My City of History Project – Education and Transformation

Check this post for ideas and suggestions for us “My city” history project for students of initial series.

The objective of this project is to provide students with knowledge of the streets and neighborhoods of the city in which they live. Observe and record information about the elements found during the research about his city: street names, municipal buildings, churches, squares, etc. Identify the changes that have occurred in the landscape due to the action of people's work over time and learn about the history and main tourist attractions of the city where he lives.

• Ethic: Use and appreciation of dialogue as an instrument to clarify content. Collective work and sharing of findings.
• Environment: knowledge and comparison of nature and comparing the nature of the local landscape and other places and observation of the aesthetic aspects of the school's region. The main characteristics of the environment and/or landscape of the region where the school is located.
• Health: Differences between preserved and degraded environments: city preservation and conservation.
• Cultural plurality: Different ways of transmitting knowledge about the culture and the formation of the population in the place under study.
• Citizenship: Individual and collective rights and duties.

See too: History Activities

My City of History Project

Check out the list of essential materials for the My City of History Project:

• Scraps: colored paper, plastic cups and straws, cardboard boxes, ice cream sticks, etc.
• Cardboard, pens, glue, scissors, adhesive tape for the models.
• Notebook or paper and pencil for notes.
• Research on the history of the city's name.
• Photos of the city.

First step

Awareness. Propose a debate on:

• What does the student admire about his city?
• The emergence of his city.
• The origin of the city name.

Second stage

Organize a tour of the city center and sights. Each student should bring a sheet and pencil to record the observations. Observe if there are stores, banks, bakeries, pharmacies etc. Are there squares, gardens, bridges, monuments?
Ask them to check for traffic signs (traffic lights, signs, crosswalks in the streets), public telephones, means of transport? Which are?
Through observation, question them with questions, so that they compare, formulate hypotheses and identify what types of buildings, avenues and public services they encounter.
When they arrive at school, talk about what they saw, what they liked best and what they didn't like. Record their findings on the board and ask them to write in their notebooks.

third step

Divide the class into groups and distribute cardboard, scraps, masking tape, glue, and markers to each.
Ask each group to make a model representing their city, with the sights that attracted the most attention.
Through the records made in the notebook, students must locate and complete with scraps the others observed constructions, such as houses, buildings, stores, banks, traffic signals, or draw with pens.
You can take advantage of the work to program an exhibition of models of the city.

fourth step

Do a search on “The name of my city” and old photos of the place. How many years ago was the city created? What day?
Who was its founder? Suggest a collective essay about the research. Each student will read what they researched.
Text the surveys with them.
Organize the poster presentation with the collective essay on the research: “The name of my city”, with the photos found for exhibition.

fifth step

Discuss with students the problems that the city presents: violence, noise, air and water pollution, conditions of the majority of the population, etc.
Run an awareness campaign to improve your city.

interdisciplinary work

Art: elaboration of a mockup with scraps.

History: evolution of changes over time, history of the city's name. Old pictures.

Portuguese: reading and production of research texts and collective writing.

Sciences: promoting a campaign to preserve and conserve the city.