Our Community Unit

1
Our Community Unit

• Defining who we are, how we fit into the world
  around us, and how we can become active community
  members.

2
Overarching Goals

• Microcosm Macrocosm
• Authentic Education
• National Geography Standards

3
Microcosm - Macrocosm
Students develop from concrete to abstract
learners. It is easier for students to comprehend
an abstract concept, such as a foreign culture or
geographic feature, if they can scaffold or
compare the newly introduced topic to something
they have experienced firsthand. In other words,
by comparing the tangible to the abstract,
students are better able to comprehend geography.
4
Authentic/Real World Education
Working on authentic tasks is a useful, engaging
activity in itself it becomes an episode of
learning for the student (Wolf, 1989). From the
teacher's perspective, teaching to such tasks
guarantees that we are concentrating on
worthwhile skills and strategies (Wiggins, 1989).
Students are learning and practicing how to apply
important knowledge and skills for authentic
purposes. http//www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/litass
/auth.html
Presenting to the Town Council Planning
Commission
Real/ Meaningful Learning
Real World Data
5
National Geography Standards

• The World in Spatial Terms - 1 3
• Places and Regions 4,5, 6
• Human Systems 9,10,11,12, 13
• Environment Society 14
• The Uses of Geography - 18

6
The Evolving Project

• One lesson leads to another, then another

7
Past Projects

• Belding Mill Renovation Thompson, CT
• Walking Historical Field Trips Thompson, CT
  Mills
• Population Explosion/Sprawl Middle School
  Students Presented to the Coventry Town Council
  

8
Population Growth Sprawl Project
An article in the Projo prompted the following
project that really formed the foundation of what
I am currently implementing. The students used
Coventrys Comprehensive Plan to analyze the
effects of the population explosion. (Coventry
was the fastest growing town at the time.)
Article Sprawl brawl - Suburban R.I. is ground
zero in the battle over managing growth 11/28/01
9
Newspaper Coverage Article
10
Population Projection ProjectThis is the
PowerPoint presented to the Town Council in 2001

• Ali Sherer, Corey Brassard, Kristen Oscarson,
  Marc Volpicelli, Bashar Shehada, Alan Hall

11
Ideas for Today and Tomorrow

• We need to control the population growth for a
  better tomorrow.

1
12
Our Future

• The projected population in the year 2050 is
  75,050.
• There will be 1,158 people per square mile. This
  is approximately three times the current
  population.
• This will lead to a tax increase, pollution
  problems, urbanization and much more. If we dont
  do something soon we will look like New York
  City!
• If our population reaches its expected amount we
  will become an urban area.

2
13
Crime Rate

• No one even feels safe walking down the street at
  night knowing that the crime rate has gone up.
• On the Coventry/West Warwick line there will be
  graffiti and gangs roaming the streets.
• We will have more robberies, gangs, drug
  smuggling etc. No one will be safe.
• With all the crime and violence, the town will
  need to hire more police officers, which will
  raise taxes.

3
14
Watching Out For One Another

• The amount of people that do drugs in Coventry is
  very low and the kids that grow up and leave this
  town are usually well-rounded individuals.
• The teachers in Coventry really get to know the
  students well and no matter what each student
  needs the teacher is always there for them.
• With a larger populations everyone wont know
  everyone and the education system will definitely
  not be as good as it is now.
• When your kid starts, hanging out with the wrong
  crowd, who will be there to tell you? There will
  be many more students in classes and teachers
  wont have the time to get to know each and every
  one.

4
15
Environment

• There will need to be many more homes and other
  things like grocery stores, dumps, fast food
  restaurants and Wal-Mart's taking up land space.
• To make room for these things trees will have to
  be cut down. When you cut down trees, it ruins
  the habitat for many species of animals.
• Coventry has parks, trees and animals. We almost
  have the perfect little community.

5
16
Traffic Congestion

• With the expected population Coventry will have
  to add new roads and widen the current ones.
• Coventry will have to buy the needed land to add
  and widen the roads and then actually build them.
  This will costs hundreds of thousands of
  taxpayers dollars.
• If the population triples so will the number of
  cars. Route 3 is currently four lanes wide. With
  the expected population it will have to be twelve
  lanes wide. That will take up a lot of space.
• Coventry will have three times the amount of
  current car accidents, making the roads more
  dangerous and many lives will be lost.
• The pollution caused by the cars will also triple
  in Coventry and this will create smog like in
  Mexico City.

6
17
Taxes

• I am assuming all of you are aware that if taxes
  get raised it is very unlikely you will be
  elected again. No one wants high taxes and the
  town pays social workers, teachers, firefighters,
  and police officers to do their jobs.
• If the population rises they will need more
  people to do these jobs costing the taxpayers
  more money.

7
18
Stopping the Growth

• You can limit how many building permits you send
  out each year or make it so you have to own at
  least 2 acres to build a house. We need to keep
  the population of Coventry small so we dont end
  up looking like what we most fear.
• Set more laws to limit the growth.

7
19
Thank You

• Thank you for listening to our presentation and
  what we had to say about the population growth
  problem in Coventry.
• We hope you take our suggestions to the problem
  seriously and into consideration.

7
20
Measures Taken By Coventry After The Student
Presentations

• Limit placed on building permits
• Impact fees for new building legislated
• Build-Out Analysis
• More discussion by Town Council and in the News.
• Students see authenticity of project

21
Current Project (Evolved)Our Community

• What is a Community?
• Why is Community Important?
• Analyzing Community Culture
• Defining Our Community
• Our Community The Global Community
• Improving Our Community

22
What is a Community?
GEMEINSCHAFT V. GESELLSCHAFT
A major contribution to the discussion of
community was made in the 1920's by Ferdinand
Tonnies, who used the German words Gemeinschaft
(community) and Gesellschaft (society) with
special meanings which have entered the language
of social science. Gemeinschaft, normally
translated as 'community', refers to the
closeness of holistic social relationships said
to be found in pre-industrial communities, and
imputed to the community as moral worth. For
Tonnies, Gemeinschaft exists by the subjective
will of the members "the very existence of
Gemeinschaft rests in the consciousness of
belonging together and the affirmation of the
condition of mutual dependence" (Tonnies 1925
69). Gesellschaft refers to the more
instrumental, purposeful types of relationship
typical of industrial society. This objective
society or association (Gesellschaft), where
"reference is only to the objective fact of a
unity based on common traits and activities and
other external phenomena" (Tonnies 1925 67)
stands in contrast to community defined by shared
feeling. Tonnies considers entities based on
objective common interest such as "ethnic
community, community of speech, community of
work" (Tonnies 1925 67) to be Gesellschaft
(society), not Gemeinschaft (community), because
they lack the element of shared feeling which is
essential to Gemeinschaft. Gemeinschaft type
relationships may be found in modern industrial
society, but they do not typify the dominant type
of relationship of that society.
23
Why Care About Your Community?

• Movie Pay It Forward
• Article Standards of the Heart
  (http//www.cdl.org/resources/reading_room/columbi
  ne.html)
• Article A Cry in the Night The Kitty Genovese
  Story (http//www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/
  predators/kitty_genovese/3.html?sect2)

24
Analyzing Community/Culture
Case Study The Nacirema (http//www.knottyoakms.n
et/Eclipse/Our20Community20Project/Nacirema20Ar
ticle.htm)
25
Defining Our Community Sticky Notes Brainstorm
Activity

• Students define Community from Dictionaries
• In groups, the students brainstorm all that comes
  to mind in what Community means to them and
  write their thoughts on sticky note pads.
• The groups then divide each defining sticky note
  into the following categories Very Sure,
  Somewhat Sure, A little Sure, Wild Guess.
• Each group puts their sticky notes into the four
  sections designated on the board.
• Whole class consolidates lists and
  sub-categorizes them.
• Class creates Web definition of Community

26
Our Community Web
27
Defining Our Community Assignment
Defining Community Survey Mr. Mitchell Social
Studies   Directions/Overview Your group has
been assigned a sub-category within the classs
definition of community. Now it is time to
actually collect real data through surveying in
order to define the community that you live
in.   Step 1 Break it Down! Brainstorm a list of
questions that breaks the sub-category you were
assigned into smaller parts.   Step 2 Delegate!
Assign at least TWO questions to each member of
your group.   Step 3 Create a data table
following the example provided in class. This is
used to collect and keep track of all of the
responses in your survey. This needs to be neat
and organized! You must ask everyone the exact
same question!   Step 4 Survey! Find at least 25
participants to answer your questions
completely.   Step 5 Calculate! Calculate your
responses into percentages using the format
provided.   Step 6 Graph It! Graph your
responses using the Create a Graph Internet
site (http//nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/).
Select the pie graph format.   Step 7 What Does
It All Mean! Write a conclusion that summarizes
your results and findings. Be sure to discuss how
it relates or helps define your community. Also
talk about the limits of your findings.
28
Defining Our Community Interdisciplinary
Connections

• Math Surveying, tabulating results, and graphing
  it. (Helpful website http//nces.ed.gov/nceskids/
  Graphing/)
• ELA Summarizing and Analytical Writing

29
Survey Results Student Work
The students summarized and analyzed their
results in a paragraph below their printed graphs.
30
Our Community The Global Community
  Step 1 Research! Find the page within the
book, The Global Village, that relates to the
results from your sub-category your group was
assigned. Review and read over the data presented
in the book. Also, analyze the data/information
provided that is specific to your
sub-category. Step 2 Compare Contrast! Fill
out the following graphic organizer with your
group. Each member needs to try to make
connections between the results from their
questions and the data within the book. Use
bullets for each question you included in your
survey. Help each other out. The following
questions should guide your responses 1.     
How are the results similar to the global
community results/data? 2.      How are the
results different to the global community
results/data? 3.      What factors might explain
the similarities or differences in the
results/data?   Step 3 Summarize! As a group,
briefly summarize the overall results of the
graphic organizer. Focus how our local community
fits into the global community. Include specific
references to your data/results. Step 4 Report
the Results! The group will report out to the
class on their findings. Be prepared to answer
questions from the teacher and your classmates.
Be sure to pay attention to other connections
being made in other categories. Extra points will
be awarded to these specific connections. Step 5
What should you have asked? List any questions
you think you should have asked in retrospect. In
other words, what questions would have produced
results that would have made this assignment much
easier to do?
31
Comparing their Community to the World Community
Students take the graphing/summary results from
their Defining Our Community project and
compare/contrast them to global statistics.
32
Source If the World were a Village by David J.
Smith
If the whole world were a village of just 100
people, 6 would belong to the Buddhist faith, and
32 would be Christians. There would be 38
school-aged villagers (ages 5 to 24), but only 31
of them would attend school. And the poorest 20
people would each have less than 1 a day.
Topics Included Nationalities Languages Ages
Religions Food Air and Water Schooling and
Literacy Money and Possessions Electricity
Village in the past Village in the future 
33
Source
Map Graph Food McDonalds restaurants (Top 50
Countries) View this stat Per capita  Per GDP
 Show map full screen CountryDescription Defin
ition Number of McDonalds restaurants.Amount 1.
United States12,804 McDonald's restaurants
2.Japan3,598 McDonald's restaurants
3.Canada1,154 McDonald's restaurants 4.United
Kingdom1,115 McDonald's restaurants
5.Germany1,091 McDonald's restaurants
6.France857 McDonald's restaurants
7.Australia701 McDonald's restaurants
8.Taiwan338 McDonald's restaurants 9.China326
McDonald's restaurants 10.Italy290 McDonald's
restaurants
34
Our Community The Global Community Graphic
Organizer
Our Local Community Our Global Community Factors That Caused This CorrelationINFER
99 Speak English as their first language 9 Speak English as their first language Diverse world. Many other civilizations the used other languages developed
35
Assessing the Students
36
Improving Our Community

• Researching the towns Comprehensive Plan to make
  our Community better!

37
The Community We Live In Planning for Our Future
38
Improving Our Community Interdisciplinary
Connections

• Math Growth Decay Exponential Growth Formula
  Interpreting Data Tables and Graphs
• ELA Summarizing Text, Translating Expository
  Text to Kid Friendly Language.
• Science Environmental Science Pollution, Soil
  Erosion, etc.

