Use the My Community Connections Web site to showcase all your activities. For advice on how to best prepare your project for the Web contact Webmaster@iptv.org.

Objectives
Students will:

1. Research changes in a community by interpreting statistical data.
2. Work in cooperative groups.
3. Identify community historical resources, e.g. people, written and other records, collections, on-line sites, etc.
4. Use problem-solving skills to locate long-term and newly arrived community residents, and statistical data.
5. Identify and analyze specific ways the community has changed over a particular time span.
6. Summarize conclusions as a) class presentations, b) posted on the Web, and c) presented to a partner school over the Iowa Communications Network.

Introduction
In what ways do communities change? Discuss geographical growth, and economic make-up. What do you think your community was like 20, 50 or 150 years ago? What were the reasons your community began? What did it look like in the past, compared with today? Were there as many people living in this community as there are today? What different nationalities and cultures make up your community, past and present? Have some groups of people moved away, or moved in? How do people make a living? Where do they work, and how do they get there? What do people do for fun? What environmental factors affect your community? What are the notable landmarks?

Tell students that they will be working in teams, and making a final presentation of their reports to their own class and to students in another school over the ICN videoconferencing system. This will involve learning some public speaking skills, as well as making neat clear presentation materials. If they are able, they may wish to create their reports as Web pages. Reports may contain written material, charts, graphs, references, sources, photographs, video and music. (Ensure copyright clearance where appropriate.)

Procedure

1. The teacher will lead a classroom discussion about what students think it was like for young people growing up in their community 20, 50 or even 150 years ago, compared with today.
2. Have students discuss and list what they think were the good, and not so good things about their community back then, and today.
3. A suggested list of topics for team research would be:
   • Transportation
   • Work, business and industry
   • Economy
   • Environment, land use
   • Government and services
   • Architecture, landmarks
   • Food, shopping/supplies
   • Cultural mix, demographics
   • Education
   • Leisure, cultural life, recreation.
4. The class will form teams of three or four students.
5. Teams will complete a Venn diagram and share it with the class as part of their final presentation. Each team may select one or more topics on which to focus.
6. Each team will give a project report to the whole class.
7. The class will coordinate their team reports for their final presentation and videoconference.
8. Teachers will schedule and facilitate ICN sessions, and help students to practice with the video equipment.
9. Students will invite community leaders, business people as well as anyone who has helped them with their research, to the ICN presentation.
10. Language arts extension: students from another section could write a press release and news article about their fellow students' activity.
11. Web reports may be submitted to IPTV for inclusion in the My Community Connections Web site.

Worksheets
Student Self-Evaluation Rubric:
Teachers will share the evaluation rubric with students and explain the expectations of the project, and distribute a copy to each team.

Venn Diagram:
Students will use a Venn Diagram to compare their selected topic's similarities and differences, and use that as the basis for illustrating and reporting on the major findings and conclusions.

Oral Interviews
One interesting way to find out about your community is to interview residents.