The project requires discipline, teamwork, and stresses individualized strengths of each student to complete the project. Some students shine in one area, other students in another, but overall the specific talents of each student complement the mapmaking. Underachieving students often show remarkable aptitude in the work taking place outside of the regular classroom.

Students see progress over time. The beginning of the plan teaches students to set a rectangular table to scale, by the end of the project these same students are making transect measures of a curved portion of an irregular stream bank and plotting this data onto paper. Progress is best seen, however, as the map begins to take shape and stretches over several meters.

Mapping the stream encourages the Standards of Authentic Instruction in that interpreting the collected coordinates and translating them onto a piece of paper is not an easy task. Students must be proficient at taking measurements. Students are required to analyze and evaluate these measurements to make sure that one set of data points corresponds to the next. The final product is a large map which students create by practicing proper measurement and using scale and orientation.

Basic forms of technology create a link to math and science and are used to collect data and complete the map. Both compass reading and using a protractor help students make and record the necessary measurements. One of the strengths of this project is that students are in the field using cartography tools to collect field data used to synthesize the map in the classroom.

MI.SCI.I.1.MS.4 Use measurement devices to provide consistency in an investigation. (Key concepts: Documentation&endash; laboratory instructions. Measurement units&endash;milliliters, liters, teaspoon, tablespoon, ounce, cup, millimeter, centimeter, meter, gram, nonstandard units. Measurement tools: Balancing devices, measuring cups and spoons, measuring tape. Real-world contexts: Cooking for groups of various sizes; following or altering laboratory instructions for mixing chemicals.)

MI.SCI.I.1.MS.6 Write and follow procedures in the form of step-by-step instructions, recipes, formulas, flow diagrams, and sketches. (Key concepts: Purpose, procedure, observation, conclusion. Real-world contexts: Following a recipe; listing or creating the directions for completing a task.)

MI.SCI.II.1.MS.3 Show how common themes of science, mathematics, and technology apply in real-world contexts. (Thematic ideas: Systems-sub-systems, feedback models, mathematical constancy, scale, conservation, structure, function, adaptation. Real-world contexts: See Using Scientific Knowledge.)

mathematics, and use a light touch when drawing.

Day 1

Students use rulers to measure perimeters of desks, distances across a classroom, in short, any variety of distances from point A to point B. Accuracy and precision are both stressed to assure students repeatedly make the correct measurement.

This step requires 20 minutes.

Using lecture, students are next introduced to the concept of scale in drawings.

Lecture step requires 30 minutes.

Day 2

The concept of scale is reviewed in a recitation period. Student activity is to then measure tabletops and figure the proper scale to use to put an outline of the tabletop onto a standard sheet of graph paper. Close work between student groups and the teacher is imperative during this activity.

This step requires 55 minutes.

Day 3

Measurement and scale drawing is further stressed as students measure the room perimeter and any tables, desks, etc. in the room and then draw an outline of the room and the major pieces of furniture.

This step requires a 55-minute period.

Days 4, 5

Students are taken to a portion of the school hallway, preferably one with several doorways, and other structures such as fountains, trashcans, etc. Students measure all pertinent aspects of the hallway section and record these measurements in a notebook. Students are told this is only trip allowed to the hallway.

This step requires two 55-minute periods.

Day 6

Students use measurements taken during Days 4 and 5 to make a scale drawing of the hallway section. Inclusion of doorways, fountains, trash cans, etc. in the drawing is required for full credit.

This step requires 55 minutes.

Day 7

Using spray paint, teachers apply to the outside ground two wavy lines which represent the two banks of a stream. The lines should be between 10 - 20 yards in length, vary from 1 to 4 feet apart, and have both straight passages and curved portions. Students then use these lines to practice making stream measurements. Measurements are taken as follows:

This procedure requires two 55-minute periods.

This procedure requires 55 minutes PLUS travel time.

This procedure requires 20 minutes.

Next, take groups outside and either using spray painted stream bed from Day 4 OR simply using another spray painted stream, have the groups each take a series of measurements so that each student becomes familiar with their position within the group. This is meant as a practice before the actual first trip to the stream.

This procedure requires 30 minutes.

Time required varies, but usually 55 minutes.

Time required is 55 minutes.

Technical impact is measured by determining individual student proficiency using the tools of the trade such as compass, circular protractor, and measuring tape both when making field measurements and translating the data into the drawn map.

Benchmarks are graded by: