Human activity has profoundly altered the deciduous forest of the eastern United States. Modern forest is a patchwork of stands of varying ages, sizes, and shapes reflecting a complex history of land use. Much modern forest is nestled in and around human communities, and faces the threat of imminent clearance for residential and commercial…

Recounts the experience of analyzing Maya Angelou's poem "Harlem Hopscotch" and how it helped students see the extended metaphor and the parallels to life experiences. (MS)

This document describes how to construct and compare choropleth maps for selected Iowa communities and the construction and use of scatter diagrams as a supplement to map comparisons. These tools can be used to compare social, economic, and political variations between neighborhoods and to determine if associations exist between selected…

Strategies to strengthen elementary students' perceptions of the past are discussed. These include conducting a personal home furnishings inventory, creating a "then" and "now" class museum, planning an "old objects" with "new uses" survey, organizing a grandpa's garage and granny's attic day, and conducting a neighborhood architectural treasure…

This user guide is part of a multimedia unit using an interdisciplinary approach with hands-on learning to motivate children to participate actively in their schools and local communities, and to experience the democratic process. This unit focuses on the concept of how people living in different neighborhoods and communities work together. Unit…

This resource file contains information for Utah primary school teachers to help their students meet the state's instructional objectives in the social studies. At the primary student level the emphasis is on home, school, and neighborhood. The following disciplines are covered in the resource file: psychology, anthropology, sociology, geography,…

This resource file contains information for Utah elementary school teachers to help their level 1 students meet the state's instructional objectives in the social studies. This particular student level emphasizes the home, school, and neighborhood. The following disciplines are covered in the resource file: psychology, anthropology, sociology,…

Because of concern about the preservation of the historic character of Stamford (Connecticut), children in a pilot program at an elementary school learned about neighborhood history, sketched houses, researched houses which had been torn down and drew and constructed replicas of them, and learned about renovation and period interior design. (IS)

This simulation allows students to role play workers and consumers in businesses they create. Students become involved in learning about communities by taking study trips within their real community and by reading literature related to neighborhoods and communities. Through the simulation, daily activities are introduced to students as daily…

Description of a writing project for sixth graders includes hearing excerpts read from Brent Staples' memoirs, then creating their own multimedia memoirs drawn from their life experiences. Project topics include observing the decay of a neighborhood or death of a relative or neighbor. A list of 17 memoirs written by ethnic minorities for use with…

This guide contains units of study for use in K-2 social studies classes. Included in the introductory section is a statement concerning the Wichita school district's social studies philosophy; an overall scope and sequence of the elementary social studies curriculum; a scope and sequence for the guide; a listing of map, globe, and knowledge…

A neighborhood vacant lot can be a vehicle for teaching children about architecture and community planning. A Portland, Oregon, teacher explains how studying the lot can involve exploring neighborhood history, gathering data on local needs, and designing an appropriate building. (PP)

Designed as a resource for teachers and parents, this guide contains activities to help children from 2 to 8 years old learn from neighborhood walks and field trips. Information is presented on: field trips as an approach to learning, learning processes of children, and techniques to make trips meaningful. Teaching material for each trip includes…

The social studies curriculum for kindergarten in Manitoba, Canada is presented in this guide. The focus of this guide is exploring my world. Some objectives are to explore: (1) the many facets of self; (2) the characteristics, competencies, experiences, and attitudes that kindergartners have in common with others; and (3) the ways they and others…

Describes the "Neighborhood Walking Tour" project in which gifted sixth graders worked with college students in Duluth, Minnesota to compile histories of buildings located in their neighborhoods. Evaluation results show that the project results in a greater awareness of appropriate sources for the collection of various types of data. (RM)