Secondary Program University of North Carolina Wilmington uncw/ed/informal/

1. From Historic Cemeteries to High School Classrooms: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Student Learning and Teacher Training Secondary Program University of North Carolina Wilmington http://www.uncw.edu/ed/informal/ NC-ACTE Poster Session, Watson School of Education, UNCW 9/10/08

2. This presentation showcases instructional approaches university faculty used to help students develop inquiry-based lessons across multiple disciplines using community resources. • Experiences represent efforts to educate K-16 learners

3. Purpose • Informal learning settings exist throughout every community, and each can add a true contextual experience for Standard Courses of Study, if integrated appropriately. Goals Provide preservice teachers with experience in: • informal learning settings • working as students to investigate community resources in interdisciplinary teams • planning an interdisciplinary lesson with peers from other disciplines • designing and implementing an effective field trip.

4. Oakdale Cemetery and Pine Forrest Cemetery http://www.oakdalecemetery.org/

5. Pictures of Oakdale Cemetery

6. Our Position • Importance of learning outside the classroom. • K-16 students deserve learning opportunities that are plural and integrated. • Informal settings (Museums, Aquariums, Zoos, Battleships, Cemeteries, etc.) provide rich contexts for authentic learning. • Field trips provide experience, context and motivation for making career choices. • Students need to become aware of connections within multiple disciplines.

7. Pictures of Pine Forrest Cemetery

8. Practical Applications • Planning a field trip • Lesson Plans • PowerPoint Presentations • Interdisciplinary between Science, Social Studies, English and Math

9. Pictures of Pine Forrest Cemetery

10. Interdisciplinary Content Addressed • Science content • Chemistry – chemical weathering of gravestones • Biology – disease prevention and epidemiology, succession ecology, survival curves English Content • Literature from from cemetery’s historical eras • Iconography • Epitaphs

11. Pictures of Oakdale Cemetery

12. Interdisciplinary Content Addressed • Social Studies content • Historical aspects- Revolutionary and Civil Wars, WW I and WW II • Civics & Economics – citizenship, war production • Sociology- segregation and racial inequality • Math content • Geometry • Algebra • Statistics

13. 2 Cemeteries, 2 Stories • We wanted students to compare and contrast two current but historical cemeteries from the 1800’s. • Oakdale Cemetery – designed to serve Wilmington’s white middle to upper class • Pine Forest Cemetery – designed to serve Wilmington’s African-American community.

14. Challenges • Adapting a formal school structure to an informal experience • Developing a partnership with an informal setting • Time consuming with planning and implementation • Administrative costs for travel, services rendered, and resources consumed (loss of integrity) • Working with your interdisciplinary peers

15. Conclusions • With the advent of school restructuring (i.e. new schools, ninth grade academies), the opportunities exist for thematic approaches. • Motivation across populations (students, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, university faculty) • Tie informal settings with the missions and curriculum goals of schools