Using Multiple Sources to Examine Important Changes in Metropolitan Communities

In modern social studies learning, we use topics to expose students to broader concepts. In the past, the topic was most important....today, helping students to see how a topic connects to a concept is critical. When students are able to make this conceptual connection, they're able to see the bigger picture.

In my school district, 3rd graders are engaged in a unit where they explore change over time in the Denver Metro area. Conceptually, we are hopeful that students begin to understand that all places change over time for a variety of reasons. The unit has a goal that states students will understand that people, events, and developments influence change to metropolitan regions (and its communities) over time. To help students uncover this understanding, best practice instruction encourages teachers to embrace inquiry and possibly provide some essential questions to discuss within our learning. Essential questions might include:

• How has Metropolitan Denver changed over time? How has Metropolitan Denver stayed the same over time? Why does a city stay the same AND change over time?
• What are "important" changes that we might want to see within Metropolitan Denver? What is an "important" change within a community?
• How do members of government, leaders, and citizens support the development of Metropolitan Denver (and communities within this region)?

As social scientists, we want students to engage with resources that allow them to construct learning. One way to explore this learning is to gather resources related to one type of change that has taken place. As students engage with various sources, we want them to apply critical thinking skills. Learning targets might include skill statements such as:

• Students will be able to identify the big ideas and supporting details communicated within a source (teachers from the old days call this "taking notes").
• Students will be able to ask questions when reading sources (including charts, maps, graphs, and infographics).
• Students will be able to identify how people influence or help with "important" changes.
• Students will be able to use evidence from sources to explain if a change is "important."
• Students will be able to use chronology and compare the past to the present when describing how a Metropolitan area changes over time.

Knowing these goals, we might select a set of sources based on any example of important change. Here are some "important" changes that have taken place in the Denver Metro Area and sources that can be used to help students construct their understanding of the change.

• The Denver B-Cycle program was implemented in the Denver Metro area with the influence of citizens and government officials. 
• Source: Infographic on Biking and Health
• Source: Denver B-Cycle Video
• Source: Article from LiveWell Colorado about the B-Cycle Program
• Source: List of Benefits with Bike Sharing
• Source: Pictures of Denver Bike Sharing
• Source: PDF folding map of Bike Sharing Locations
• Source: Chart - Bike Sharing Takes Off Around the World
• Transformation of the South Platte River was done with citizens and government working together. 
• Source: Article with Pictures
• Source: PDF of the partnership with the nation's Urban Waters Federal Partnership
• Source: Pamphlet from Arapahoe County about the project
• Source: Article from the Denver Post (2010)
• Source: History of the South Platte River
• Source: YouTube video "The South Platte Needs Your Help" (5:30)

Once students have examined a type of change, they might...

• identify additional changes that would benefit a metropolitan region
• identify other examples of change within a metropolitan region
• describe how they (as citizens) can influence change within a metropolitan region

Geography: Students Identifying Opportunities and Constraints in a Place

When geographers look at the big idea of human and physical interaction, they consider 1) how the physical landscape impacts people or 2) how people leave their mark on the physical landscape. To skillfully apply more discrete thinking to the concept of human and physical interaction, students apply the skill of identifying how the local geography provides opportunities and/or places constraints on people. This skill appears in various ways throughout a student's education from preschool through 12th grade and this thinking is part of the national geography standards. (Geography Standard 15: How Physical Systems Affect Human Systems)

To monitor student achievement of this goal, we have to consider what this thinking looks like before we can start to answer the question, "What students artifact would reveal that the student is able to apply this type of thinking?"

What is "Opportunity" in a Particular Place?: Opportunities exist in situations where something can be done.  The national geography standards help teachers to break down this idea.

1. Opportunity exists when characteristics of the physical environment enable people to thrive and prosper. Some characteristics to consider include climate, water, plants, animals, or landforms. 
• How might different aspects of the climate in this location create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper in this place?
• How might the availability (or location) and abundance of water in this location create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
• How might the plants in this place create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
• How might the animals in this place create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
• How might landforms in this place create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
2. Opportunity exists when a place offers activities for people because of the physical environment.
3. Opportunity exists when communities of people can take advantage of the physical environment.
• How might a community harness the water supply in this place?
• How might a community harness the soil to create farming or gardens in this place? What crops might grow effectively?
• How might a community develop recreational activities in this place?

What is a "Constraint" in a Particular Place?: Constraints exist in situations where people are limited or restricted in some way. The national geography standards help teachers to break down this idea.

1. Constraints exist when landforms within a physical environment limits human activities. Sometimes features such as mountains, forests, deserts, the slope of hills, or flood plains limit people. These might limit the growth of agriculture, human settlement, or the ability to develop transportation systems.  
• How might different landforms limit what people can do in this place?
• How might the construction of shelter be limited by the landforms or the physical features in this place?
2. Constraints exist when the climate limits human activities. All climates limit people in some ways, including cold/polar climates, rainy climates, dry climates, or equatorial climates.
• How do facets of climate limit people in this place?
3. Constraints exist when people must adapt their transportation routes due to the physical environment.
4. Constraints exist when environmental hazards are common in a location and those hazards limit people. For example, some locations have many tornadoes, earthquakes, sand storms, hurricanes.
• How do naturally occurring weather conditions limit people in this place?
• How do the behaviors of people change in response to environmental hazards?

What is "Adaptation" connected to Opportunities and Constraints in a Particular Place?: When people adapt to the conditions of a local physical environment, they are taking a "constraint" and turning it into an "opportunity." Kids might think of the phrase, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." 

What artifacts might students create to show their ability to think this way? This is where the teacher gets to embrace creativity based on the interests of students and the tools available for students to create. As long as an artifact reveals that a students can embrace the thinking, any artifact works.

Analyzing Primary Sources to Develop a Deep Understanding of Perspective

As we all know, teachers of 21st century students are developing classrooms that are part of a paradigm shift in learning. We are not teaching students geography, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of geographers. We are not teaching students economics, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of economic reasoning. We're not teaching students civics, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of active citizenship. And...we're not teaching students history, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of historians.

The historical process is significantly connected to the analysis of primary sources. The sources of history allow students to engage with the artifacts and ideas of the past. When students engage with primary sources, it becomes quite obvious that sources reveal perspectives about people, events, and ideas. Since primary sources are created by people in the past, they capture the perspective of an individual (or group) and invite students to ask, "If I were to analyze other primary sources, what other perspectives might appear?"

While primary source analysis is a foundation for historical thinking in all grades, the concept of perspective appears significantly in grades 5 and 6. (In addition, the same concept appears within reading but might appear as point-of-view.) This is no coincidence and the cognition of students in intermediate grades develops in ways where they can begin to see how different people might "view" people, events, and ideas.

The following two videos were created in a 5th grade classroom (Chicago) and the instructional approach might help teachers to consider how this type of learning can play out within any intermediate classroom. Teachers might consider how to elevate perspective when students examine slavery during the colonial era (5th grade) or when students study the era of European exploration and the collision with early cultures in the Western Hemisphere (6th grade). These are just two opportunities where perspective can be explored and there are obviously many more opportunities to explore this concept since history is based on exploring the perspectives inherent within primary sources.

Analyzing Perspectives through Primary Sources, Part 1: Getting Started 

from Expeditionary Learning on Vimeo.

Analyzing Perspectives through Primary Sources, Part 2: Sharpening and Synthesizing 

from Expeditionary Learning on Vimeo.