Download as KEY, PPTX
Jason Curodeau
- 1. Overview: Joshua Tree National Park Field Trip - In this lesson students will explore the varied ways in which humans have interacted within the environment of the Joshua Tree National Park. They will also create maps, identify plant life, wildlife, geological formations, and develop a better understanding of the ways in which climate, physical Geography and time contribute to the different ways we use land. Objectives: - Students will be able to create mental maps and use spatial reasoning. They will gain an understanding of how and why people choose specific locations for habitation. They will develop map making skills and recognize how the subjects of keys and legends actually appear in physical Geography. They will be able to express themselves through the creation of maps and photographs. Reasoning skills will be increased through questions and suppositions. Standard: - California state standards 4.1 and 4.2. - National Geography standards: The World in Spatial Terms standards, 1, 2, and 3. Places and Regions standards 4, 5, and 6. Human Systems standard 12. Environment and Society standards 14, 15, and 16. The uses of Geography standards 17 and 18. Specifics: - Grade level: fourth - Number of sessions: three, Session one 40 minutes. Session two 6 hours. Session three 45 minutes. - Number of adults: One for every 8 to 10 students up to 60 students. Materials: -Map of Coachella Valley, Blank Paper, Clip Boards, Colored Pencils, Disposable Digital Camera.
- 2. Session one: The students who are by now familiar with the coordinate grid system and understand different regions and their climates will locate on a globe where the Joshua Tree National Park is located. Based on previous instruction they will be asked to write down what they might expect to find when they get to the park. This list will include physical geographic characteristics, population density, wildlife, plant life, water resources and climate. Next the students will study their Coachella Valley maps, paying specific attention to the key, scale, and legend. The teacher can ask them to describe how far they think a mile is or how many miles they think they are from a mountain range. This will help to get them thinking spatially, they can apply distances in their own lives like how long it takes to get home or to the grocery store. During this session the teacher serves to encourage students to ask questions and to help them develop mental maps. The questions and theories will then be answered when they are on the field trip.
- 3. Session two: Part one. Students will arrive first at Key’s Desert Queen Ranch. Under supervision they will explore the area and create maps. They are encouraged to list as many man made objects as well as naturally occurring topographical objects that they can find. They will also be encouraged to guess what the objects were used for and why. Students will also take photos of the objects that they mark on their maps. These photographs will be used in session three. Next a parks employee will give an historical narrative describing the area and its inhabitants past and present. The employee will also describe life on the ranch and reveal the actual purpose of the buildings and artifacts located there. Students will be encouraged to ask questions. Students will also learn if they were correct in naming the uses for the buildings and objects. This should take approximately an hour and a half depending on the size of the group.
- 4. Part two. After a half hour lunch break the students will be taken on a short hike to Barker Dam. Along the way they will encounter a wide variety of plants and wild life. They are encouraged to capture as many different plants, animals, and rock formations as they can with their cameras. Students will also have an opportunity to see up close petroglyphs and drawings that date back to the areas Native american inhabitants Once at Barker Dam the teacher can ask questions and answer questions that the students may have. There are also park rangers that can provide information about the areas physical geography and the history of the Dam itself. This should take about two hours.
- 5. Part Three. Session Three: While viewing the slide show students can The final stage of the trip is a visit to Key’s demonstrate what they have learned during the View. At an elevation of over 5,000 feet, Key’s field trip. If there is a computer lab available view offers a panoramic vista which includes the students can research the plant and wildlife they Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, The Salton Sea, have captured in their photographs. Students can El Centro and many other landmarks both also print copies of their photos to accompany natural and man made. the maps they created adding representative images to key objects on the map. It is here that the students can look down from above and see first hand what they may have only seen on their maps or at ground level. With their maps in hand they can circle with colored pencils the things they spot. This vantage point will greatly increase their spatial understanding of Geography. They may for instance determine for themselves why I-10 runs the way it does rather than through the Morongo Basin. They can also take photos and encourage one another in the hunt for new items to circle. At the end of the field trip the teacher will collect all of the digital cameras. The teacher will create a slide show for the students to view during session three.
- 6. California State Standards4.1 and 4.2 - 4.1.1: Students locate Joshua Tree National Park using longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates. - 4.1.2: Students determine which hemisphere the park and there own cities are located. - 4.1.3: Students identify the Mojave Desert region and the vegetation, landforms, and climate of the park. - 4.1.4: Students can locate mountains, valleys, rivers from Key’s view. - 4.1.5: Students use and create maps and can witness the differences between the Coachella Valley and High Desert communities as well as within the Park itself - 4.2.1: Students learn about the Native Americans who lived in the area of the park prior to settlement and also have the opportunity to see first hand the some of the art works they created. National Geography Standards The World in Spatial Terms: - Standard one: Students make and use maps learning from a spatial perspective. - Standard two: Students use mental maps to organize their questions and suppositions J.T.N.P. - Standard three: Students will compare their own cities with those in the high desert. Places and Regions: - Standard five: Students will see how the lack of water resources affect how and where people settle. - Standard six: Where the park was once home to Native Americans, then to settlers who grazed cattle it is now home to visitors from all around the globe and it serves many functions from simply looking at the rocks to actually climbing them.
- 7. Human Systems Standard twelve: At Key’s Ranch and Barker Dam students will see how even in the wilderness people tend to have a pattern of development. They will also see many vehicles, machines, wells, windmills, and various other artifacts that fairly recently allowed Key to live and thrive. They will also be able to compare Key’s experience with that of the Native Americans and with how people live elsewhere today. Environment and Society Standard Fourteen: Students will clearly see the contrast between the environment within the park and the environment outside of the protected area. They will also see how Key’s development affected the area. Standard Fifteen: Students will see how the terrain and climate affect the ways in which people interact with and develop them. Standard Sixteen: As a land resource the Joshua Tree National Park has changed over time. Initially inhabited by Native tribes it was not settled as much as being used for its sheltering rocks and wildlife. However there are still signs of the indigenous people etched on the rocks and in pottery, arrowheads and make shift shelters. Then it was used by ranchers and miners who were trying to make a living off the land if not become rich from it. Now it is a protected National Park which is home to visitors from around the world and it’s uses vary as wildly as its landscape. Students will get a first hand account of these changes.
- 8. Expected outcome: Iexpect that students will learn to reason spatially and apply what they witness to the study of maps, globes, streets, buildings, mountains, deserts, rivers, and valleys. Hopefully they will gain an inquisitiveness and an overwhelming need to ask questions about their surroundings and places beyond their immediate experience. That they will continually develop the need to know more. By starting out in session one with questions, then by traveling to find the answers to these questions students will learn to ask more questions and understand better how to find the answers they seek.