1

Brian DeFluri
Final Lesson

Planning a Trip

Content Areas: This lesson will incorporate geography through a tourist activity that will highlight each cities' diverse culture. Also this lesson will incorporate calculator math for calculating distances as well as writing letters to different places to improve my students' writing skills.

Goals: To have the students gain experience in geography, the use of calculator and correspondence through real world activities.

Materials and Equipment: The class will need calculators, envelops, postage, a US map, and writing instruments.

Target Audience: My GED students ages 20-30.

Number of Students: A maximum of 10 per lesson.

Method of Delivery: The way that this lesson will be introduced is by asking the students to locate New Orleans, LA and then Phoenix, AZ on a U.S. map. They will need to be able to recognize both these cities' locations as well as the region of each city. At this point a work sheet will be introduced to the students with both cities highlighted as city A. New Orleans, LA and city B. Phoenix, AZ. With the ability to use calculators the students will need to figure out two major topics: 1. The Longitude and Latitude of each city. 2. The distance in miles between the two cities, as well as to figure out possible math oriented problems that will incorporate the prior topic. The student's answers figuring out the miles between Phoenix and New Orleans might vary due to different routes that the students might select. Second they need to figure out if how many hours it would take for them to drive their selected route if they averaged 45 mph, 55 mph and 65 mph this also may vary. The last question they need to answer is how much would it cost if their car got 20 mile per gallon to drive from New Orleans to Phoenix will vary as well.

To end this lesson I will require each student to write a letter to each of the two cities Chamber of Commerce requesting literature on culturally significant activities to gave a flavor for each city's demographics. I would provide the addresses, envelopes, and postage for each letter to each cities chamber of Commerce.

Evaluation: The way this lesson will be assessed will be through writing samples of the letters as well as the work sheet that calculates distance and time it would take a car to drive the distance between the two cities.

1. Language and Reading
2. Science/Life Sciences/Biology
3. Language and Writing

Part 1:Students will read an article about one persons drug experience. Students will comprehend, analyze, and synthesize information for use in part three.

Part 2:Under Life Sciences (Biology) students will research through GED Science books, the Internet, and other pertinent materials about drugs, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, combination drugs and fumes. Students will make the connection between Science and Relia how chemicals effect the body, the mind, and behavior.

Part 3: Students will write an essay about drugs using all the information from parts one and two and apply their new knowledge to the essay. Students will use relia or life experiences to add and connect expressive ideas. The students will develop the Topic Framework, then work through the body of the essay and conclude with personal experiences, observations, and knowledge gained through this three part process.

1) Introduction: Current newspaper advertisements will be provided for the students. They will be given a shopping list containing a variety of types of items and a set amount of imaginary money to spend. They will be told that their cars will need to be refilled with gasoline before the end of their trip. They may purchase gasoline at any local station's current price.

2) Activity: Students will choose the stores to visit during their shopping trip in order to purchase the required items. They will map out their trip from their home to all the stores and a gas station before returning home again. They will figure out the mileage for their trip using area maps and calculate how much gas they must purchase. In addition they must calculate the costs of all the items bought from the stores and adjust checkbook balance by total purchases at each store. They must remain within their budget.

• Calculate and analyze the body-mass for an individual given weight and height.
  
• Practice using a calculator.
  
• Internet usage if available.
  
• Encourages interest in health issues for overweight individuals.
  
• Exposure to metric units of measure.

• Calculator, Casio fx-260.
  
• Table of metric conversions.
  
• Chart of recommended BMI for men and women found on website http://www.thusness.com/bmi.t.html.
  
• Materials for measuring and weighing individuals.
  
• Grid sheet for entering answers.

1. Students will describe different types of diseases, both human and animal.
2. Students will distinguish between probable and improbable dangers of contracting
   the disease.
3. Students will predict the effects the diseases might have on them.
   
4. Students will discover other parts of the world.
   
5. Students will seek ways to protect themselves from different diseases.
   
6. Students will share their personal views on a disease in writing.

1. articles from the paper or a news magazine on diseases such as mad-cow, Ebola, hoof and mouth disease, influenza, hepatitis, aids etc.
   
2. map of the world

• Private individuals, not the government, own the things and ideas used to make money.
  
• Individuals are free to start and run their own businesses.
  
• Property rights are guaranteed.
  
• Business owners are free to choose what to produce.
  
• Consumers are free to choose what they want to buy.
  
• Workers are free to quit their jobs.
  
• Businesses must compete against one another for customers.
  • High demand for products or services tends to increase their prices.
  • Low demand for products or services tends to decrease their prices.

• The public as a whole, in the form of the government, owns most of the important things and ideas used to make money.
  
• The government sets targets for production and plans the development of the economy.
  
• Wealth is equitably distributed to all people, reducing extreme differences in wealth among the people.
  
• Workers must be protected from being abused by the owners of companies.
  
• The government provides programs to assure the welfare of all citizens.
  
• Citizens are taxed to pay for social services, with the wealthier citizens carrying most of the burden.

• The first paragraph introduces the topics and presents a thesis statement.
  
• Paragraphs in the body of the essay present ways the topics are alike or different.
  
• Words to indicate comparison are presented, such as likewise, similarly and also.
  
• Words to indicate contrast are presented, such as in contrast, conversely, on the other hand, and however.
  
• The last paragraph includes the conclusion.

Preparation

• Review the Fourteenth Amendment and write it on the board.
• Read the background materials for each of the following cases [or view them with your students using an Internet connection and monitor]. It may be helpful to write a timeline on the Board beginning with the end of the Civil War.
  
  
  • 1896 - Separate but equal (segregated trains)
    Plessy v. Ferguson - Plessy Facts - Plessy arguments
    
    
  • 1954 - Landmark case desegregating schools
    Brown v. Board of Education - Brown Facts - Brown arguments
    
    
  • 1982 - Free education for all
    Plyler v. Doe - Plyler Facts - Plyler arguments
    

• Review the Fourteenth Amendment with your students and clarify the historical timeline. The 14th Amendment is one of the civil war amendments enacted along with the 13th Amendment freeing slaves and the 15th amendment guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race.
  
  
• Read and answer the questions in each of the case's facts sheets.
  
  
• Using an overhead projector, review the arguments made by each side.
  
  
• Ask students to compare and contrast the reasoning in each case in an essay.
  
  
• To summarize, use the Teacher's Guide.

Evaluation Instrument or Plan for Evaluation - Evaluate the writing assignment in conjunction with the new rubric for the GED 2002 LA-Writing section. The answers to the questions in the reading section may be written down by the students and corrected or the instructor may choose to evaluate the group during the discussion. The essay will be also used as an evaluation for the Social Studies materials.

Amendment 14

Ratified 1868

Section 1. No state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
......
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Case: Plessy v. Ferguson - 1896

U.S. Supreme Court, 163 US 537

Facts of the case. Twenty-two years after Congress passed the Civil War Amendments to guarantee racial equality, conflicts over the rights of black Americans (called "coloreds" at that time) persisted.

To circumvent federal law, individual states passed laws to separate whites and coloreds. In 1890, Louisiana passed a law requiring trains traveling within Louisiana to provide separate cars for whites and coloreds.

In 1892, a man named Homer Plessy boarded a train in New Orleans and took a seat in the white-only car. The conductor called the police and Mr. Plessy was arrested and jailed.

Plessy was white in appearance since seven of his eight great-grandparents were white and one was a black slave.

Legal question. Did Louisiana's law segregating trains violate the 14th Amendment?

US Supreme Court, 163 US 537 - 1896

ARGUMENTS and
DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT

Opinion of the Court (Justice Brown):

• The purpose of the 14th Amendment was to establish political equality, not to abolish all distinctions based on race.
  
• Laws that separate people by race, in schools and elsewhere, are necessary for social reasons.
  
• Segregation does promote the public good and maintains order.
  
• The State of Louisiana acted reasonably to preserve the customs and traditions of its citizens.
  
• Segregation should not make the "colored race" feel inferior because whites would not feel inferior if they were governed by the colored race.
  
• Louisiana's law excludes whites from some railroad cars just as it excludes coloreds from cars reserved for whites.

Dissenting Opinion (Justice Harlan):

• No state may pass laws that violate the personal liberty of citizens because of their race.
  
• When the United States abolished slavery, it also intended to abolish all forms of discrimination based on race.
  
• This country does not have a superior, ruling class of citizens. The constitution is colorblind.
  
• State laws that assume one racial group is inferior to others will arouse racial hatred.
  
• If Louisiana can separate two groups of citizens based on race, then it can separate other groups based on other differences such as Protestants and Catholics.

Case: Brown v. Board of Education - 1954

US Supreme Court, 347 US 483

Facts of the case. This case -- almost 100 years after the Civil War ended-- was named after one student, 8-year-old Linda Brown. She lived in Topeka, Kansas and her house was just a short walk from the local elementary school. However, since the school near her house was for white children, Linda was forced by law to attend the school for black children several miles away.

Linda's parents wanted her to attend the local school for several reasons. First, the trip to the black school was long and unsafe. Second, they liked their neighborhood and thought she should be able to attend their neighborhood school. Last, they did not want their daughter to feel inferior by attending a segregated school.

Linda's parents, along with the NAACP, challenged Kansas' school segregation laws in the Supreme Court. By the time her case reached the Supreme Court, it was joined with school segregation cases from other states.

Question of law. Do separate schools for black children violate their right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment?

Case: Brown v. Board of Education - 1954

US Supreme Court, 347 US 483

ARGUMENTS

The schools argue:

• Black children need separate schools to protect them from discrimination by white students.
  
• Even though black schools are inferior, they are sufficient.
  
• Separate schools recognize that blacks and whites are different from each other, not that blacks are inferior.
  
• Even though the Supreme Court has held that graduate schools--such as law schools--must be integrated, the same arguments do not apply to public schools in which youngsters socialize with each other.
  

The children, their parents and the NAACP argue:

• Not only do black schools lack electricity, plumbing and desks, they lack books, buses, teachers, libraries, lunchrooms, etc. equal to those of white children.
  
• Black students are subject to psychological damage in segregated schools, which makes them feel inferior for the rest of their lives.
  
• Segregated schools impose of "badge of servitude" on black children.
  
• President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights called for integration of housing, education, employment, public facilities, and transportation in 1947.
  
• Separate schools can never be equal.
  
• If the Supreme Court has held that segregated graduate schools are wrong, then the same is true for grade schools.
  
• Education must foster good citizenship, not racial bigotry.

Case: Plyler v. Doe - 1982

US Supreme Court, 457 US 202

Facts of the case.

In 1975, Texas passed a law denying free public education to children whose parents were illegal immigrants from Mexico and other countries. In other words, they were not legal immigrants or citizens.

The parents were living and working in Texas without legal permission from the United States government. Most had crossed the border into Texas illegally by walking or driving across the border between Texas and Mexico or even swimming across the Rio Grande River. They were not legal immigrants who are called "permanent residents" and may become citizens after five years.

The Texas law allowed schools to charge these children tuition, but most could not afford to pay it, so the children were not able to attend school at all.
The children's parents believed that Texas unlawfully discriminated against their children since all other children in Texas were allowed to attend public schools for free. The parents sued the State of Texas.

Question of law. Did Texas violate the children's right to Equal Protection under the 14th Amendment? To uphold the constitutionality of the law, the Court must find that the Texas law treating illegal immigrant children differently served a strong public purpose.

Case: Plyler v. Doe - 1982

US Supreme Court, 457 US 202

ARGUMENTS

The State of Texas argues:

• If these children are admitted to school, then Texas will have less money to spend on education for every child.
  
