A Sense of Place

Bryn Mawr Science Institute Project

Deb HazenJuly 2006

It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curious of inquiry. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

What good questions

did youask

in schooltoday?

Our Questions for the Year

• Who am I?

• Where am I?

• How does where I am (time and location) influence who I am and how I see the world?

Prior Learning

• Who am I?

• What is Culture?

• Our Watershed

• Thoreau/Finding Walden

Getting Started

• You and your partner need one answer sheet. • Decide who will operate the mouse and who will

record answers.• Look at the 18 slides. Identify the location and

be as specific as you can.

The first one is done for you!

– There are some challenge photos in the collection—these are photos of Lansdowne locations in the past. Can you guess where these photos were taken?

Example

Example Answers(They all work! Use one or all to identify the location.

Be as specific as you can.)

Name it---Lansdowne Friends MeetingGive me an address—110 N. Lansdowne

Avenue, Lansdowne, PAGet me there---From the intersection of

Baltimore Pike and Lansdowne Avenue travel north on Lansdowne Avenue until you get to Stewart Avenue

Give me a hint---It’s sort of across the street from the Wawa on Lansdowne Avenue

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8

Photo 9

Photo 10

Photo 11—Okay, it isn’t really a photo,

but can you tell me what it is?

Photo 12

Photo 13

Photo 14

Photo 15

Photo 16

Photo 17

1. Turn in your answer sheet.

2. High five your partner…for the next part of this assignment you are flying solo.

3. Click to move to the next slide and receive your instructions.

• Pick up a large sheet of paper and a set of colored pencils.

• Working alone, draw a map of Lansdowne from YOUR memory.

– Place the school at the center of your map– Include as much detail as you can– Don’t forget all of those things Ogg likes to see on

maps

Next Step

Walking to the Ends of Lansdowne

Walking to the Ends of Lansdowne Activities

• Find the locations from the photos• Notice what you notice• Field journals• Soundscape recordings• Sketching• Photography• Modify personal maps

Create a Class Map

• Using the observations from Walking to the Ends of Lansdowne students will create a large, class map of the borough

Comparing Maps

• Post class generated map, topographical maps, and political and historical maps of various scales

• Discuss the nature of maps – How are they different?– What do they tell us?– Which are better?– Who would use which map?Leave the maps up throughout the next activity.

Where in the cosmos is Lansdowne, PA?

• Use the following web resources to place Lansdowne in the cosmos:– Where is M13?– A logarithmic map of the universe– Power of 10

Continue a discussion of scale and how we identify our place. Introduce the concept of time as well as physical location when identifying place.

Small Group ProjectsEarlier in the year we studied our watershed and it will be important for students to recall what they

learned about the environment and geography of the region as they investigate the human stories associated with Lansdowne.

– Group One: A story about Lansdowne before incorporation – Group Two: A story about Lansdowne after incorporation– Group Three: A story about Lansdowne Friends Meeting– Group Four: A story about the founding of Lansdowne Friends School

Students will not complete exhaustive histories; group interest and time will limit scope and ensure that there are many more questions remaining to answer at the end of this project.

Students will use local historical society, web resources, National Archives, Swarthmore Quaker Archive, Meeting members, Simpson Garden residents…

Culmination: Potluck dinner to share discoveries with the school community

Individual Projects

Students will be encouraged to add a personal page to the story of our town and/or school.

• My story in Lansdowne• My relationship to the school

– Oral history (students will take each others’)– Photos– Stories– Impact of having been here and now

Culmination: Sharing our stories

Next Steps

We complete this unit of study at the end of April. During the month of May, students focus on independent projects.

Past projects: Finding my Walden, jewelry design for charity, What do plants need to thrive?, biographies, planning a trip to _____, kayak design and use, inventions, sport’s histories, How does ______work?, skateboarding, video production...

Projects grow out of individual student interest and are often sparked by something that we touched on in class but did not get a chance to explore in depth. There will be much in this unit on place that could spark independent project ideas (ex.: microwaves).

Long Term Goals

A web based record of the stories of our school and town. New stories to be added each year

A web based observation diary that places the school in relation to our watershed and reports both student observations and interactions with this ecological region. This might include data collection about weather, student decision to make manual weeding a service project rather than using herbicides on the property, progress in achieving Project Green certification, water testing, Marlyn Park surveys, bird migration records…

OutcomesStudents will gain insight into:

• The interaction between human agents and the environment;• Their place both physically and historically.

Students will have opportunities to strengthen the following skills:

• Critical thinking; • Observation –both qualitative and quantitative;• Story telling; • Sustained, self generated inquiry.

The learning community will model student/teacher co-learning.