WHERE DO WE HIDE THE BODIES?

Developed by: Dee Dee Fix and Alexandra Griffin

March 2000

 PICTURE OF THE GRADUATE:

By starting the school year introducing a process of thought, which will be integrated across the curriculum and subject matter, the student will become familiar with technology and the relevance of science, history, language arts, and art to their lives. Often students fail to question what is taught in the classroom. When they ask "why" the answer is "because you will need it some day." What we can facilitate is our student's ability to meet challenges and both develop and answer important questions. We would like to encourage students who will not be deterred in pursuit of the answers when they are not handed to them, but one who understands the present and future technology and can use it coupled with a process of thought to uncover their own answers.

To understand is to grasp meaning…To grasp the meaning of a thing, event, or a situation is to see it in its relation to other things: to note how it operates, what consequences follow from it, what causes it, what uses it can be put to… Things gain meaning when as used as a means to bring about consequences… the relation of means to consequences… the relation of means to consequences is the center at the heart of all understanding.

John Dewey, "How We Think"

• Including subject matter and specific technology which will be used

LESSON ONE: Where is the beginning?

Scientific Method

Using the technology

Depending on yourself to answer your own questions

• Science, history, art, language arts
• Global positioning system (GPS), digital camera, computer, printer, Alpha Smart

LESSON TWO: How do you know history?
Personal relevance in the study of history

Exploring the lives and legacies of historical figures

• Science, history, language arts
• Computer, internet, printer, digital camera

LESSON THREE: Why do we have cemeteries?

The first funerals

Rituals and practicality

• Science, history, language arts
• Computer, internet, printer

LESSON FOUR: What are the modern day rituals?

Community experts: pathology, morticians

• Science, history, language arts
• Digital camera, computer, printer
  

LESSON FIVE: Remember me!

How others see me now

How others can see me after the end of my time

Through written life history

Through headstones

• Science, history, art, language arts
• Computer, printer, digital camera, smart board

LESSON SIX: Cemetery Field Trip

What data can be collected for the Cemetery Database Project

• Science, history, language arts
• Computer, printer, digital camera, GPS, Alpha Smart

Summary: This is the first lesson in a multidisciplinary unit. The title of this section is "Where is the beginning?"

Time: This section of the unit was designed to last approximately two eighty-minute class periods.

Season: Originally designed to motivate students at the start of school.

1. Global Positioning System (GPS)
2. Alpha Smart
3. Digital Camera
4. Butcher paper
5. Markers
6. Overhead Projector
7. Computers with internet connection
8. Printer

• The student will be able to develop and answer questions about the headstone.
• The student will be familiar with the scientific method.
• The student will be able to use the scientific method to develop instructions on how to use the given technology.
• The student will use the available technology in the most basic formats.

1. As students walk into the classroom there will be a large headstone. The biographic information on the headstone will be of a famous person. The students will be directed to write as many questions as they can about the headstone on a large piece of butcher paper.
2. After they are done with the questions we will go over the questions that they have come up with. A list will be compiled on the overhead of the reoccurring questions.
3. At this point in the lesson the steps of the scientific method will be laid out. The steps include: observation, problem, research, hypothesis, experiment, and results. And conclusion. (See attached investigation form.)
4. After the scientific method form of questioning is introduced the students will be asked to apply the questioning process of the scientific method to the headstone.
5. Following the development of the questions from the scientific method they will be asked what technology could help answer the questions? We are hoping that the students will want more tools to answer the questions they have developed.
6. At this point the technological tools which will be available to them through out the school year will be introduced. These tools include the GPS, the digital camera, the Alpha Smart, and the classroom computer with Internet connection.
7. The technology will be modeled to answer the questions "what is our current latitude and longitude?"
8. The students will then be broken up into several small groups. Each group will be given the task of writing the directions for the use of a pencil using the scientific method. They will have approximately five minutes to complete this task.
9. After five minutes has elapsed each group will read their directions out loud.
10. Then each group will be given either the Alpha Smart, the GPS, or the digital camera and asked to have each member familiarize him or herself with it. Then the group will have to write brief instructions for basic usage.
11. The final part of the day will circle back to the beginning. The students will be asked to answer questions about the headstone: How can technology be used to answer the questions about the headstone? What tools do you now have to answer the questions about the headstone? Students in their small groups will have to submit in written form the answer to at least one of the questions.
12. To close the day and lead into tomorrow the students will then reflect on "what they have learned" in a journal. An example will be given of restating the scientific method. The first day, after they have spent approximately five minutes thinking and writing the teacher will model and share their writing and show their expectations to the students.

