FLIPPING AWESOME TEACHING
  • My Flipping Blog
  • My Flipping Classroom
  • Articles/Media
  • Contact Info

Did I waste my flipping time?!

7/20/2017

 
Look what I spent 2 hours making today!
Picture

It doesn't make any sense on first glance.


On further inspection, you might notice that most of the lines are aligned with present-day roads on the gray GoogleMap.

How about this version?
Picture
The map above shows the roads and major buildings of Newton Massachusetts (where I teach) in the year 1800, when it was a modest farming town of less than 2000 souls. Now it is a wealthy suburban city with a population near 90,000.

I made this map piece by piece, using Google's MyMaps to draw lines and add icons from historical maps. Some I found at http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/it/gis/historic_maps.asp, but I also benefited greatly from local historical society staff, who gave access to physical copies. I also added details from an 1831 document and an 1848 map to get this:
Picture
Picture
See how Newton grows?!  The red line on the 1848 map is the railroad was constructed a decade earlier. There are some changes in the northwest and northeast sections, where the train made regular stops.

Now see all the layers together, including the fragmented picture at the very top from the 1855 map:
Picture
Within just 7 years, another railroad line has been constructed [the orange line near the bottom].
In just 7 years, there has been so much growth in the northeast neighborhood that the icons crowd together.
In just 7 years, dozens of public roads have been extended or created to accommodate new business and settlements.
In the same period, Newton's population swells by about 2000 new residents, and by the same number again in the following decade.

Now I'm left with the question: how best to show this to my students? Explain it in a video? Let them explore the layers of the GoogleMap independently?  As some sort of scavenger hunt?  None of the above??

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Who is this flipping guy?!

       Andrew Swan is in year 20  of teaching middle school (currently grade 8 US Civics/Government in a Boston suburb). Previously he taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English, US History, geography, and ancient history in Massachusetts and Maine. 
      For the past 6 years, Andrew has flipped nearly all his direct instruction so we have more class time for simulations, deep discussions, analyzing primary sources, etc. ... and also to promote mastery for students at all levels.
      His wonderful wife and his 2 high school-age children indulge Andrew's blogging, tweeting, & other behaviors. These include co-moderating the #sschat Twitter sessions and Facebook page. 
      ​
    Andrew does not always refer to himself in the third-person. 

    Twitter @flipping_A_tchr
    Instagram @swanversations

    Categories

    All
    Action Civics
    Analogies
    Assessment
    Asynchronous
    Bloom's Taxonomy
    Critiques
    Curriculum Planning
    DBQ
    Definitions Of Flipped
    First Days Of School
    #flipblogs
    Flipping Problems
    FlipTech
    For Beginners
    FTEC18
    FTNE19
    Gamified
    Grading
    Historical Thinking
    Homework
    In-class Flipping
    Local History
    Making Videos
    Mastery
    Not Flipping
    Parents
    Projects
    Reflective Blogging
    Research
    SBL
    Schoology
    Snow Days
    Special Ed
    Student Centered
    Student Survey
    #ThisisWhyIFlip
    Troubleshooting
    Writing

    Archives

    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly