Learning Through Projects

Social Studies Classes Get Hands On Learning!

by Susan Soltwedel

November 17, 2007

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see inside a pyramid in Egypt? Or what the population distribution is within the United States? Did you ever wonder what REALLY happened during the Boston Massacre or American Revolution? Students in the wonderful world of high school Social Studies got to see for themselves how these things have impacted our nation and the world!

The use of student directed learning is not a new concept in education. Students generally get more from their education if they learn for themselves how things are developed or work. World History students learned about the ancient cultures that have helped to shape democracy throughout the world for generations. Students in these classes were given a project to summarize their learning in the unit. Many of my students chose to build an Egyptian pyramid like you would find in Giza or near the Nile River, while a few chose to compare ancient world religions with modern world religions.

Sadie A.

Population Distribution of the United States graph.

While students in my World History classes were busy learning how different cultures have shaped our society, students in World Geography were learning about the regions within the United States and Canada. Students worked hard to learn about how the population was distributed within the U.S. today. Several students also created pamphlets on states they would like to visit, and they were asked to describe the region, and climate as well as what to do when they got there! To research these facts for the distribution charts and pamphlets, students used the World Fact Book and United States Census data.

Finally, students in United States History and U.S. Government were looking at how our country was shaped, formed and eventually how we became the thriving society we are today. It was exciting to see how students examined these different parts of history and government establishment by looking at events such as the Boston Massacre and Revolutionary War, and key players like George Washington, Paul Revere, and James Madison. Students developed Power point presentations, and research papers that portrayed these events and turning points in history.

Overall, the year is progressing wonderfully and the students are working harder than ever, and I can't believe that we are almost done with our first semester! Its been fun "watching" the students learn through the use of projects, and I hope that the students are having as much fun creating the projects as I have had grading them!