Artifact Bag for Social Studies Unit

Ginnette Ellin

SSE 6115

Mrs. Kerness

Spring 2011

SSE 6115 Artifact Bag for Social Studies Unit

The standards I would use for the Artifact Bag would be:

Geography: Standard 2: Places and Regions (SS.3.G.2)o (SS.3.G.2.5) Identify natural and man-made landmarks in the United States,

Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Geography: Standard 2: Places and Regions (SS.3.G.2)

o (SS.3.G.2.6) Investigate how people perceive places and regions differently by conducting interviews, mental mapping, and studying news, poems, legends, and songs about a region or area

Title: Inquisitive Minds Explore North America

Artifact Bag List: Picture and Youtube video of el Coqui (a tree frog from Puerto Rico) Maracas, Guiro, Claves: All musical Instruments from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic

and Cuba Video of El Yunque – A rainforest in Puerto Rico A shirt called a Guayabera – a traditional shirt worn by men in Puerto Rico, Dominican

Republic and Cubao Puerto Rican Barbie – dressed in a traditional outfit from Puerto Ricoo 2 Native American Barbies – dressed in a traditional outfit worn by the Native

Americans in North Americao Carnaval Barbie – dressed in an outfit that would be worn for festivities in the

Bahamas Hershey’s candy bar and Hershey’s Barbie – Hershey’s Park is a landmark in

Pennsylvaniao Wizard of Oz Barbie – used to discuss the movie and how it was based in Kansaso Yankee Barbie – used to talk about the sports franchise that is synonymous with

New York

Description of Rationale for Artifacts:

All the information below was found on www.en.wikipedia.org

El Coqui

This artifact can be used in this unit to show the students that this small tree frog is native to the island of Puerto Rico. This island in the Caribbean is known for this tree frog and for the distinct sound it makes at night, from dusk till dawn. The sound it makes is the same as its name – coqui (it’s onomatopoeically named). Typically this frog is native to Puerto Rico, however, some have also been found in the Hawaii, Florida, St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas, Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean and can be perceived by people as the island with the “singing” frog!

The coqui sound is made by the males. The purpose of the “co” sound is to repel males and establish their territory while the “qui” sound is to attract females.

The coqui are typically gray or gray brown in their coloration. They have small pads on the tips of their toes to help them adhere to moistened or slippery surfaces.

Website for video of El Coqui:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54-FzuE-w0U (a video of a coqui) http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1314&c=92 (sound of one)http://www.marisamontes.com/all_about_coquis.htm (sound of many)

Musical Instruments – Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba (used to play for music such as Salsa, Merengue, Bachata)

Maracas

These artifacts (the maracas, the guiro and the claves) can be used in this unit to show how the Caribbean Islands can be known for the musical instruments that are part of their culture and their music. These instruments can create lively music and this region can be perceived by people as being very friendly, lively and festive.

The maracas are a native instrument to Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Guatelmala and several other countries in the Caribbean. They are a simple percussion instrument and they are usually played in pairs. They can be made of leather, wood, plastic or coconut shells.

There are clay maracas that were used by the natives of Columbia that date back 1500 years ago. The word maraca is thought to have come from the Tupi language of Brazil.

Maracas are heard in many forms of Latin music and can also be heard in some pop and classical music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBsL7BDFD0o&NR=1

El Guiro

This instrument is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow, open-ended gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a wooden stick along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The guiro is commonly used in Latin-American music.It also goes by many other names including calabazo, guayo, ralladera, rascador and reco-reco.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unSblwTABi0&feature=related (man playing el guiro and man playing congas)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSItOIS0k5w&NR=1 (man playing el guiro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k2gLKdXrTI&feature=related (boy playing el guiro, play at 1:10 time)

Claves

Claves are another percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, thick dowels. They are traditionally made out of wood, however, they can also be made out of fiberglass or plastic. Clave is a Spanish word that means “code”, “key” or “clue”

Claves are very important in the Afro-Cuban music such as the rumba, salsa, son, guaguanco and Latin Jazz. The claves are also found in Brazilian music. The Beatles recording of “And I Love Her” used claves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7ZOa-sqKRA&feature=related a few seconds of man playing claves

Music with all three instruments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4e8F0I9LuI (the song says name of all three instruments)

El Yunque Rainforest

This artifact can be used in this unit because it is a distinct feature in North America. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. Therefore, this is the only rainforest in North America that belongs to the U.S. Forest Service. This region in the Caribbean can be identified by this unique and beautiful landmark in North America.

El Yunque is located near the eastern end of Puerto Rico. It consists of 28,000 acres of the most beautiful rain forest in the world. It is divided into four different forests. There are 240 native tree species of which 23 are only found in this rain forest. El Yunque is the oldest Forest Reserve in the western hemisphere.

The average temperature is about 77 degrees F at the lower elevations and about 65 degrees F at elevations above 3,280 ft. It rains almost every day in this rain forest. The average rainfall is about 200 in. a year.

There are different kinds of reptiles, birds, amphibians, lizards, coquis, bats, fish and snakes found in this rain forest. You can enjoy El Yunque by taking hikes along the trails that are there for the tourists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjaJ_YffC4A&feature=related

Guayaberas

This artifact can be used in this unit to show how different clothing can help identify people from one particular region to another. This artifact can help students identify the people from Puerto Rico and Cuba. This is a traditional shirt worn typically by men in the Caribbean region.

The origin of the shirt is said to have come from the Caribbean (mainly Cuba), however, there are others that say the shirts also started in Mexico. This type of shirt has existed since the 18th century. In Puerto Rico, guayaberas are part of the national costume for men. This type of shirt can be identified by having four pockets on the front and are traditionally made of linen.

The origin of the name is said to come from Cuba. The name guayabera may come from a Cuban legend that tells of a poor countryside seamstress sewing large pockets into her husband's shirts for carrying guava (guayabas) from the field. Guayabera may also have originated from the word yayabero, which is a word for a person who lived near the Yayabo River in Cuba.

Puerto Rican Barbie – shows the typical dresses worn by Puerto Rican women at festival times

Native American Barbie and the Princess of the Navajo Barbie – both show traditional garments worn by Native American women.

Festivals of the World: Carnival Barbie – to show the traditional costumes worn in the Bahamas at the time of festivals.

Hershey’s Barbie and Hershey’s Candy Bar

This artifact can be used in this unit to show how this landmark and this candy can be identified with the Northeastern region of the United States. This landmark can be identified with state of Pennsylvania. Students will probably remember this state the best because who can forget where candy is made?

Pennsylvania is located in the Northeastern region in the United States. The capital of this state is Harrisburg. Hershey Park opened its doors on April 24, 1907.

The park is full of roller coasters and other kinds of rides. There are also places that you can see how the candy is made and of course, lots of little shops where you can buy Hershey candy!

Other possible items to bring for this unit:

I can also use the Wizard of Oz Barbie collection when the class is learning about Kansas and show how the beloved character of Dorothy, from this movie was from Kansas. I can also use the Yankee Barbie when the class is learning about New York and how this iconic team is from New York. I could also talk about the famous team players that have become known to so many (Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera)