Designed for elementary school teachers in Santa Cruz, California, this book outlines an experiential approach to community study. Because the term community can encompass a scope as narrow as the school or as wide as the region, these guidelines are adaptable to several elementary grade levels. The book is arranged in six sections. The first…

Many types of historical activities are described that enabled sixth graders to study the history of their community.

Home, school, neighborhood, and community studies offer unique opportunities for teachers to initiate youngsters into observing and recording phenomena. Because fuel costs make trips increasingly expensive, an alternative method is suggested for observing and recording data about the local community. (Author/IS)

Suggests that observing, photographing, and discussing local buildings and places can help students form opinions about the built environment, the art form they experience most of the time. Presents some teaching ideas from existing photography-in-the-built-environment projects in Britain and the United States. (Author/SJL)

Describes a writing course for undermotivated students which focuses on careful precise observations through the study of other time periods in the history of the town where the school is located. (DD)

These materials discuss the history of Chicago, Illinois, including prominent persons in the city's past, and landmarks for which Chicago is well known. A number of activities are suggested, some of which concern Chicago's industries, historical sites, architecture, newspapers, ethnic groups, and history. A list of books about Chicago for…

This report summarizes the results of a research project to examine arts participation patterns in 12 diverse communities across the United States. The research involved two major components: (1) the administration of an arts participation survey to randomly selected households in each area, and (2) research into the supply of local arts programs…

Presents a case study of an Indian village to show how and why values change as a result of environmental change. Objectives, suggested teaching time, materials, teaching techniques, and discussion questions are included. (Author/DB)

How fiction is used in a college-level political science seminar to teach about democratic decision making and U.S. politics is described. The fiction used is clustered around the following topics: community-level decisions, limits to consensus, group values and politics, acquiring elected offices and trying to keep them, and public bureaucracies.…

Describes a local history project in which high school students located valuable historic photographs on the local community and reproduced them on 35mm slides. An historic photo archive consisting of the slides accompanied by documentary materials was created. Procedures for creating and suggestions for using a photo archive are included. (KC)

Explains how studying a floodplain can help students analyze the interactions between humans and the physical environment. Analyzes data from two cities in California to demonstrate that housing prices did not rebound after a flood. (GG)

Elementary and secondary school teachers interested in developing a local history unit can adapt this fourth grade program created for three school districts in Cortland County, New York. Material is divided into 13 chapters. Chapter 1 charts the New York fourth grade curriculum by concept and content and outlines specific community study…

This book presents hands-on information on how to plan, administer, and analyze opinion polls. Guidance is also offered on how to make this strategy accessible to public interest groups. Several examples, checklists, warnings of possible pitfalls, and lists of material and human resources occur throughout the chapters. Major sections address the…

Trip maps and trip boards are described, as are suggested destinations for class trips. The maps are used as multipurpose tools that any teacher can tailor to the needs of his or her own community and environmental studies and to the skills of children of any age. (Author/KC)

Suggests the study of local issues as an active approach to citizenship education in the elementary and secondary grades. Presents a model activity for high school civics students on investigating the impact of a new shopping mall. (SJL)