39
Improving Your Community Assignment
Overview Each student will work with a small
group of their peers in researching a part of the
Coventry Community Comprehensive Plan. Each group
will review the goals listed for their category
(i.e. Land Use) and then propose a plan for the
town on how to achieve those goals. Each group
will create a presentation that demonstrates
their proposals.   Step 1 Choose and Research!
Review the Goals and Objectives for your category
provided. Choose the ones that you plan to focus
on and rewrite them in kid friendly language.
Also, review in detail, the materials, maps, etc.
given to your group. You need to understand their
meaning before moving on to the next step! Also,
add a goal or objective to the list that your
group feels is needed under the category you were
assigned.               You will produce
1.      The goals and objectives summarized in
your own words. 2.      List of goals or
objectives of your own.   Step 2 Summarize and
Report to Class! Each group will report out to
the class about what their goals and objectives
are, in addition to, describing the current state
of Coventry within those goals and objectives. Be
prepared to answer questions and receive
suggestions.               You will produce
1.      Your goals and objectives on a
transparency sheet. 2.      A one page summary
of the information you were provided. 3.     
Reference points on a map of Coventry provided.
(Include this in your presentation to
class.)   Step 3 Create a Plan! Propose a plan
on how to realize these goals and objectives.
Write up a summary (one-page) explaining your
plan. Also, include maps, tables, figures, etc.
to show how your plan is to work.              
You will produce 1.      A one-page report about
your plan. 2.      A presentation to the class
with visual aids. (Use the overhead, computer,
posterboard, etc.)   Step 4 Present Your Plan!
Each group will present their proposal to the
class. You must use visual aids and be able to
defend your plan from critical questions.
Translation of Goals
Summary of Current State
Present Proposed Plan
40
Improving Your Community - Group Research
Categories

• Land Use (Zoning Residential, Commercial, etc.)
• Circulation (Transportation, Roads)
• Economic Development (Employment, Industry, Tax
  Revenue, etc.)
• Open Space Recreation (Parks, Preserves,
  Playgrounds, etc.)
• Natural Cultural Resources (Lakes, Beach,
  Historical Site, etc.)
• Community Services Facilities (Schools, Police
  Stations, Fire Stations, Senior Centers, etc.)

41
Materials from the Comprehensive Plan for each
student group
Land Use 1.        Vision, Goals, and
Objectives 2.        Land Use Maps 3.       
Agricultural Land Maps 4.        Existing Land
Use Maps 5.        Recreation, Conservation, Open
Space Maps 6.        Zoning Districts
Maps 7.        Land Use and Zoning
(description) Circulation 1.        Vision,
Goals, and Objectives 2.        Existing
Transportation System Maps 3.        Rhode Island
Map 4.        Street and Highway Characteristics
Tables 5.        Traffic Accident Table 6.       
Zoning Districts Maps Economic Development 1.    
    Vision, Goals, and Objectives 2.       
Existing Land Use Maps 3.        Population
Growth/Density Tables 4.        Employment
Characteristics Tables 5.        Median Family
Income Growth Tables 6.        Tax-base Sources
Tables 7.        Land Use and Zoning
(descriptions) 8.        Zoning Districts
Maps 9.        Coventry Municipal Revenue
Tables  
Natural Cultural Resources 1.        Vision,
Goals, and Objectives 2.        Natural
Cultural Resources Maps 3.        Existing Land
Use Maps 4.        Land Use and Zoning
(descriptions) 5.        Zoning Districts
Maps Open Space Recreation 1.        Vision,
Goals, and Objectives 2.        Existing Land Use
Maps 3.        Recreation, Conservation, and Open
Space Maps 4.        Open Space and Recreation
Needs Assessment 5.        Land Use and Zoning
(description) 6.        Zoning Districts
Maps Community Services Facilities 1.       
Vision, Goals, and Objectives 2.        Community
Services Facilities Maps 3.        School
Enrollment and Capacity Tables 4.        Land Use
and Zoning (description) 5.        Zoning
Districts Maps
42
Translation of Vision, Goals, Objectives
toKid Language

• Students work in assigned groups.
• Groups review the provided materials.
• The students divide the Vision, Goals, and
  Objectives equitably.
• Students use dictionaries and consulting with
  teacher to translate their Vision, Goals, and
  Objectives into language that the class would be
  comfortable with.
• All translations are approved by the teacher.
• Add their OWN Goals Objectives

43
Improving Your Community (1st Presentation)
Defining the Current State of Categories

• Read translated Vision, Goals, Objectives
• Groups referred to their summaries of their
  materials displayed on the overhead machine
• Whole class discussion and questioning of each
  groups materials and current state.

