Curriculum
Objectives

Materials and
Resources

Pre-Activity

Investigations
and Other
Activities

Assessment

Reflections

Tech-Know-Build

Since our schedule is arranged in a way that we do not have all of our students at once, our unit was divided by subject matter that related back to the driving question and the pre-activity.
 

Driving Question Projects

After the field trip, the students will be asked the driving question: "Why should I Care about Dead Stuff?"  Once the driving question has been asked, the students will be given the opportunity to complete projects within each of the different subjects. 
 
 
 

Science 

The following is the document that the students would receive that outlines the "Investigation Project" that they would be completing over a two and a half week period.  The project is exploratory/research based in which the students would be given the opportunity to research in greater detail some aspect of the cemetery that is based in science.  For example, they could research anything from the ecosystem underground to the process of decomposition to native plants in their community.  In addition to the project outline, the students will also be given information on organizing their research, how to cite documents, and an assessment rubric.  To help guide or narrow the range of possible investigative questions, a science survey is to be given to the students after the field trip.

Crown Hill Cemetery Investigation

Over the next two weeks, you will be able to investigate further some aspect of the Cemetery that intrigued you.  The end product, for each team will be a Power Point Presentation.  Each person on the team will have a job, and it is each person’s responsibility to complete his/her job.  At the end of this project, each person will have the opportunity to grade each team member on how well they fulfilled their responsibility.

Team Name ___________________________________________

Team Members _________________________________________

After taking the “Investigative Survey,” decide as a team which statement you would like to investigate further.

Investigative Statement: _________________________________________________________________________________
 

Jobs:
 

• All team members will be required to research some aspect of the Investigation Statement.

Time-line:
 
 

Your presentation must have the following aspects:

• Title/Investigative Statement
• Team Name
• At least 6 slides
• At least one graph
• At least 4 pictures
• Research information/answers Investigative Statement
• Slide of citations/where you got the information (at least3)

Math
 

Using the information that they gathered, the students will perform the following activities:

• Research paper “Funeral Home Prices”
• Bar graph: Native American Grave Protection & Repatriation Law
• Vocabulary
• Circle graph: Who Lived Longer…men…women, or children?
• Graph Your Choice: Politician Birth & Deaths in Indiana.
• Research paper: Native Indiana Trees
• Chart: Gravestone Art
• Common Abbreviations of Gravestone Markers

As a final project, the students will be required to create their own cemetery.  In addition to a visual product of the cemetery, they will have to include:

• The number and sizes of plots available
• The prices of plots
• The prices of headstones
• The projected annual income of cemetery

Language Arts
 

The information that the students gathered at the cemetery will be used as a basis for the activities and projects that they will be completing over the next two and a half weeks. The following activities will continue to relate back to the driving question.

• Write in your journal about what you saw at Crown Hill cemetery and what you thought was the most interesting.
• Choose an epitaph that you copied.  Identify the parts of speech.
• Explore the Internet to view epitaphs.  What information does the epitaph tell about the person?
• Discuss information that you found on a gravestone.  What did the symbols mean?  Design a gravestone for an imaginary person. Then write a poem about that person.
• Make a “Crown Hill” taxonomy.
• Create a word search or a crossword puzzle using vocabulary pertaining to Crown Hill cemetery.
• Choose one well-known person whose grave you located.  Do research to gather information about this person.  Then use the Writing Process to write a biography about him/her.  Share your findings with the class.
• Choose one well-known person whose grave you located.  Do research to gather information about this person.  Then use the Writing Process to write a biography about him/her.  Share your findings with the class.

Social Studies

In addition to reviewing the pre-assessment activity and the vocabulary, the students will be completing a research/investigation project.  The final outcome will be a presentation which will be done in front of the class.  All of the research (items needed are outlined below) will be sent to a drop box (in the angel database) which will be included in the final grade. 

Required research information:

• Based on the information gathered, create a profile of the person, adding missing information
• Research time period for profile, include:
• Year
• Geographic location at time of birth
• Geographic location at time of death
• What might the profile have done for a living
• Education available/ grade completed
• Probable religious affiliations 
• Probable family relationships
• Possible cause of death if not known
• Clothing
• Popular foods
• Popular politics
• Popular mode of transportation
• Cause of death; include any unusual probabilities i.e. entire family decimated by plague
• Final generation of profile will be sent to Mr. Burn’s class, at Attucks.  Class will translate information into Spanish culture profile.*

Adaptations

The following are adaptations that can be used in each of the subject area projects.
 

• Shared reading
• Small group reading
• Teacher read material to student
• Tape record responses
• Dictate responses to be copied by students
• Small group or individual explanation
• Shortened assignments
• Students pick from an assortment of assignments
• Take pictures instead of written response
• When working with groups from other schools match ability levels
• Simplify math assignments
• Student work with a “buddy” to complete assignment
• Extra time provided to complete assignments