• These children have special needs, such as bilingual education, which are too expensive for Texas to provide.
  
• Children whose parents entered the United States illegally are not entitled to free education.
  
• If Texas provides free education for these children, then more and more illegal immigrants will enter Texas.
  
• It would be a waste of money for Texas to educate these children because they will probably leave Texas when they finish school.
  
• Congress, not the states or the courts, should address the costs of illegal immigration.
  

The children and their parents argue:

• Most of these children will become citizens in the future with all the rights of citizens.
  
• These children are protected by the Equal Protection Clause because it covers "all persons" who live here.
  
• Withholding education from children punishes them for the rest of their lives with illiteracy, unemployment and inferiority.
  
• Children who do not attend school will not learn to be good citizens.
  
• When any group is denied education, our entire society is weakened socially and economically.

Teacher's Guide

Case 1 - Plessy v. Ferguson - 1896

Key points

• The Supreme Court ruled against Plessy and upheld the Louisiana law segregating trains.
  
• This case is significant historically because it ushered in the era of segregation --apartheid -- or "Jim Crow" -- a derogatory term that was used to refer to black people at the time.
  
• The Court did not overturn the Plessy decision until 1954 when it decided Brown v. Board of Education, which integrated public schools.
  
• Justice Harlan's famous dissent in Plessy foreshadowed the Court's later decisions overturning segregated facilities in America.
  

Case #2 - Brown v. Board of Education - 1954

Key points

• The court ruled for Linda Brown in this landmark civil rights case argued by Legal Defense and Education Fund of NAACP.
  
• Discuss how the Supreme Court's reversal reflected changing attitudes in America, especially after the Second World War.
  
• Note that in contrast to Plessy, the arguments place less emphasis on states' rights and more emphasis on the socioeconomic and psychological impact of segregation on our nation and especially African-Americans.
  
• The Court's decision was unanimous, leaving no doubt that integration had to proceed immediately.
  

Case #3 - Plyler v. Doe - 1982

Key points

• The Court decided against Texas in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Brennan--joined by Justices Marshall, Blackmun, Powell and Stevens. Justice Burger dissented--joined by Justices White, Rehnquist and O'Connor.
  
• Compare and contrast Plyler v. Doe with the decisions in Plessy and Brown.
  
• In his dissent, Justice Burger said that Congress, not the Supreme Court, should address the problems cause by illegal immigration.

TOP

• DPD Chlorine Test Kit
• OTO Chlorine Test Kit
• pH Test Kit
• Charts for recording data
• Samples of pool water
• Copies of regulations & standards (see bibliography)

Extension Activities

• Write to the health departments of neighboring states (or of municipalities in the area who monitor or regulate the operation of public pools.
• Visit schools and hotels/motels in your area and interview them about their water-quality monitoring procedures.
• Write a report comparing local facilities, or comparing them to the state/local standard.
• Add disinfectant and re-test failed samples on a subsequent day.

• US Department of Health pool manual
• Copy of state board of health regulations
• Chlorine manual, The National Chlorine Institute
• Swimming Pool Operator’s Handbook, National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF)

1. Identify events leading up to the ratification of the Constitution.
2. Create a time line of these events.
3. Identify the historical reasons for the Bill of Rights.
4. Identify the authors of the Bill of Rights.
5. Explain what the first 10 amendments mean.
6. Interpret a political cartoon.
7. Draw conclusions.
8. Relate the Bill of Rights to a real-life situation.
9. Establish the ratio of states for and against ratification of the Constitution.

Say, "Gettysburg, settled in the 1780's, was named for General James Getty who was an early resident and its current population is approximately 8,735." Say, "Gettysburg is now a tourist center and its industries are processed foods, shoes, and textiles." Say, "Gettysburg has many museums concerned with The Civil War and former president Dwight D. Eisenhower’s home and farm are nearby; however, the borough is most famous for The Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863." Say, "this battle is famous because it was one of the bloodiest encounters of the American Civil War." Explain that the battle had many casualties because it went on for three days. Say, "The battle began because the Confederate Army was searching for a badly needed supply of shoes in Gettysburg and accidentally ran into the Union Army." Also say, "the Union Army finally won the battle, but after three days there were many dead on both sides."

