Improve the System
This activity will lead your class through identifying possible solutions to the design problems that the current west corridor of FasTracks faces. The students will combine what they have learned from all three previous activities to come up with possible solutions to the design problems faced by the system. This activity requires the use of the FasTracks Living Lab.
What's the Problem?
Lesson 1, Activity 1 introduces the Asteroid Impact unit. Students will read the President’s memo to receive their ‘marching orders’. Student teams are then formed and are given the student packet that includes worksheets and maps. Each team should become familiar with the maps and complete Worksheet One as a group.
Bulbs & Batteries in a Row
Everyday we are surrounded by circuits that use “in parallel” and “in series” circuitry. Complicated circuits designed by engineers are composed of many simpler parallel and series circuits. During this activity, students build a simple series circuit and discover the properties associated with series circuits.
Design a Flying Machine
The purpose of this activity is for the students to draw a design for their own flying machine. They will apply their knowledge of aircraft design and the forces acting on them. The students will start with a brainstorming activity where they come up with creative uses for every day objects. They will then use their creativity and knowledge of airplanes to design their own flying machine.
Sound Line
Students learn the decibel reading of various noises and why high-level readings damage hearing. Sound types and decibel readings are written on sheets of paper, and students arrange the sounds from the lowest to highest decibel levels. If available, a decibel meter can be used to measure sounds by students.
How Tall Are We?
Kindergartners measure each other's height using large building blocks, then visit a 2nd and a 4th grade class to measure those students. They can also measure adults in the school community. Results are displayed in age-appropriate bar graphs (paper cut-outs of miniature building blocks glued on paper to form a bar graph) comparing the different age groups. The activities that comprise this lesson help students develop the concepts and vocabulary to describe, in a non-ambiguous way, how height
3.4 References Brandwood, G., Davison, A. and Slaughter, M. (2004) Licensed to Sell: The History and Heritage of the Public House, London, English Heritage. Wilkinson, A. (2001) Enough Has Been Bulldozed! Save Farnborough, the Cradle of British Aviation, London, SAVE Britain's Heritage. World Heritage List (2005) ‘The criteria for selection’ (Accessed 27 May
3.3 Managing Edinburgh as a heritage site In 1999, Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, a managing body, was established. In 2005, it published the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust Old and New Towns of Edinburgh management plan. This sets out what is significant about the World Heritage site, and outlines the steps for conserving and managing that significance. It lists the key features of the World Heritage site as follows: landscape setting – its topography of hills and valleys, juxtaposition of
3.2 Justification by State Party Read the Justification by State Party on the ICOMOS website (you only need to read the first nine pages which are the pages in English). How does the site meet the U 3.1 Overview In 1995, a large portion of central Edinburgh – the architecturally significant medieval and early Renaissance ‘Old Town’ and the Georgian ‘New Town’ – were included in the World Heritage List. Capital of Scotland since the fifteenth century, Edinburgh's unique character, a result of its particular combination of medieval fortress city and eighteenth-century neoclassical Georgian city, was given as the reason for its World Heritage status. The ‘Justification by St 2.8 References and further reading Ascherson, N. (2002) Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland (revised edn), London, Granta. Basu, P. (2007) Highland Homecomings: Genealogy and Heritage Tourism in the Scottish Diaspora, London, Routledge. Carman, J. and Carman, P. (2006) Bloody Meadows: Investigating Landscapes of Battle, Thrupp, Sutton. Culloden (1964) DVD, Peter Watkins (director), BBC British Film Institute 2.7 Conclusion: Culloden in its wider context Moving back out to look at Culloden in its wider context, what can we say that we have learned about the site and its meanings? For international visitors with few or no connections to the battle or to Scotland, it appears to be a site of pilgrimage that is functioning as a place to begin to decode the Scottish identity and the Scottish nation. At home, the major narrative of Culloden for Scots for more than two centuries has been one of tragedy, grief and loss. Once a signifier for the state 2.6 Culloden visitor survey In the light of recent reinterpretation of the site, which includes more and different voices to the portrayal of the battlefield, Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) undertook a preliminary visitor survey in April 2006 in order to begin to understand how the site figured in the construction of identity for Scots and other visitors (McLean et al., 2007). When questioned about their motives for visiting the site, many cited educational reasons; however, a large number also came as 2.5 Scottish identity Although Bannockburn has figured recently as a mark of ‘Scottishness’ (in part because of the 1995 film Braveheart, which popularised William Wallace and was prominent in nationalist discourse in the years leading to Scottish devolution), Culloden has had a place in the minds and memories of Scots for over two centuries. In that time it has become a signifier of an invented Scotland of mountain scenery, castles and tartan. It is closely tied to the evocative tale of Bonnie Pri 2.4 Bannockburn and Culloden as heritage sites Although the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) website offers similar descriptions of each site, there are notable differences in the treatment of each one. On the pages of the website devoted to Bannockburn, the NTS identifies the battle as ‘one of the greatest and most important pitched battles ever fought in the British Isles’ that could ‘rightly be claimed as the most famous battle to be fought and won by the Scots’. Furthermore, Bannockburn, says the NTS, has ‘lo 2.3 Bannockburn and Culloden In Scotland, two battlefields, Culloden (1746) and Bannockburn (1314), stand out as iconic spaces, recognised not only by Scots but also by visitors. These two battles are not the most important battles in Scotland's past; however, over time both have gained a particular place in the ‘ remembered’ past of Scotland, and both figure highly in the myth and memory making of Scots at home and abroad. The historical significance of the Battle of Bothwell Bridge (1679) – the site of 2.2 Battlefield sites Battlefields are ‘increasingly being taken up as part of a nation's “official” heritage’ (Carman and Carman, 2006, p. 1) so it is essential to consider their role in the construction of individual and group identity, and in developing a sense of nationhood. As heritage sites, battlefields are a paradox: on the one hand, their qualities as deeply experiential places have long been recognised and are well documented; on the other hand, battlefield sites are often unprepos 2.1 Overview Heritage sites have particular and significant roles in our personal and national identity. They operate as fundamental building blocks in the construction of a sense of self and of ‘pastness’. They are key elements that enable individuals to locate themselves within a larger group past and identity. There are any number of sites – from great house to open-air museum to ancient monument, and to any of the many other places that mark aspects of the past – but together they provide 1 Case studies The first case study in this unit, ‘Battlefields as heritage sites’ by Mary-Catherine Garden, involves public memories of two significant historical events, the battles of Bannockburn and Culloden. They have helped to forge national consciousness in Scotland but have little visible archaeological evidence to inform the viewer. Intangible heritage, linked to a physical site, presents problems of its own. The second study examines the old and new towns of Edinburgh, its designati Next Steps After completing this unit you may wish to study another OpenLearn Study Unit or find out more about this topic. Here are some suggestions: If you wish to study formally at The Open University, you may wish to explore the
Activity 1
