - Transportation 1. After reviewing or teaching a lesson about what a century is, explain that transportation and communication have changed tremendously over the centuries. In small groups, have students briefly discuss why transportation and communication have changed over time. Then have students share with the rest of the class their thoughts. Show pictures of historic transportation and communication tools such as: telegraph, pony express, flatboat, etc. Have the students guess in what century or decade those tools were used. 2. Review the definition of transportation. As a class, discuss why modern transportation is important. Record the students responses on chart paper or on the overhead. Some responses could be that modern transportation makes it possible to: Move things in a shorter amount of time; Take people where they want to go (farther and quicker); Travel farther more easily; Allows for trading with other countries and states; Make connections all the way around the world. 3. Review the different categories of transportation as discussed in the pre-assessment: land, water and air. Write the categories on chart paper that has been divided into three columns, one category in each column. 4. Divide the class into groups of three to five students. Have each group select one member to record the group s responses. Give one large sheet of paper and a marker to each group. Have one person in each group fold the paper into thirds and write land, air and water, one in each column. Tell the class that each group will have 10 minutes to brainstorm and record the types of transportation that they see today (21 st century) in the proper category. 3

4 4 5. As a whole class, have the students share their answers as you record their responses on the chart paper. 6. After sharing, guide the students to think of another way to describe the land transportation category list further (i.e., engine-powered or without an engine). Depending on the size of the list, do this activity as a whole class or in the original small groups. Use a colored marker and circle the different vehicles listed on the chart that have engines. 7. To extend students knowledge, tell the students that the use of certain types of transportation could depend on several factors, such as, where people live (geography), the economy, religious beliefs (i.e., the Amish community), the seasons of the year, etc. Have a whole class informal discussion on these ideas. 8. To understand the idea of how geography, economy, religion and climate can effect how people and things travel, show students a world map and have pictures of different locations around the world that use different modes of transportation. For example: Alaska dogsled; Northeastern Ohio/Amish Country horse and buggy; Switzerland cross country skiing; China bicycle; Thailand elephant; Venice gondola, boats; New York City subway; Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan snowmobile; Cities by major rivers (i.e., Ohio River, Mississippi River) riverboats, barges. Day Two - Communication 9. Review the definition of communication. (Communication is the exchange of any kind of information from one person or place to another.) As a class, discuss why communication is important. Record the students responses on chart paper or on the overhead. Some responses could be: To share ideas and feelings; To interact with other people, such as, families and friends; To inform or persuade others, such as, the weather report; To entertain. 10. Review the categories used in the pre-assessment for oral and print communication. Write the categories in two columns on chart paper or on an overhead transparency. 11. Divide the class into the same groups of three to five students. Have each group select a student to record the group s responses. Give one large sheet of paper and a marker to each group. Have one person in each group fold the paper to make two columns. Give one column the heading Oral Communication and give the other column the heading Print Communication. Tell the class that each group will have 10 minutes to brainstorm and record the types of communication that they see today (21 st century) in the proper category. 4

5 5 12. As a whole class, have the groups share their responses as you record their answers on your chart. Some possible responses could be: Oral Print Radio Magazines Telephone Newspapers Talking Books Cell phones Postcards Computers Maps Videotapes Labels Sign language (visual) Signs Music Letters Plays/theatre Journals/diaries Fax Computers: word processing, , instant messaging 13. Have students discuss which types of transportation and communication are used in their local community. Record student responses on chart paper and compare the community chart to the other charts they ve made. Have students compare and discuss the charts. 14. Discuss the post-assessment research project and the rubric with the students. Modify either or both according to the needs of your students. When completed, have students present and display their projects. Differentiated Instructional Support: Instruction is differentiated according to learner needs to help all learners either meet the intent of the specified indicator(s) or, if the indicator is already met, to advance beyond the specified indicator(s). Have students work independently, in pairs or small groups to complete the postassessment project. Have students who are working beyond the indicator research the different systems of transportation and/or communication in their local community. Challenge students to research an invention of a transportation or communication tool of their interest. Extensions: Have students create and implement a survey using a topic related to transportation or communication. For example, what are people s favorite ways of traveling when going on vacation? Use the results to create a graph or multiple types of graphs. Have students share and display the graphs. Have the class create a bulletin board about the different types of transportation and/or communication studied. 5

