SORTING AND ORGANIZING A COLLECTION ESTIMATED TIME
30 minutes
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How are collections sorted and organized?
VOCABULARY
Collection
Timeline Year Decade Century
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to: • Identify characteristics by which collections can be organized
TEKS
Social Studies 3.3.a use vocabulary related to chronology, including past, present, and future times 3.3.b create and interpret timelines 3.3.c apply the terms year, decade, and century to describe historical times Math 8.1B use a problem-solving model that incorporates analyzing given information, formulating a plan or strategy, determining a solution, justifying the solution, and evaluating the problem-solving process and the reasonableness of the solution
MATERIALS PER CLASS
System to project http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_specifications
MATERIALS PER GROUP
Sorting Tray
Scaled timeline
Balance Magnet
Color chart comparison
Bag of 30 coins
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MATERIALS PER STUDENT
Science notebook
PROCEDURE 1. Use the system to project the US Mint website. Discuss how coins are made. 2. Have students write for one minute about how they think the coins can be organized or sorted. 3. Have the group determine five ways of sorting the coins. 4. On the same sheet, have students write for one minute about how they could determine what type and quantity of coins are in an opaque bag. 5. Knowing the weight of the bag and using the US Mint website, predict the quantity and type of coins in a bag. 6. Use another collection in the Eye of the Collector and determine how it was organized. 7. Have groups generate a list of occupations in which people collect for themselves or others. 8. On the same sheet, have students write for one minute about something they recognize in their classroom that represents a collection and how it is organized or sorted. Try to use one of the sorting methods from #3 above.
EXTENSIONS 1. Create the best way to display coins so many people can observe them. What considerations should you think about? 2. Test the type of metal for each type of coin using techniques for luster, conductivity or malleability.
MODIFICATIONS 1. Have the students organize a group of colored pencils by color.
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COMMUNICATION THROUGH COLLECTIONS ESTIMATED TIME
2 60-minute classes
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
What does this activity communicate about the objects that are maintained in a collection?
VOCABULARY
Artifact
Collection Culture Symbols
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to: • Communicate something about their culture using symbols on an object that represents something about that culture’s larger story.
TEKS
Science 3.7.d. explore the characteristics of natural resources that make them useful in products and materials such as clothing and furniture, and how resources may be conserved. Social Studies 5.22.c summarize the contributions of people of various racial, ethnic and religious groups to our national identity
MATERIALS PER CLASS
System to project: http://collections.si.edu/search/
MATERIALS PER GROUP
Pieces of material
Different clothing patterns
Fabric markers
Beads, sequins, colored thread, other decorations
Craft glue or hot glue
MATERIALS PER STUDENT
Science notebook
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PROCEDURE 1. Project the Smithsonian website about “collections.” http://collections.si.edu/search/ 2. Pick one collection category to discuss as a class. Discuss the age, material, symbols, etc. 3. Give each group a collection of objects, and using the Socratic Seminar approach have them make observations about the symbols and what that tells us about the culture and ideas of that group. 4. Have students write for one minute about what the collection’s materials and symbols represent. 5. Have the group choose a pattern, material and objects to decorate the clothing with symbols from their own culture. 6. On another sheet of paper, have students write for one minute about how they chose the material, pattern and decorations to represent their group’s culture. 7. Have each group share their piece of clothing with the class.
EXTENSIONS 1. Pick a collection in Eye of the Collector, and using a key, determine the major themes of the artifacts. 2. Newspaper Headline: Create a newspaper headline that may have been written to capture the main idea of this collection. 3. Use the Library of Congress website http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ to find an archived article related to the objects in the collection. Summarize the relationship of the article to the collection.
MODIFICATIONS 1. Depending on the level of students, consider using a sheet of paper with a pattern on it. The symbols, decorations, and patterns may be glued on the paper.
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A “MYSTERY” OBJECT ESTIMATED TIME
30 minutes
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How do taxonomists organize collections?
VOCABULARY
Taxonomists
Dichotomous Key
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to: • Use a dichotomous key to determine a mystery item.
TEKS
Science Investigation and Reasoning 8.a define taxonomy and recognize the importance of a standardized taxonomic system to the scientific community Social Studies 6.15.e analyze the similarities and differences among various world societies 6.18.a explain the relationships that exist between societies and their architecture, art, music and literature
MATERIALS PER CLASS
System to project: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/veg/treekey/index.htm
MATERIALS PER GROUP
Dichotomous Key
MATERIALS PER STUDENT
Science notebook
PROCEDURE 1. Each group will look for a mystery object. Follow a dichotomous key to determine a “mystery” object in the Eye of the Collector exhibition that the key most closely resembles. 2. The object is made from natural material, not manmade material. 3. The object is a vessel, not a weapon/tool. 4. The object is not clear; it has a colored glaze. 5. The object is not plain; there is iconography on the object. 6. The object has a bird and lion on it; the object is not plain. 7. Which mystery object is your dichotomous key most similar to, and which collection is it a part of?
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EXTENSIONS 8. Create your own dichotomous key. https://wow.osu.edu/experiments/Plants/Classification:%20How%20to%20 Make%20Your%20Own%20Dichotomous%20Key
MODIFICATIONS 1. Draw a picture of the mystery object and use words to describe it.
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SAMPLING A COLLECTION ESTIMATED TIME
30 minutes class time and 30 minutes at the exhibition
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
What makes an object rare or valuable?
VOCABULARY
Rare
Valuable Sampling
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to: • Demonstrate, using simple statistics, how rare an object is.
TEKS
Social Studies 6.15.e. analyze the similarities and differences among various world societies Math Knowledge and Skills 7.1.b. use a problem-solving model that incorporates analyzing given information, formulating a plan or strategy, determining a solution, justifying the solution and evaluating the problem-solving process and the reasonableness of the solution
MATERIALS PER CLASS
System to project: http://www.samplingmethods.net/
MATERIALS PER GROUP
Bag of 30 colored dice – four colors (15 white dice, 10 black dice, 4 yellow dice and 1 red die)
MATERIALS PER STUDENT
Science notebook
PROCEDURE 1. Give each group a bag of 30 colored dice. 2. Have students pick out 10 dice from the bag and list the quantity of each color in the science notebook. 3. Put the dice back in the bag and have the students take another sample of 10. List the color and quantity of that sample. 4. Do this three more times, for a total of five random samples. 5. Find the average of the five trials for each of the four colors. 6. Using 30 as the total number of dice, have the students determine the percent of each of the four colors. 7. Students should use this model to determine which color die is rarest.
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8. Using the dice example as a model, students should pick a collection within Eye of the Collector and predict which artifact is rarest and describe why.
EXTENSIONS 1. Have the class decide on a theme for a collection, and have students bring in items for that collection. Have the students determine which object is the rarest in the class collection and why. 2. Write a M.E.A.L. (main idea, evidence, analysis and link) paragraph about what makes something rare.
MODIFICATIONS 1. Remove the dice from the bag and sort them by color. Determine which color has the most and which color has the least.
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