44
Why We Need to Think About the Future and Plan
for it!
John Flahertys Smart Growth Presentation
Avoiding Sprawl Wood Estates residents take on
condos Bill Brackett presents on the Wood
Estates Zoning Dispute Former Student Ali Sherer
presents on the factors of exponential population
growth
45
Math Connection Exponential Population Growth
46
Math Activity Predicting Population Growth in
your Town
Helpful Website http//online.redwoods.edu/instru
ct/darnold/INTALG/growthdecay/growthdecay.pdf
47
Connecting Math to Social Studies

• Students used their population growth
  calculations to predict what their community
  would look like in the future.
• Former student, Ali Sherer, presented her
  PowerPoint to the students and answered
  questions.
• Whole class filled out the following graphic
  organizer with their research materials and
  calculations in front of them

48
Connecting Math Social Studies Predicting
Consequences of Population Growth
49
The Students Version of the Comprehensive Plan

• Students add their own goals and objectives
• They review the maps, tables, data, etc. they are
  provided with and come up with their own plans.
• Each group must back up their plans or changes
  with real data. It must also be feasible with the
  teachers endorsement. (Ex Having the town build
  a Six Flags Amusement Park with town tax
  revenues would be rather difficult to pass.)
• Student groups create a plan to attain these
  goals and objectives. (Ex Where is a new school,
  park, etc. going to be located?)

50
Final Presentation to the Town Council Planning
Commission

• Students present their PowerPoints and
  Posterboards.
• The presentations are grouped by category.
• Question and Answer session immediately following.

51
Cooperative Community Circulation

• By
• Keleigh Thompson, Tom Daras, Brittany Wallace,
  and Max Morin.

52
Population in the Next 30 Years and What It Could
Do to Our Community.

• In the next twenty-five years, the population
  will have grown much larger. If that happens we
  will need more road space or even more roads.

Also, if there are more people in our community
the roads are not going to be wide enough and we
are going to need larger roads. Can you imagine
Tiogue Ave with...
About 5 lanes per each road!!!
53
What Can Happen If

We add more lanes to Tiogue road ,we are going
to

Lose business space, which will
Cause residents to leave Coventry

And money Cause residents to move their houses
and spend money that many people these days just
don't have.
Cause people to lose money and causes the
houses they move to to become of a lesser quality.
54
!!!!!This is not looking good!!!!
55
Would you like to live in a place that looks like
this.
56
Or a place that looks like this.
57
What?
YOU DONT WANT TO LIVE IN A PLACE LOOKING LIKE
THIS? WELL THATS WHAT Coventry IS GOING TO LOOK
LIKE IF WE KEEP HEADING IN THE DIRECTION WE ARE
GOING.
58
AND ANOTHER ISSUE
Notice how many accidents are around the
intersection at Sandy Bottom Rd. and Route 3,
Now notice the ones at Tiogue Ave. and
Reservoir. Comparing the two which one has more
accidents? Why do you think this is? We believe
the accidents are caused by H.S. kids. They are
new with driving and are dangerous directly and
indirectly.
All the places with the black spots show the
places that 5 or more accidents have occurred
since 1988
59
Some ways we can fix this are

• Add roads at certain spots for the high school
  kids to drive on.
• Warn Coventry High School students that driving
  along Sandy Bottom Road is a risk to them.
  Encourage them to use the alternative routes that
  we have provided.
• Add more street lights and/or signs, such as
  yield, stop, slow.

60
One way the High School students could travel to
and from the High School is

• If high school students would also use the route
  we are proposing through Wood Estates to Route
  117, rather than only using Reservoir Ave. to
  Tiogue to Sandy Bottom Rd., accidents would
  decrease due to less traffic.

