Christopher I. Cobitz Ph.D.
Realize
that databases go with social studies the way peanut butter goes with jelly.
Ask
the students to trace the course of the Revolutionary war. List all the important battles and
skirmishes but add a new twist. Insist
on the students recording this information in a database. But in addition to recording the date, have
them record the latitude and longitude (these number do not need to be
exact). Additionally they should record
the generals involved.
This
activity can either be done as individuals, small groups or whole class
activity. The actually learning
experience occurs once the database is created. With the database and a program such as Works (either Apple or
Microsoft), ask the students to sort the database by British general, then by
latitude then by longitude. Ask the
students to compare this result to the sorting on British general, longitude,
then latitude. Ask them to decide which
one follows the chronology better.
Have
them perform similar sorts combining American general, latitude and
longitude. Then latitude and longitude
and victorious side.
The
point is threefold; importantly the student will gain some computer
proficiency. More importantly, the
student will integrate geography with history to understand the course of a
war. Finally the student will gain
intimate relations to the battles and actions of the revolutionary war.
ã 1999 Christopher I. Cobitz Ph.D. Permission is granted for non-commercial use provided this copyright notice remains intact.