Grade: all

#248. Create a City

Social Studies, level: all
Posted by Heather M. Dengel (tdengel@nb.net).
Holy Family Institute Day Program, Pittsburgh, PA
Materials Required: poster board, rulers, pencils, graph paper
Activity Time: one to two weeks
Concepts Taught: Incorporating Pennsylvania History

From the ideas of William Penn, students are able to develop their own city. Using Penn's example of a checkerboard city (Philadelphia) students will apply the necessary concepts to develop a city on their own. Students should be required to first draw a practice map on graph paper. Each student is given a list of requirements for each map, some of which may include: a map key, parks, streets, businesses, civic buildings, sporting complexes, etc... It is the teacher who can decide whether the students should be creating a city from the 1600's or the present day. I found the one on one grading conferences to be most successful on this project. Part of the student's grade was based on their ability to give written directions from one location to another, per teacher's request.