61
An Alternative Route For The High SCHOOLERS Could
Be

• IF THE H.S. KIDS GO FOM ABOUT HERE TO ABOUT
  HERE AND THROUGH THESE ROADS THEY CAN AVOID 8-9
  MAJOR ACCIDENT SPOTS.
• ALL WE NEED IS TO SOME HOW SPEAK TO THEM THROUGH
  SCHOOL PRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THEIR
  PRESENT ROUTES TO SCHOOL.

62
This Is What We Think Should Happen

• WE COULD PRESENT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL
  STUDENTS ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THEIR CURRENT ROUTES
  TO AND FROM SCHOOL, ASKING THEM TO PLEASE USE THE
  ROUTES WE HAVE PRESENTED ON THE MAP WE HAVE
  PROVIDED.

• WE ALSO THINK THAT
  
  WE SHOULD ADD STREET
  SIGNS, IN ORDER
  TO STOP
  ACCIDENTS AND TO WARN
  DRIVERS TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS
  
  WHILE DRIVING ALONG THOSE
  ROADS. SOME SIGNS
  WE COULD
  ADD THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL
  WOULD
  BE ,STOP, SLOW ,CAUTION,
  AND YEIL.D

63
Thank You Very Much For Listening To Our
Presentation, We Hope You Will Give It Some
Thought And We Hope You Enjoyed It.
Thanks from Keleigh Thompson Tom Daras Brittany
Wallace and Max Morin.
64
More Student Presentations on Each Comprehensive
Plan Category
Visit the Eclipse Team of Knotty Oak Middle
Schools Website http//www.knottyoakms.net/Ecli
pse/Presentations20to20Town20Council2020Plan
ning20Board.htm
65
Assessing the Students
66
The Communitys Reaction
Middle School students present vision for town's
future By Jennifer Swanson 02/04/2005 After
learning that the middle school students had been
working on this project for only a few weeks,
Sanetti said, "It's too bad what took you three
weeks, took them three years."
67
More Communitys Reaction
Knotty Oak students share vision of Cov. By
Justin Sayles 02/02/2005 John Flaherty, a
representative for Grow Smart RI, had made a
presentation to the class earlier in the year
suggesting that towns such as Coventry could
benefit from rehabilitating defunct mills,
Mitchell said. Drawing on some of his ideas, the
students made their own plans for the old
industrial buildings. "They see what we see,"
Sanetti said. "I felt like the future of Coventry
is in good hands."
68
Even More Communitys Reaction
Smart Growth e-Briefs News and Tools for People
Shaping Our Communities February 2005 Under the
direction of social studies teacher Ted Mitchell,
students at the Knotty Oak Middle School wrapped
up a 6-week town planning project by presenting
their findings to members of the Coventry Town
Council and Planning Board. Town Council Vice
President Richard Senetti said the group was not
only impressed with the students' creative
vision, but also their intuition. He said the
Town Council had been discussing at least three
of the issues raised by the students within the
last 36 hours. Using the town's Comprehensive
Plan, the seventh graders mapped out solutions
for issues such as growth, traffic, economic
development, vacant mill space, recreation and
future school needs. "They actually developed a
lot of creative ideas that were discussed as part
of a presentation by Grow Smart staffer John
Flaherty earlier in the year", according to
Mitchell.
69
Post Presentation Activities

• Peer Evaluation Students assess each others
  contribution to the group.
• Group Reflection Prompt What were some of the
  positive and negative aspects of working with
  your group? If you could change anything about
  the project, what would it be? Explain in detail.
  
• Project Reflection Prompt Given your
  presentations and Town Council member, Richard
  Sannettis remarks, would you now want to live in
  Coventry the rest of your life? Why or Why not?

70
Assessing the Students Peer Evaluation
71
Assessing the Students Journal Prompt Rubric
72
Where do we go from here?

• Microcosm to Macrocosm Ex When covering
  Chinas population issue refer back to what was
  learned during this project. (Always connect the
  concept to a tangible concept or idea
  scaffold.)
• Controversial Current Event Topics Ex Wal-Mart
  closing one store to open another Super store
  leads to connections to smart growth,
  interdependence, trade deficits, etc.

73
Thank You

• Any Questions? Email me
• trmitchell31_at_yahoo.com