Require students to look up and use “Language of the ...



Social Studies Enrichment Projects

Language of the Discipline Studies

Directions: Students are required to look up and use “Language of the Discipline” in the discipline they chose. (i.e. - How do archeologists talk? What kinds of words do they use in speech and writing that are specific to their work?)You must include use of Depth and Complexity icons to stretch thinking at least in the planning if not in the final product. Choose one of the following projects to complete based on the current civilization we are studying.

Historian

Write a short historical fiction story as if you are a character living in the time period. Include facts about clothing, food, customs, housing, culture, and government woven into the tale. (min. two typed pages double spaced)

Write a museum guide with a list of artifacts to see in your display and facts about each artifact and its importance to the time period.

Design a museum display and include the same things as mentioned above.

Pick one key document or artifact to focus in upon as a historian might. Begin by writing your own observations and questions and then do research to check on the use and importance of the given artifact or document. Make a frame around the object and use icons to explain your findings.

Cartographer

Research a map of one civilization during the time period. Redraw the map as if it is a tourist attraction with key buildings and points of interest highlighted through graphics and special textboxes with added information to attract visitors.

Design a map of your own idea of a village or city-state during the time period that includes all major buildings and points of interest that would be included naturally in the given time period. Follow any logical rules of design that would have existed in the given time period.

Anthropologist

Make a diorama design for a museum display that would depict a cultural tradition or custom of the time period. Include rules and patterns that were followed in the given time period. Create display markers or tags that would explain to visitors what they are seeing.

Create a play or script that portrays a typical day in the life of a member of the given society.

Write a journal that recreates some typical experiences of a person of the time period. (min one typed page double spaced)

Recreate a custom through a puppet show or theatrical production.

Political Scientist

Write a campaign speech for the given government or a leader of the time period.

Create a campaign poster that outlines key ideas and rules of the given government or time period. (Like Uncle Sam Wants You).

Economist

Create bar and pie graphs of key populations of the time period including minorities and social structures. Your display of graphs should communicate clearly to the viewer what the social strata were like.

Create a catalog of items available as part of trade markets during the time period. Try to set reasonable trade values (ie. one cow equals ten eggs). Include information about imports and exports in this catalog.

Philosopher

Create a document that shows key ideas about laws and morality of the time period. Examine each law or idea individually and write an opinion piece persuading the reader to agree or disagree with the tenant. Choose your audience (are you speaking to the slaves of the time period? The property owners?)

Create an art piece that represents a philosophical position common for the time period. Let the art piece display your feelings about the philosophical idea as well as communicate the idea itself.

Archeologist

Draw a map of current excavation sites labeling what is known and what is not yet understood/known about the sites that have been excavated.

Make a brochure of artifacts that have been discovered and explain the purpose and value of each to a museum collection.

Work backwards…create artifacts and then age them and bury them in such a way as to recreate an archeological dig. Remember to follow the rules as understood—older things are buried deeper and certain things will age faster…

Geologist

Create a presentation about the ground layers, climate, and rock features that make this area of the world particularly important to the location of a civilization. Create a display that goes with this presentation.

Gather examples of the kinds of stone, rock, ground, and other materials the archeologists of the region can expect to encounter during their studies. Explain why each could be present in the site and how they should be handled by the archeologists and historians.

Create a “slice” illustration that would show layers of rock and sediment—name the types and explain the artifacts that have been found in each layer. Especially note the reason for the differences in each layer and what can be found there.

Botanist

Create a large, fancy, Venn comparison chart. Name the plant life found in the region and surrounding areas during the time period on one side. Explain the uses and importance of the different types of plants found. On the other side and in the middle compare and contrast the plants used and found in the region with plants used and found in the USA today.

Draw a sampling or create a model of the different types of irrigation systems found in the cultures of the time period. Explain how each works and how they developed over time.

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