Put the name Abraham Lincoln on the board.

Separate the class into groups and have each group brainstorm as many facts as they can remember about Lincoln. Have one person in the group read what was remembered. The instructor would place the correct facts on the board and fill in any gaps, if any, about Lincoln. The instructor would be sure that the following were mentioned somehow in the discussion; his humble beginning, love of learning, little formal schooling, hardships (mother and three sons dying young), legal and presidential career, position on slavery and unpopularity because of it, American Civil War, and his assassination on April 14, 1865. Say, "Lincoln wrote and delivered a short speech on November 19, 1863 at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery honoring those who died in The Battle of Gettysburg earlier that year." Distribute copies of the address. Say, "as I read the speech aloud, listen to the way it speaks of freedom for all people."

The Gettysburg Address--Speech at the Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg November 19, 1863. Abraham Lincoln Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus for so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Copied from One Hundred and One Famous Poems--An anthology compiled by Roy J. Cook, copyright 1958 by Contemporary Books, Inc., Chicago, Illinois

TOP

• a copy (or imitation) of a Wal-Mart shelf/price label, including unit price
• Casio fx-260 calculator
• two large, empty liquid detergent bottles of different brands & unit price label
• two empty, 1-gallon milk cartons of different brands & their unit price label
• chart paper & markers

During guided & independent practice: full class (14-22 students in regular attendance)
During group activities: 3-5 students

Lecture:

1. Teacher will present an enlarged copy of a Wal-Mart price label, including unit price, and discuss how the unit price was found.
2. The class will discuss how this impacts decision making during a shopping experience. One-Paragraph ESSAY RESPONSE for SCIENCE: Health & Nutrition Category QUESTION: How does this affect the overall health and nutrition of the children in a family? (When purchasing milk, one may be able to save enough to make a difference in the overall shopping budget, being able to buy better-quality foods at the lowest prices—and in greater quantities.) Student volunteers will share their responses (not necessarily reading directly from their papers) aloud with the class.

Guided Practice:

1. Teacher will present two different products (detergent and milk) available in two different brands along with the unit price labels.
2. Teacher will demonstrate how the two detergent brands compare, using the unit price label. Question: Looking only at the unit price per ounce, how much does the shopper save by purchasing the cheaper bottle of detergent?
3. In groups of 3-5, students will repeat the process using the milk containers. Students will use the chart paper & markers to break down the math in order to present their comparisons to the class.

Independent Practice:

1. Students will each create an original product in two brands along with unit-price labels for each. The product must be available in a container for which a unit price can be calculated. They will have chart paper available to draw their product and enlarge the matching price labels so that the class can make a comparison. Students will leave off the price for ONE of the items (but include the unit price) so that the class may use their calculators to solve for the “variable”.
2. Students will present their product to the class. The class will solve for the variable & compare their responses aloud informally after each presentation.
3. Students will write a “how-to”, step-by-step instruction sheet (not an actual essay) explaining the process of bargain shopping. The assignment will begin with an explanation of why bargain shopping is CRITICAL to the health and well-being of their family members (similar to the essay above, in the lecture section). The second portion of the assignment will break down the logic of finding the unit price and solving for a variable. An example (can be the same product from their oral presentation above) must be provided in the steps.

Science: What is pollution? What affect does pollution have on our environment and our world? What is toxic waste? What is dioxin?
Math: Review data on toxic wastes, such as dioxin, and examine charts on pollution and the environment.
Reading: Read the story about Times Beach, Missouri.
Writing: Write and essay about the ways we carelessly destroy the environment and the world.
Social Studies: Research on the internet other towns abandoned because of toxic wastes in the U.S. and other countries.

