Lesson Nine - Resource Search
Description
Students formulate questions for research, and then locate, assess, and list relevant resources for use in Lesson 10 as well as the research component of the culminating task.
Expectations
- identify and compare the ways in which people in various early civilizations met their physical and social needs, including how they interacted with and used the natural environment;
- use a variety of resources and tools to investigate characteristics of a number of early civilizations, including their significant innovations and technological advances;
- show how innovations made by various early civilizations have influenced the modern world.
– compare maps of early civilizations with modern maps of the same area;
– use knowledge of map-making techniques and conventions to map sites of early civilizations (e.g., grids and direction symbols to show locations; colour and shading to show elevations/physical features);
Teaching / Learning
Discussion:
1. Discuss aspects of present-day life that would show people in the future relevant information about our civilization. Record student ideas on chart paper.
2. Through further discussion, have students classify their ideas, then identify those categories that are most relevant to our study of ancient civilizations. The idea summarized by these topics should be the interconnectedness of each aspect of life.
Inquiry:
3. Introduce the list of verbs from Bloom's taxonomy by showing them to the class on the overhead projector. Tell students that these words are a great tool to use when creating thought-provoking questionsfor research.
4. Have students work in their museum groups to formulate six focusing research questions with the help of the Bloom's taxonomy verbs. These questions should be in-depth questions which address all of the overall expectations regarding the environment, technology, and the impact of the museum civilization on modern day. Students write these questions on a halved piece of chart paper.
5. Post the group's questions for students to refer to throughout their research.
Lecture:
6. Introduce students to the location of a variety of sources of information on ancient civilizations, identifying the types of resources and the pros and cons of each.
7. Model how to evaluate the appropriateness of the material and how to determine its usefulness without reading the entire resource.
8. In addition, ask the teacher-librarian (if possible) to discuss how to find the information needed to fill out the “Resource Sheet” correctly.
Research:
9. Give each member of each ancient civilization museum group a copy of “Resource Sheet."
10. Students find four appropriate sources of information and record them on their sheet. Tell group members that they each evaluate four different resources that may contain information pertaining to their research topic.
11. Students then file the sheets in their group’s folder for reference during the research periods before the culminating task.
Assessment
- use anecdotal notes to record observations of the recommendation sheets available to students. Look for accuracy and clarity of the student's explanation of their choice.
- Throughout the student work periods for this project, use the Group Work Obersavtions Checklist at regular intervals to assess student work group work behaviours, and anecdotal nots to asses how well students are handling the research and inquiry process and connecting big ideas.
Assessment Strategies
- Observation
Assessment Recording Devices
- Anecdotal Record
Resources
Resource Sheet
Bloom's Taxonomy Words
chart paper
Notes to Teacher
Students require the skills taught and information collected in this lesson in order to complete their research for the culminating task.
Book time in the Library/Resource Centre for this activity. If possible ask the teacher/librarian to work with you on this lesson. S/he will have a great deal of expertise to share in the area of research skills and students will enjoy being taught by an "expert". If you do not have a Library/Resource Centre, make sure you have enough sources of information available for the
students to succeed at their investigations.
Talk to students about the various types of materials available for research. Limiting the materials will help with the process of collecting information. It is suggested that you use books (found in the nonfiction section of the resource room) that have a table of contents, index and glossary; encyclopedias (with indexes, ancient civilizations listed, subtopic sections within civilizations); web sites (know who created the site, government sites are preferable, organizations such as National Geographic or the Smithsonian Institute are good); atlases (which include indexes, various forms of maps [i.e.. landforms, climate]); and CD-ROMs (which have search engines, pictures and text, and are published by reputable companies). Be familiar with board policies about copyright and use of the Internet, and followed the required procedures.
