Aim:    1.    What information do we want to find out about a millennium superhero?
            2.    How can we organize this information?
                    3.    To develop the concept of how people of diverse cultures have shaped the past and have impacted us in the present and our future.
            4.    To appreciate the fact that ordinary people can be heroes as a result of their actions and contributions to society.

Materials:    Kidspiration, Inspiration, or Kid Pix, AppleWorks, LCD projector

Vocabulary: graphic organizer, database, field, layout, browse, biography, contributions to mankind, early life, educational background

Standards addressed:
            1.    The student creates an organizing structure appropriate to a specific purpose, audience and context.
            2.    The student knows the common features and uses of databases.
            3.    The student develops awareness of the types of information to include in a biographical report.
                   4.    The student will develop the concept of how people of diverse cultures have shaped the past and have impacted us in the present and our future.
            5.    The student will come to appreciate the fact that ordinary people can be heroes as a result of their actions and contributions to society.
 

Motivation:
                 1.    Examine biographical sketches of real life heroes on http://myhero.com/New_Directory/directory_table.asp. Determine what types of information were included in the sketches so that we get to know about the person described. Brainstorm to come up with information that would be important to include in a report about a real life hero. Chart ideas onto a graphic organizer. Kidspiration, Inspiration, or Kid Pix may be used by the teacher and projected onto a large screen by a LCD projector.

Procedure:
                1.       Synthesize the information from the graphic organizer into a list of questions to be answered about a hero of the last millennium. Discuss with students which information would be important to include in a report so that it would be comprehensive, interesting to read, and make the reader understand why this person is a hero.
                2.        Using the database program on AppleWorks, list each question as a field. Order the fields so that the answers to the questions will be in the best sequential order for writing a report about the person.
                3.        Choose layout from the database Layout menu. Drag the body down to the bottom of the page. Drag the fields downward and space evenly from top to bottom. Highlight text of each field to edit the font, size, color, and style of the text. Use the line tool to separate each field horizontally and create a box in which to insert answers to each question. Use the line tool to separate the questions from the boxes in which to write the answers. Save the database document.
 

Evaluation:    Students will be evaluated on their ability to develop a list of questions that they will use in doing research about a real life hero and to create a database using their questions.
 

Follow up:    During Lesson #3,the research phase of the unit, students will use the browse feature of the database program to insert information they find as they research or the databases may be printed out and students can fill in the information they find by hand.

Tip: This lesson may be done by individual students or in groups in which students plan to report on one particular person or people who are linked by field or occupation.