A Look into the Past
Make a list stating what you would include in a time capsule. Write an essay about something such as popular music, sports, or TV. Illustrate your essay.
Research the development of transistors and their uses. Write about what you find out.
Research the gas mileage that 1950’s “gas guzzlers” achieved and on gas mileage for today’s cars. Choose three types of cars and create a bar graph based on your findings.
Develop a list of 5 questions to ask an older relative or friend about the early days of television or computers. Interview the person and and record their answers.
Keep a journal of important, amusing, or uncommon events in you life for one week. Use these primary sources to write a history of your week.
In the 1970s Americans were jolted out of thier “gas-guzzling” ways by the actions of a group known as OPEC. Research OPEC and the action it took that changed drivers’ behavior so drastically. Write a secondary-source report.
Do research on medicinal plants and the uses we make of them today. (For example, penicillin was developed from bread mold.) Write a report of your findings. Ask friend or relatives about medicinal plant uses. Include them in your report.
Create an archaeologist’s “kit.” List the tools (from shovels to microscopes and carbon dating) and then illustrate their use.
National History Museum's Dino Directory: http://flood.nhm.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dino/
Utilizes several search methods, including alphabetical order, time period,
body shape and even
the country or continent each dinasaur called home.
List the artifacts found in connection with the Iceman. Make a parallel list of what a modern-day traveler in the mountains might carry. Compare and contrast how each individual has adapted to the same environment.
Select a photograph about something from the past and write down all the details you can discover in it. If there is any detail that puzzles you, write a question mark after what it might be. Then try to find answers to the puzzling details and put it all together in a descriptive paragraph.
Conflicts between what is perceived as economic necessity and what is perceived as cultural come up frequently in modern society: Architecture lovers want a great old mansion retained while developers want to use the land for a multi-apartment building. Lumber companies want to cut down forest areas that campers want left standing. A power company wants to dam a stream that salmon fishing enthusiasts want left free to flow. Check the papers for any disputes like this and bring in clippings. Compare and contrast the ideas in the conflicts and see if you can find a compromise that might solve the problem.
This site began in March
1998 and was created by Janet Luch.
Email comments and questions to studyplans@yahoo.com