Students study the existing missions to find
characteristics of a successful mission. Led by their
discoveries, students search for the perfect location for
the final California mission. Introduction
Letter Imagine that you were there as the last California
Mission was being completed. You have worked hard bringing
the supplies, raising the buildings, and learning the ways
of the native people. You have a satisfied feeling as the
mission is up and running. As you begin your morning
prayers, you hear a rider approaching with a message from a
land far away... You and your group will work together to search for a
final mission site. Research the original missions to find
what they have in common. You will need to become experts in
the following areas to answer important questions: Geography: What kinds of land are the missions
located on? What natural resources are found nearby? Did
transportation influence the mission placement? Native People: What tribes lived near the
missions? What kind of people were they? Mission economies/industries: What sort of
industries did the missions have? What sort of things did
they do to make money or trade? How successful were they and
why? Natural Resources (plants & animals): What
plants and animals could be found nearby the missions? How
did the missionaries and native people use these
resources? Once you have discovered the traits that the original
missions have in common, search for another location to
create YOUR MISSION. Choose well and be ready to convince
others that your site is best. Use facts and thought out
reasons to guide your decision. The fourth area you need to
become skilled in is: Presentation: How do you convince Spain and The
Church that your site would be best? What charts, pictures,
and words will be effective in proving your point? How do
you present your findings in a way that others will
understand and agree with? 1. Each member of your team must choose an area of
expertise to specialize in. The four choices are: Geography,
Native People, Natural Resources (plants & animals), and
Industries. Everyone will trade off being a recorder for the
presention. 2. As a group, choose a minimum of three missions to
study. Try to choose a mission from the north, south, and
central parts of California. 3. Begin your research on the original missions. Use the
Student Links below to find information on the internet
about the creation of the missions. Save "bookmarks" which
might be useful in the future. Take notes about what you
find. Save important photos and maps. Don't overlook other
resources in your classroom and library. Brainstorm other
topics to research and questions to ask yourself. 4. Whoever is the recorder expert will help members
collect and organize their findings. Make charts, Venn
diagrams, lists, anything that will assist your team in
comparing the facts you are gathering. Study the missions
thoroughly before making any assumptions about what a "good"
mission site is. 5. Once you have determined what a "good" mission site
is, begin your search for a new site. Use your expertise in
geography, native people, industries and natural resources
to guide your choice. Be specific when describing the new
site location and its desirable features. 6. Create your presentation using the mPower template.
Your team will have up to seven minutes to present your
facts and opinions to the class and an impartial judge. Make
sure that all members take part in the creation and
presentation of your final report. Follow the link to the project timeline worksheet. Use
this timeline to keep track of the completion of the various
components. Bookmark pages: Keep track of terrific web pages
by moving your cursor to the URL of the website near the top
of your screen. Click on the address and drag it to your
folder. This will create a "bookmark" that you can click on
to get back to that website! Save photos: Place your cursor on top of picture
desired. Hold down the "Control' button and click. Choose
Save image as... and save it to your folder. Save text: (Don't forget the words in your report
should be yours, not just copied words from someone
else. Find important information and find a new way of
saying it) Note: With your teacher, please review your
school's acceptable use policy for work on the Internet.
Links to the Web often change. Tell your teacher when you
find a poor link in this guide. Do not conduct e-mail
inquiries over the Internet without supervision. These links are included because they: 1. contained
specific information about the missions and related
subjects, 2. were appropriate for fourth grade students, 3.
had limited links to outside sites. Teachers note that some
sites contain advertisement. Mission Links California Missions California mission Internet Trail California Mission Sketches by Henry Miller,
1856 California mission Interactive Website History of Missions Directory of California Mission Websites California Geography Links Images of the California Environment Index of California maps Search tool to find info about environment in specific
areas Historical Maps of California Nice map of missions Relief map of California California Indian Links Map of CA Indian Tribe names Map of CA Indian languages Time line of Indian history for San Diego area Index of "The North American Indian Tribes" California Wildlife Links Wildlife Photo Gallery California's Plant Life California's Wildlife California Natural Resource Fun Page Images (Photographs, Art, etc.) Search Engines Making of America Search primary sources of American
history Hotbot Search Engine. Contains advertising Megasearch engine. Contains advertising Now that you have completed your fact finding, organize
the facts. Use these links to organizational tools to help
you. Comparing and contrasting chart Venn diagram Can you answer these question? Now that you have information about three missions, it's
time to decide on your new site. Return to your research
resources and use your expertise to find another location
that fits the description of a perfect site. All members
should agree on the final section. Find the longitude and latitude. Draw a map of the area.
Draw a picture of how the mission might look when completed
Include illustrations of the natural resources and native
people. In the final part of this project, your student group
will make a presentation on a site that they have selected
to be the home of a new mission. In the presentation you
will: Your presentation will be judged based on a rubric: Use the presentation rubric for
grading your presentation. Credits: Adapted by Stephanie Griffin Original by Anderson Dooley-Miller Last Revised: 02/10/04
The Last Mission
A problem based learning project for fourth grade
students
Click here to read the
letter!
http://missions.bgmm.com/index.htm
http://www.escusd.k12.ca.us/mission_trail/MissionTrail.html
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf3p3006vt
http://www.tsoft.net/~cmi/index.html#Buttons
http://www.californiamissions.com/morehistory/index.html
http://www.ca-missions.org/links.html#specificmissions
http://geogweb.berkeley.edu/GeoImages/BainCalif/CalClickMap.html
http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/ca_0.html
http://www.epa.gov/surf2/
http://ceres.ca.gov/ceres/calweb/coastal/geography.html
http://www.pressanykey.com/missions/missionsmap.html
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/maps/reliefmapca.html
http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc_images/bibs/maps/tribemap.gif
http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc_images/bibs/maps/lingmap.gif
http://www.acusd.edu/nativeamerican/chronology.html#1800
http://www.curtis-collection.com/tribalindex.html
http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/gallery/
http://ceres.ca.gov/ceres/calweb/plantlife.html
http://ceres.ca.gov/ceres/calweb/wildlife.html
http://ceres.ca.gov/ceres/calweb/forkids.html
Available From the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
http://images.fws.gov/
http://www.umdl.umich.edu/moa/
http://www.hotbot.com
http://www.dogpile.com
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/actbank/tcomp.htm
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/actbank/tvenn.htm
(plain, mountainous, coastal, inland)
(plants, animals, etc.)
Beach School
Piedmont USD
Resource Specialist
Napa Valley USD