1. Where is the beginning?
2. What is our current longitude and latitude?
3. What technology can help answer the questions about the headstone?

1. Students will be evaluated on their journals with the journal rubric.
2. Students will be evaluated using a group work rubric.
3. Students will be asked each day for an individual effort grade.

1. Alternative setting of the lesson could be a cemetery.
2. Students should be instructed on cemetery etiquette.

1. "Tombstone Traveler's Guide." Available at http://home.flash.net/~leimer/index.html

Summary: This is the second lesson in a multidisciplinary unit. The title of this section is "How do you know history?"

Time: This section of the unit was designed to last approximately three eighty-minute class periods.

Season: Originally designed to motivate students at the start of school.

1. Construction paper
2. Marker
3. Computers with internet connection
4. Printer
5. Colored pencils

• The student will be able to answer basic questions about the historical figure of their choice.
• The student will use technology to find ways to answer questions.
• The student will begin a yearlong quest to discover why history matters in their lives.

1. To start class the students will be asked to draw a quick family tree. Students will be instructed to include as many relatives as they possibly can. If they cannot do a family tree they will be asked to list as many family members and their relationship to the student as possible.
2. Next have the class discuss the importance of knowing who is in your family and how much the average student knows about the people that are related to him or her.
3. Then the students will be asked to break into their small groups. Each group will be asked to brainstorm and list as many people that they know out of history that are no longer alive.
4. The class will reconvene and make a list of who they can come up with. It will lead into a discussion of how they know what they know about the people and how they know what they know about their own families. They will also be asked, "why do you think that these people are still known today?"
5. After this discussion the students will be asked to pick a historical figure off a master class list. This next phase of the module begins a yearlong project. The people on the list like- Molly Pitcher, Ethan Allen, John Smith, Frederick Douglass will all be from the time period that is covered in history class.
6. The next phase of the unit will take place in the computer lab. Students will use web sites like www.aande.com/class/teach/index.html and www.historychannel.com to do a preliminary investigation into the person they have chosen. They will be asked to find out the basic information about the person- about as much information as would be on a headstone.
7. When the class reconvenes each student will be asked to draw or create the headstone that they think that the person deserves or would possibly have. They will have to include the information that they have gathered when they were on the Internet.
8. Then the students will share with the class the headstone that they have created and the information that they have gathered about their historical figure.
9. The class will then discuss how much they really know about the person- (not all that much) and why the class should care about the accomplishments of people from the past. Why is the story of their historical figure important to how the world we live into has turned out? What would the world be like without that historical figure?
10. Over the course of the year the students are going to find out the real story of the life of their historical figure. Later in the year they are going to "become" the person from history and when the class gets to that period of time they are go to lead class as the expert.
11. The practice of journal reflection from the previous lesson will be continued for closure.

1. How do you really know history?
2. How is the story of their historical figure important to the world we live in?
3. What would the world be like without that historical figure?

1. Students will be evaluated on their journals with the journal rubric.
2. Students will be evaluated on their class presentations of their historical figure.
3. Students will be asked to evaluate their personal effort regularly.

1. Students could become the historical figure they pick during the lesson when the class is studying that specific time period. They will have to go in-depth into the life of the person and share with the class how their historical figure's life changed the world.

1. The A & E web site: www.aande.com
2. The History channel web site: www.historychannel.com
3. Dewey, John. Experience and Education. Collier Books: London, 1938.
4. Ducksworth, Eleanor. The Having of Wonderful Ideas. Teachers College Press: New York, 1996.

 Summary: This is the third lesson in a multidisciplinary unit. The title of this section is "Why do we have cemeteries?"

