Students will complete a project planning matrix that help the students focus on specific objectives of the project. These include dividing the state into 4 geographic regions, choosing 1 target city within each region, and choosing the cities based on historical, economic, tourist, and national park status. Students will also make a commitment as to their target audience.
Advance preparation and prerequisite knowledge/skills
Vocabulary
Choose the focus audience for the project. Suggestions are:
School aged students
Businesses looking to expand into the state
Travel agents
Families
Retired travelers
Have students suggest an audience for their project. You can use the suggested topics or have the students suggest their own, When you have 5 or 6 suggestions have students work in groups to decide what type of places that each audience would want to visit in each category and write those on butcher paper for a class presentation. After each group presents their findings the butcher paper sheets are left up for individual reference.
Discuss and Define each item on the matrix and construct a list of items that would be appropriate to each
Regions might include Coast, Mountain, River, Delta, Forest, Plain, Desert, Valley, Lake, Swamp, Wetlands, and will vary from state to state.
National Parks is a common feature to each state with links to geographical features, tourist interest, and historical significance.
Economic Centers are usually the larger cities in the state, but might also include a city built around a particular core business for example Fresno is an economic city because it is a center of agricultural business in California. This focus meets that National Geography Standard of "The Patterns and Networks of Economic Interdependence on Earth’s Surface"
Historical Centers will focus students on the historically significant events in their state in relation to the physical geography. Instead of just focusing on what happened in the past, students will show an understanding about why a historical event happened in a certain geographic area.
Focusing on a tourist destination brings in the fun aspect to the project. Sites such as Disneyland, Hollywood, or Newport RI are places to visit for fun and add to the tourism focus
Session 3
Students work on computers and off-line resources to research sites to complete their individual planning matrix. Helpful websites include:
States and Capitals http://50states.com/
National Park Service http://nps.gov/search.htm
US Census Information http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/
Atlas Pages http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/usa.htm
Historical Societies http://obitlinkspage.com/hs/
Family Tourism Guides http://newparentsguide.com/family-travel-guides.htm
Completed planning Matrix Sheets should be checked by the teacher to make sure
There are 4 distinct regions designated
There is one location noted for each region
There is one location noted for each category
There are websites listed for each entry
The matrix can be adjusted to include more or less characteristics depending on the ability level of the students. This matrix could also be used to show characteristic of ancient civilizations or different countries.
Students will probably need at least 2 days to complete this matrix. Start the process in the computer lab. Completion can be done at home or in class on on-line or off-line resources.
Evaluation
Presentations are focused, easy to understand, and show a understanding of the content presented. Each presentation will include at least 4 suggestions of places to visit for the target audience.
Students will complete the matrix with 4 distinct geographic regions in which the four characteristics (National Park, Economic Center, Historical Center, and Tourist Center) are located. They will also have recorded their target audience and found and recorded at least 2 web sites for each of the characteristics that are relevant to their target audience.
Example of Completed Matrix
Project Planning Matrix Name Juliette Brandon
Focus Audience - Family travel
| Region | National Park | Economic Center | Historical Center | Tourist Center |
| Coastal |
Channel Islands National Park | |||
Mountain |
Mt. Shasta http://shastahome.com/visitors.htm |
|||
Desert |
Bodie | |||
Central Valley |
Fresno |