1. Define pollution and toxic wastes.
2. Define dioxin, and know the side effects of this poison.
3. Determine several causes of pollution in our town, community, county, country, and world.
4. Search the internet for related articles.

1. Computer.
2. Charts and data about pollution and the environment.
3. Pencil and paper.
4. Story about pollution, “Pollution: The Town that Died.”

Begin the lesson with a discussion about what is pollution. Who is polluting the environment? Brainstorm ideas about how pollution affects our world and the environment. Define toxic wastes. Give several examples of toxic wastes. Research dioxin and the effects it can have on plants, animals, and humans.
Introduce the reading titled “Pollution: The Town That Died.” Have them read about how a little town in Missouri called Times Beach was polluted by a man trying to control the dust on the dirt roads. He sprayed dioxin on the roads and polluted the land, animals, plants, and the people. Discuss what the poison did to all of the living creatures in this town. Discuss the problems of dumping toxic wastes. Distribute handouts of data and graphs of different toxic waste sites in the U.S., and examine the statistics of pollution and the environment. This can be done in small groups.
Research on the internet other towns abandoned by toxic wastes in U.S. or other countries. Also, find towns still dumping in U.S. if possible.

Finally, write an essay about the ways we carelessly destroy the environment and our world.

• Contemporary Number Power 5: Graphs/Tables/Schedules/Maps pp. 92-111
• Contemporary Foundation Writing pp. 63-91
• Complete Pre-GED Comprehensive Review pp. 377-410 (Social Studies)
• GED Complete Social Studies

• What street(s) is the building located on?
• Are there any restaurants or other public buildings next to or in front of the site?
• What is the best route to take to the site from City Hall? What event(s) make this site historical?
• When did this event(s) happen? How did the event(s) take place?
• Why did the event(s) occur in history?
• What historical figures are associated with the site?
• Are these historical figures associated with other historical events?

• Internet access:Web Site: Constellations

http://www.dibonsmith.com/constel.htm
http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/clicks/constlist.html
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/%7Ekaler/sow/sowlist.html#constellations
http://www.earthsky.com/Features/Skywatching/pronounce.html

• Printer accessibility
• MS Word/Works
• MS Excel
• Hand-out: Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, Spectral Classes, and the Yerkes Luminosity Classes
• Protractors
• Colored pencils/markers
• Hand-out: list of constellations

• Students will read and summarize stories behind the constellations
• Students identify and label stars in the constellations according to spectral classes.
• Students will practice creating a database of information.
• Students will practice measuring angles using a protractor.
• Students will label angles as acute or obtuse.

1. From a list, students each select 3 constellations to study/learn about.
2. Next have students research their constellations on the Internet using web site: http://www.dibonsmith.com/constel.htm, and rewrite/paraphrase the myth to share with the class, using MS Word/Works
3. Students should print out copies of their constellations from web site: http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/%7Ekaler/sow/sowlist.html#constellations
4. Using website:http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/%7Ekaler/sow/sowlist.html#constellations, students will find the individual star names found in the constellation, their temperatures, star type, color, luminosity class, and light years from earth.
5. After gathering the information, students will then create a database of constellation stars based on the information collected above.
6. After these tasks are completed, students need to use the printed pictures of their constellations and a protractor.
7. First have students label the stars within each constellation alphabetically; next have them find as many angle combinations as possible using three points (stars) to form an angle.
8. Using a protractor, students will measure the angles found in the constellation, and decide if the angles are acute, obtuse or right. Record findings in a chart.

• Students will read a work-order describing the job they have been assigned – to deliver a package from company A to Company B by a certain date and time.
• Students will use mileage and speed to calculate how long it will take them to get from point A to point B to deliver a work related package that must be delivered by a certain deadline.
• With this information, they will calculate what time they need to leave in order to get the package delivered on time.
• Students will write a memo to their boss, requesting the company car, dates, and times needed to make the delivery.

• Calculators
• Map
• Internet – http://www.paturnpike.com/toll/tollmileage.aspx
• Word processor
• Work-order hand-outs