| Materials Needed: Explore Geography
Picture Dictionary (one per student or student group), and Explore
the Ancient World Activity Sheet : "Then and Now" |
| Teacher Directions: Show old photographs
or drawings of your school and the immediate neighborhood around the
school. Ask students if they can identify the place. |
| Organize the class into small groups. Tell students they will be
taking a walking tour of the neighborhood around the school to compare
the way it looked in the photographs with the way it looks now, and
to determine how humans have affected the environment. Ask one group
to look for the types of buildings (e.g., residential or commercial),
and streets (e.g., country lanes, highways) surrounding the school.
Ask another group to estimate the population by counting the houses
around the school. Ask a third group to take note of the types of
vegetation around the school. |
| When students return to the classroom, show the old photographs
again, and lead the class in a discussion of how humans have affected
the neighborhood of the school. Hand out Explore the Ancient World
Activity Sheet: "Then and Now." Read over the instructions with students
and make sure they understand what they are to do. |
 |
Make it Easier: Have
students draw pictures to illustrate the way the school and neighborhood
look now, rather than write a paragraph. |
 |
Make it Quicker: Show
modern photographs of the neighborhood, instead of taking a walking
tour. |
 |
Make it More Fun:
Invite a senior citizen to visit the classroom to describe what the
area around the school looked like many years ago. |
 |
Make it More Challenging:
Have students do independent research to find out what the neighborhood
was like in years gone by. Have students present their findings to
the class. |
