A Project Based Learning Activity
Introduction:
Overview
Think about the community to which you belong, such as your school, your neighborhood or your town. Read on page 322 in Adventures in Time and Place about the manor and how it is described as the primary community in the Middle Ages.
Content:
Compelling Ideas
How has the community evolved over time since the Middle Ages? Is the layout of a community reflective of its culture? How does your community compare to that of the Middle Ages? Does it reflect the time period? Does it reflect the culture that you live in? At your age, where would you fit into the medieval community? What do you think communities will look like 1000 years from now?
Activities:
Investigative and Engaging
- Research the layout of manors in medieval times by using primary sources, such as Description of Manor House at Chingford, Essex, 1265. Use resources such as this in addition to your textbook and as many other sources to illustrate a layout of the manors of this time period. Use the webliography as a good starting point for Internet research. On the layout, show those things that you think played an important part in the lives of the people who resided at the manor.
- Research the layout of your town, such as buildings and places using primary sources such as interviews, maps, photos as well as books. Create a layout of your town showing those things that you think play an important part in the lives of the people who live there.
- Post your findings about your town to the I*EARN.KIDSCAN conference for other schools to read.
- Logon to the I*EARN.KIDSCAN conference to learn about other communities in different parts of the world. Compare your community to at least two other communities that are posted. You may select the method in which you present this comparison.
- When you are completed with all your research, pull it all together by planning one presentation for the class. Demonstrate how the community has changed or stayed the same since medieval times. Show how the community has been reflective of the culture of that time. Include how communities of the modern times also are reflective of the people who live there. Predict how communities will look 1000 years from now.
Conditions:
Support Student Autonomy
- Work in groups and assign jobs/roles to each member.
- Make independent investigations using Internet and primary sources.
- Search out primary sources from your own community.
- Logon and contribute to the I*EARN.KIDSCAN conference.
- Create and abide by your group's plan of action.
- Decide as a group what media your project outcomes will be.
Results:
Real-world Outcomes
- Model of the layout of the medieval manor
- Model of the layout of the present day community
- Posting on the I*EARN.KIDSCAN conference
- Report on comparisons of your community to at least two other communities in another part of the world
- Presentation that demonstrates how the community has changed or stayed the same since medieval times, how the community is reflective of the people who live there, and predictions of how communities will look 1000 years from now.
- Peer evaluation of group skills.
- Evaluation rubrics for presented work.