6 6 Have students play charades or some other kinesthetic game to practice recognizing transportation/communication tools. Have students write a letter to a legislative leader on the advantages or disadvantages of using a rail system. Have students write a report explaining why we use some systems of transportation and/or communication more than other systems. Have students research the pros and cons of public transportation. Homework Options and Home Connections: Have students work with family members to make a log of the different forms of transportation and communication they have used. Have students visit the public library to obtain books and/or videos to use for gathering information for their project. Interdisciplinary Connections: English Language Arts: Reading Applications: Informational Text Benchmark D: Use visual aids as sources to gain additional information from text. Indicator 4: Draw conclusions from information in maps, charts, graphs and diagrams. Writing Process Benchmark C: Apply knowledge of graphic or other organizers to clarify ideas of writing assessments. Indicator 4: Use organizational strategies (e.g., brainstorming, lists, webs and Venn diagrams) to plan writing. Writing Applications Benchmark D: Write informational reports than include facts, details and examples that illustrate an important idea. Indicator 4: Write informational reports that include the main ideas and significant details from the text. Research Benchmark B: Select and summarize important information and sort key findings into categories about a topic. Indicator 5: Sort relevant information into categories about the topic. Communication Benchmark A: Demonstrate active listening strategies by asking clarifying questions and responding to questions with appropriate elaboration. Indicator 1: Ask questions for clarification and explanation, and respond to others ideas. Benchmark B: Respond to presentations and media messages by stating the purpose and summarizing main ideas. Indicator 2: Identify the main idea, supporting details and purpose of oral presentations and visual media. 6

7 7 Materials and Resources: The inclusion of a specific resource in any lesson formulated by the Ohio Department of Education should not be interpreted as an endorsement of that particular resource, or any of its contents, by the Ohio Department of Education. The Ohio Department of Education does not endorse any particular resource. The Web addresses listed are for a given site s main page, therefore, it may be necessary to search within that site to find the specific information required for a given lesson. Please note that information published on the Internet changes over time, therefore the links provided may no longer contain the specific information related to a given lesson. Teachers are advised to preview all sites before using them with students. For the teacher: Pictures and/or artifacts of different types of transportation and different tools for communication, chart paper or overhead transparencies, large white pieces of paper, markers, maps (local, state, U.S., world), art materials, magazines, newspapers, store flyers, research resources (Internet-based, nonfiction). For the students: Pencils, art materials, computer and Internet access, research resources. Vocabulary: communication transportation vehicle product engine oral print 21 st century public transportation Technology Connections: Use an overhead projector to record students responses and to create charts. Use the Internet as a resource to find pictures of different modes of transportation. Use graphic organizer software in order to make organizers for students to display ideas and basic concepts. Use videos and CD-ROMS related to transportation and/or communication to extend the lesson concepts. Research Connections: Marzano, R. et al. Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,

8 8 Summarizing and note taking are two of the most powerful skills to help students identify and understand the most important aspects of what they are learning. Nonlinguistic representations help students think about and recall knowledge. This includes the following: Creating graphic representations (organizers); Making physical models; Generating mental pictures; Drawing pictures and pictographs; Engaging in kinesthetic activity. General Tips: Showing pictures or artifacts of various modes of transportation and communication during the lessons will help the students identify many systems of transportation that are not usually seen in their local community or state. Materials can be obtained from trade books, reference books, and Web sites. Before beginning this lesson check Web sites for ideas of other types of transportation that are not seen everyday. Local and state historical societies and museums may have resources that are appropriate for this lesson. Some museums and historical societies have guest speakers who can bring artifacts to share with students. Use literature with the students to help them explore and experience systems of transportation and communications of the past. Attachments: Attachment A, Post-Assessment Attachment B, Post-Assessment Rubric 8

9 9 Attachment A Post-Assessment Systems of Transportation and Communication Name Show what you have learned about transportation and communication in the 21 st century. You can also share what you have learned with others. Use your creativity and imagination. Choose one of these two ways to do this project. You may create one project that will cover both communication and transportation. You may create one project for communication and one project for transportation. Some ideas that you could use are: Flip book Accordion book Scrapbook Theme quilt Poster with pictures Make sure that your project: a. Shows what you know about transportation and communication today. b. Is very neat and organized. c. Includes all categories. Transportation: air, water, land Communication: oral, print The project will be due. 9

10 10 Attachment B Post-Assessment Rubric Systems of Transportation and Communication Name Project shows thorough knowledge of transportation and communication. Project shows clear knowledge of transportation and communication. Project shows very little knowledge of transportation an/or communication. Project is very neat and organized. Project is somewhat neat and organized. Project is not organized. Project includes all five categories. Project includes three to four categories. Project includes less than three categories. 10