Time: This section of the unit was designed to last approximately two to three eighty-minute class periods.

Season: Originally designed to motivate students at the start of school.

1. Computers with internet connection
2. Paper
3. Pencil/pen
4. Investigation form

• The student will compare and contrast burial rituals in various cultures by doing research on the Internet.
• The student will use the steps of the scientific method to complete the research.
• The student will develop generalizations by synthesizing the knowledge gained in the research.

1. Divide students into "expert" cooperative learning groups. (4-6 students)
2. Explain the directions of the Kidprov game "Connections."

A student is designated as the pointer and enters the center of the circle. That student randomly points to members of the circle. When pointed to, a student must respond with a word that somehow relates to the main idea. Once a related word is offered, it cannot be repeated. The pointer quickly points around the circle in random fashion, eliciting responses. (Improvisations, P. 24)

3. Each group will make connections using the topic: cemeteries.
4. Regroup as a class. Make a list of words common to all groups. Define terms when necessary.
5. Review rules of working in a cooperative group and rules governing on line research.
6. Assign each group a specific culture to investigate.
7. Using the investigation form model the process with the Egyptian culture.
8. Allow students Internet or library research time.
9. Have each "expert" group collaborate and compile their data into a final format.
10. Jigsaw the "expert" groups. (Jigsaw- put one expert from each culture together in a new cooperative group.)
11. Allow time for each expert to share with his or her new group.
12. Evaluation
13. Closure- journal entry.

1. Why do we have cemeteries?
2. How do other cultures prepare the dead?
3. How do other cultures bury the dead?
4. When and where did cemeteries originate?
5. What did people do with the dead before cemeteries were popular?
6. Name alternative methods to burying the dead.

1. Each individual should be able to create a Venn diagram using two or three cultures.
2. Students will be evaluated on their journals with the journal rubric.

1. Each "expert" group could develop oral presentations, posters, or three-dimensional models.
2. Students could compose a compare/contrast essay.
3. Students could create a mock funeral skit for each culture.

1. Newton, Brad. Improvisations: Use What You Know- Make Up the What You Don't! Second Edition. Gifted Psychology Press, Inc.: Scottsdale, AZ: 1999.
2. "Victoria Tombstone Tales of Ross Bay Cemetery." Available at http://oldcem.bc.ca./index.html

Summary: This is the fourth lesson in a multidisciplinary unit. The title of this section is "How is death handled in present day American society?"

Time: This section of the unit was designed to last approximately one eighty-minute class period.

Season: Originally designed to motivate students at the start of school.

1. Paper
2. Pencil/pen
3. Guest speaker (pathologist, mortician, or medical examiner)

• Prior to the speaker's lecture, give him/her a list of focus questions to be addressed.

• The student will be able to describe modern day death and burial rituals in America.
• The student will be able to state the environmental impact issues surrounding cemeteries and embalming practices.

1. Open again by playing Kidprov Connections game with cemeteries as the initial topic. Continue the fame by calling for a topic switch using the other cultures researched in the previous lesson as the new topics.
2. Establish guest speaker guidelines.
3. Familiarize students with the focus questions to be addressed by the speaker.
4. Introduce guest speaker.
5. Have students take notes or answer the focus questions as the guest talks.
6. Allow students time to ask the speaker questions before he/she leaves.
7. Reinforce focus questions answered by the speaker.
8. Evaluate.
9. Journal entry.

1. What happens when someone dies?
2. What is done to the body?
3. Why are those procedure performed on a body?
4. Is embalming necessary?
5. Why are people put in a casket and vault?
6. Are there any environmental concerns involved with embalming or putting bodies in the earth?
7. What might cemeteries of the future be like?

1. Students will be evaluated on their journals with the journal rubric.
2. Students will compose a compare/contrast essay using modern day death and burial practices and the culture researched by the student in his "expert" group.

1. Take a field trip to a nearby pathology lab or funeral home.
2. Dissect a frog performing an imaginary embalming procedure.
3. Go on line and perform a virtual dissection.

