Exploring Chicago

From CurriculumWiki

Explore Chicago’s rich history, beautiful landmarks, and diverse neighborhoods through the Chicago flag. Analyze what the symbols and colors on the Chicago flag represent. You can use the Exploring Chicago KWLH Worksheet to plan what you want to learn about Chicago.

View of Chicago from the Sears Tower. See sources.

1 Questions
2 Content
3 Process
4 Product
5 Standards
6 Credits
- 6.1 Authors
- 6.2 Sources

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Questions

Essential Question

How have innovations and events helped change our society?

Unit Questions

Are you a Chicagoan?
How much do you know about Chicago?

Content Questions

What do the stars on the on Chicago flag represent?
What do the blue stripes on the Chicago flag represent?
What do the white stripes on the Chicago flag represent?

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Content

The flag of the City of Chicago.

Each part of the Chicago flag represents something important about the city and its history.

The first star represents Fort Dearborn. Fort Dearborn was created near the mouth of the Chicago River, along Lake Michigan, to protect traders and settlers. It was founded by Captain John Whistler in 1803. Fort Dearborn was burnt to the ground by Chief Blackbird. Fort Dearborn was rebuilt on the original site on 1816.

The second star represents the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. This devastating fire started on the night of October 8, 1871. The fire burned for three days and destroyed major parts of the city. Three hundred people died, two hundred million dollars in property had been destroyed, and one hundred thousand people were left without their homes.

The third and fourth stars represent the World’s Fairs hosted by Chicago. The first fair was the World's Columbian Exposition, held in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's landing in America. The second fair, A Century of Progress, was held in 1933 to celebrate Chicago's centennial, its 100th year as a city.

The two blue stripes represent Lake Michigan and the branches of the Chicago River. The three white stripes represent the neighborhoods to the north, south, and west.

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Process

Join a group with one to three other students. Your teacher may assign you to a group or ask you to find partners.
Working as a group, decide what topic about Chicago you want to research. Check with your teacher to make sure you choose a good topic.
Research your topic. You may use the Web sites you explored earlier or you may find your own Web sites.

Create a multiimedia presentation to explain your topic to other students in your class. First, plan your presentation by completing a storyboard. Then, use the storyboard as a template to design your multimedia presentation.
Write two or three quiz questions to ask your audience at the end of your presentation.
Prepare to deliver your presentation to the class. Decide what each member of your group will do during the presentation. Practice your roles and make sure you know how to use any equipment you will need.
Deliver your presentation to the class. When you have finished and answered any questions, ask your quiz questions. If you have given a good presentation, your audience should be able to answer the questions quickly.

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Product

Use the following rubric to help you create a more effective presentation.

Category	4	3	2	1
Storyboard	All thumbnail sketches include the title of slide, the main point of the slide, formatting instructions, and URLS for any hyperlinks or multimedia.	The storyboard provides an overview of the presentation with thumbnail sketches of each slide in a logical order.	The storyboard has some thumbnail sketches, but they are not complete or in a logical order.	The storyboard has few thumbnail sketches and does not provide an overview of the presentation.
Content	All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.	Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might be inaccurate.	The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly flawed or inaccurate.	Content is typically confusing or contains more than one factual error.
Layout	Font formats (e.g., color, bold, italic) have been carefully planned to enhance readability and content.	Font formats have been carefully planned to enhance readability.	Font formatting has been carefully planned to complement the content. It may be a little hard to read.	Font formatting makes it very difficult to read the material.
Mechanics	Information is organized in a clear, logical way. It is easy to anticipate the type of material that might be on the next slide.	Most information is organized in a clear, logical way. One slide or item of information seems out of place.	Some information is logically sequenced. An occasional slide or item of information seems out of place.	There is no clear plan for the organization of information.

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Standards

Illinois Learning Standards

Language Arts State Goal 1: Read with understanding and fluency.

1.C.2d Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate to purpose of material.
1.C.2f Connect information presented in tables, maps and charts to printed or electronic text.

Language Arts State Goal 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.

3.B.3a Produce documents that convey a clear understanding and interpretation of ideas and information and display focus, organization, elaboration and coherence.
3.C.3b Using available technology, produce compositions and multimedia works for specified audiences.

Social Studies State Goal 16: Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations.

16.A.2c Ask questions and seek answers by collecting and analyzing data from historic documents, images and other literary and non-literary sources.
16.B.1a Identify key individuals and events in the development of the local community (e.g., Founders days, names of parks, streets, public buildings).

National Educational Technology Standards for Students

NETS-S 2. Technology productivity tools

Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.

NETS-S 3. Technology communications tools

Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.

NETS-S 4. Technology research tools

Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.

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Credits

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Authors

This unit was originally created by Kaori Waters, Chicago Public Schools in the Intel Teacher to the Future Essentials Course. It was adapted for CurriculumWiki by James Sweet, Digital Generation Education Exchange.

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