Person in History

Summary

In this lesson, we will use a GPS to uncover clues about a famous person. Then each group of students will discover the story behind each clue to learn about this person.

Materials

For this lesson you will need a GPS unit for each group of students and access to research materials (ie. Internet, encyclopedia, etc). Attached are the picture clues I used in this lesson, as well as a power point a student made as a final project for the lesson.

Background for Teachers

Before teaching the lesson teachers will need to be familiar with a GPS. They will need to conduct research on a famous person and determine several clues about that person.

Student Prior Knowledge

Students will need to learn how to use a GPS.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to find objects using a GPS. They will be able to synthesize the information contained in those objects and conduct research to learn about a famous person.

Instructional Procedures

1. Find several different clues about the famous person your class will be researching. In this example we will be studying Martin Luther King Jr. The five clues are:
   • A picture of the Washington Monument
   • Won the Nobel peace prize.
   • A map of Memphis, Tennessee
   • A picture of James Earl Ray
   • Wrote the novel Why We Can't Wait in 1964
2. You will need to place the containers which contain the clues about your famous person. Be sure to mark the waypoints for each container.
3. For our introductory activity in this unit the students will use the GPS units to find the clues about our mysterious famous person. You'll need to break them up into small groups before they go out on the hunt. Each group will have the waypoint for one of the five clues on their GPS. The individual groups will be responsible for finding their clue.
4. Send the groups out to find their clue.
5. Once each group returns with their clue, have the students pass out on of their clues with the other groups so that each group has access to the other four clues.
6. Students will use the clues to uncover the identity of the famous person.
7. Have the students use the Internet (Pioneer Library) to conduct research on their clue. The groups will present 5 facts about their clue and how it relates to the famous person.



Assessment Plan

The assessment for this lesson will be the quality of content in the student presentations. Attached is a presentation rubric.




Rubrics

• Student Presentation Rubric