1. Newton, Brad. Improvisations: Use What You Know- Make Up the What You Don't! Second Edition. Gifted Psychology Press, Inc.: Scottsdale, AZ: 1999.

Summary: This is the fifth lesson in a multidisciplinary unit. The title of this section is "Remember me…"

Time: This section of the unit was designed to last approximately three to four eighty-minute class periods.

Season: Originally designed to motivate students at the start of school.

1. Packets explaining symbolism and epitaphs
2. Paper
3. Pencil/pen
4. Computers
5. Printers
6. Alpha Smart
7. Sketch paper
8. Clay or papier mache supplies (newspaper, glue or paste, cardboard)

• The student will generate inferences after observing the headstones.
• The student will explain the significance and meaning of symbols and figures on a headstone.
• The student will define "epitaph" and then make one for his/her headstone.
• The student will write his/her own personal history to represent his/her life thus far.
• The student will design, sketch, and build his/her own headstone.

1. Display faux headstones or several photos of headstones. Include headstones that have several types of symbols, figures, and interesting epitaphs.
2. Have students write a brief description of each person after viewing the headstones.
3. Discuss inferences made from observing the headstones. Emphasize how a person's character is evident simply by viewing his/her headstone.
4. Present students with common symbols and figures used on headstones. Explain each ones meaning.
5. Define epitaph. Look at several examples.
6. Have students create his/her own epitaph.
7. Have students sketch his/her own headstone. Include several symbols indicative to his/her own life.
8. Once the student has sketched his/her headstone have them build it using either clay or papier-mache.
9. Next, each student should write his/her personal history. Have students consider what his/her greatest accomplishments are and what he/she is most proud of.
10. Display headstones and personal histories.
11. Closure- journal entry.

1. What are the common symbols and figures found on a headstone?
2. What do each of these symbols represent?
3. What is an epitaph?
4. Does my epitaph represent my personality?
5. What does each symbol on my headstone mean?

1. Each student should orally present his/her headstone and personal history. Each symbol should be explained.
2. Students will be evaluated on their journals with the journal rubric.

1. Each student could type his/her personal history on the computer creating a class newsletter.
2. Classmates could try to match headstones with personal histories based on the symbols on each stone.
3. Students could use the digital camera to take personal photos to add to their headstones, histories, or newsletter.
4. Students could plot their life map showing the short and long-term goals they hope to accomplish in the future.

1. "Victoria Tombstone Tales of Ross Bay Cemetery." Available at http://oldcem.bc.ca./index.html
2. "Tombstone Traveler's Guide." Available at http://home.flash.net/~leimer/index.html

Summary: This is the sixth lesson in a multidisciplinary unit. The title of this section is "What data can we collect at the cemetery?"

Time: Dependent upon number and size of cemeteries assigned for data collection.

Season: Originally designed to motivate students at the start of school.

1. Paper
2. Pencil/pen
3. Alpha Smart
4. Digital Camera
5. GPS
6. Data collection forms- provided by Cemetery Project

• The students will collect data from headstones using the given technology or paper and pencil.
• The students will be comfortable working with various types of technology.

1. Review cemetery etiquette.
2. Field trip to the assigned cemeteries.
3. Record data found.
4. Forward data to Bellnet database.
5. Closure- Journal entry.

1. What data can be collected at a cemetery?
2. What unique characteristics can be noticed at each cemetery?

1. Recording of data by each student.
2. "Practical exam" of use of each type of technology.
3. Students will be evaluated on their journals with the journal rubric.

1. Create a scavenger hunt to be completed in a cemetery. Students could be required to use the digital camera to take pictures of the items on the scavenger hunt. For example- the oldest headstone, a headstone from the Civil War era, etc.
2. Students could write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper detailing why they as teenagers think cemeteries should be respected and maintained.

1. Bellnet Cemetery Database Project. http://bellnetweb.brc.tamus.edu

Please answer the following questions:

1. I felt I gave ____% of my effort to the group.

 

2. My job in my group was ________________________.

 

3. I have learned ________________ about working in a group.

 

4. I think that my grade for my part of the project should be a _________.