| Standards Compliance |
NCTE
Standard 3
Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts.
|
NCTE
Standard 5
Students use a wide range of strategies and elements to write to communicate with different audiences and for purposes.
|
NCTE
Standard 8
Students use a variety of technology and information resources to gather, synthesize, and communicate knowledge.
|
NCTE
Standard 12
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes.
|
ISTE
Standard 3
Technology productivity tools
|
ISTE
Standard 4
Technology communications tools
|
ISTE
Standard 5
Technology research tools
|
NCSS
Strand 2
Time, Continuity, and Change
|
NCSS
Strand 3
People, Places, and Environments
|
NCSS
Strand 6
Power, Authority, and Governance
|
NCSS
Strand 8
Science, Technology, and Society
|
|
Introduction:
In 1867, William H. Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State, signed an agreement with the Russian Minister to the United States, that ceded 586,000 square miles of land that comprised what is now Alaska to the United States for the sum of 7.2 million dollars. The 40th Congress (1867-1869), of which James A. Garfield was a member, legislated a customs district for the land, but made no other effort to grant territory status to the area. Many people in the U.S. thought the purchase was of no use to the country, and it was, for a long time, known as “Seward’s Folly,” or “Seward’s Icebox”.
Objectives:
Students who participate in this lesson will learn about the history of Alaska, the history of statehood for Alaska, and the history of the building of the Alaska highway and the Alaska pipeline as well as about the current controversy over drilling oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Students will research these topics and demonstrate their knowledge by producing either a newspaper, a video, or a PowerPoint presentation detailing the history of Alaska and the issues currently pertaining to it.
Materials Required:
Access to the Internet; access to print materials; a word processor; PowerPoint capability; a video camera (optional).
Procedures:
Introduce this lesson by telling students that they will be producing a documentary about Alaska. The documentary can take several forms: a commemorative newspaper, a video presentation, or a PowerPoint documentary. Students should select one type of documentary format before proceeding.
When the selection of format has been made, students should be divided into five groups:
Group 1 – Students will research the general history of Alaska
Group 2 – Students will research the history of the “march to statehood” in Alaska
Group 3 – Students will research the building of the Alaska Highway
Group 4 – Students will research the building of the Alaska pipeline
Group 5 – Students will research the pros and cons of contemporary drilling for oil in
ANWR
When each group has completed its research, students should begin writing articles, features, and editorials for the documentary. If students have selected to prepare a video or a PowerPoint, a storyboard should be developed in each group to outline the ways in which its research will be presented.
One representative from each group should be selected to meet regularly with similar representatives from all other groups in order to ensure that there is continuity of layout, order, etc. for the documentary.
Group 5 has the responsibility of presenting all sides of the debate on drilling in the ANWR, without taking sides.
When the production of the documentary (in whatever form) is complete, arrangements should be made to show it (or distribute it, if the product is a newspaper) to other classes in the school.
Extending the Lesson:
This lesson can be extended by having students, after the presentation or distribution of the documentary, debate the issue of drilling for oil in ANWR and vote as a class (or set of classes) on whether or not the nation should proceed with such drilling.
Sources & Resources:
Websites:
History of Alaska
A Brief History of Alaska Statehood (1867-1959)
Official Alaska site
Building the Alaska Highway
Building the Alaska Pipeline
Alaska Oil Drilling
Credits:
This lesson was developed by Averil McClelland, Kent State University.
|