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EXPLORER CARD INTRODUCTION |
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As part of the research strand of Germantown Academy's social
studies curriculum, children are expected to learn how to locate
information for reports and projects on which they are working.
The outcomes of this research takes many forms over the grades,
but the objective is always the same: having children learn how
to refine their search, locate the appropriate information, and
put that information into the form that is required for that project.
In fourth grade, we start the year in social studies with an overview
of ancient history arriving in Europe at the time of The Crusades.
The Crusades takes thousands of people to other lands and exposes
them to riches previously unknown. Once the Crusaders experience
the luxuries they find on their journeys, the desire for more
leads ultimately to the Age of Exploration. As we approach this
period of history, we begin our first research project of the
year, Explorer
Cards for the Class of 2007.
Since this is done in early fourth grade, we use this project
as an introduction to research. We list the names of the major
European explorers (with an emphasis on explorers from France,
England, and Spain because of their connection to our future study
of the United States), then we ask the children to brainstorm
the information that they think they should find out about the
explorers. As you will see from the directions, the children come up with basic facts
about explorers. It is at this point that we can liken the facts
they want to find to the statistics that are found on sports cards.
Once our students know what information they should find, they
visit our school library for a session with our librarian. Our
primary research book for this exercise is the encyclopedia. We want the children to be able to use its
index and locate the explorer in the right volume. Some children
use an encyclopedia of explorers as well. Children use the worksheet (attached) to record the information
that they need. This information is then refined and put onto
a "template" of their stamp. Students hand
in this draft, which is checked for accuracy, and then they do
their final draft, the results of which you can view as a link
from this page.
The culminating activity for this project is the annual "Explorer
Card Show." All the cards are displayed in our assembly area.
Children are given an evaluation
form (attached)
and are asked to evaluate at least four cards before they evaluate
their own card. They must write down the relevant facts about
an explorer, but most importantly, they must rate the card on
a scale of 1 to 10, explaining why they gave the rating they did.
Our students love this project. They enjoy comparing facts from
one card to another. They question inconsistencies in the cards,
and that sends them off to a reference book to check the validity
of facts. Explorer Cards allow our children to combine a search
for facts with an artistic project. It is a fun, educational way
to learn about explorers, and it can be modified to fit any research
project you might be doing.
This project designed by the fourth grade team (Julia Blumenreich, Larry Kraut, David Nagel) at Germantown Academy. Technical assistance provided by Carol Siwinski, Curricular Technology Coordinator.