1. Students will interpret information on Threats to our Heritage and place this information on a concept map.
2. Students will determine why and how citizens preserve historical places.
3. Students will determine what makes a place historic.
4. Students will, as a team, develop a proposal/presentation that defends why a place should be named historical.
5. Students will role play a member on an advisory board and determine whether a place should be named as historical.
6. Students will determine if a place in their community should be named historical according to the investigations completed in this lesson and submit that information to a website hosted by the Louisiana Center for Educational Technology (yet to be announced).

• Introductory PowerPoint presentation
• Classroom management cards (one set)
• Learning Center posters (one set)
• Learning center instruction sheets (for each learning center)
• Three to four hard copies of each of the EZ Content Blueprints for this unit for each learning center (students will leave these at each center)
• Concept map template (if using hard copy – one for each student) – learning center #1) (Microsoft Word version, Inspiration version)
• Research Question Guide (one for each student – learning center #2)
• Math counters or bingo chips (for learning center #3)
• Trackstar Guide Sheet entitled How We Preserve: Preservation Strategies (one for each student – learning center #4)
• Scissors, paper, Four-square Foldable Directions (3-4 copies), and writing instrument for the four-square foldable activity (learning center #5)
• Manila folder (or a folder with pockets and brads) for each student to hold completed work
• Louisiana state highway map or copies of the downloadable map located at http://www.dotd.louisiana.gov/maps/district.pdf (three to four copies)
• A printed copy of the regions of Louisiana map (see regions.jpg file)
• Historic place note card (one for each student)
• Scissors and glue (for learning center #6)
• Checklist (teacher may decide whether to hand this out to students to help them keep on task or keep it to use as a formal assessment tool at the end of the lesson)
• Rubic
• Advisory Board Sign Up Sheet

Hardware

• Multimedia Computer with an Internet Connection
• Printer

Software

• Word Processing application
• Slide Show presentation application
• Inspiration software (a free 30-day trial can be downloaded at http://www.inspiration.com/freetrial/index.cfm?fuseaction=form.insp)

Web Sites

• Preserve America
• Certified Local Government Program
• Digital Librarian Architecture and Historic Preservation
• Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives
• Historic American Buildings Survey-Historic American Engineering Record (HABS-HAER), National Park Service
• Louisiana Landmark Society
• Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation
• Louisiana Preservation Alliance
• National Center for Preservation Technology & Training
• National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
• National Park Service - Experience Your America
• National Trust's National Main Street Center
• New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission
• Preservation Directory
• Preservation Resource Center New Orleans
• St. Mary Landmarks - St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
• The City of New Orleans - Vieux Carré Commission

EZ Content Blueprints

• Threats to Our Heritage
• Why We Preserve
• Who Preserves? Preservation Organizations
• How We Preserve: Preservation Strategies
• How We Preserve: The Role of the State Historic Preservation Office
• What Makes a Place Historic? The National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana

Setting the Stage

Introduce the lesson by asking the students if they have visited a historic place. Allow the students to share their experiences. Ask some essential questions about the places they have visited such as:

• Why do you feel that place was historic?
• Why do you feel citizens have preserved that historic place?
• Who was responsible for preserving that historic place?
• Should we preserve historic places? Why/why not?
• Can you do anything as a citizen to preserve local historic places?

Explain to the students that in this unit they will be investigating threats to our heritage, how and why historic places are preserved, who preserves, and what makes a place historic. Show the Introductory PowerPoint presentation (if technology is available, be sure to allow students to view the video message by Laura Bush on the third slide). Then, as indicated on the last slide, the students will

• Work in teams to investigate historic places in Louisiana.
• Select a historic place in Louisiana and design a proposal/presentation to defend why that place should be preserved.
• You will also take a look at places in your community and determine if they could be classified as historic places.

As an optional activity, the students will investigate their own hometown/community to determine if they feel there is a place that would classify as “historic.” They will submit the information on their historic place to a database on the Internet (this is pending what Susan would like the students to submit).

Challenge for early finishers:

Design, develop, and produce a commercial for Caring for Our Heritage. They should write a script, decide who will act out each part, determine props needed, and practice their commercial.

Go to Activity 1: Processes of Preserving Historic Places -- Learning Centers

Students will rotate through six stations in the classroom to complete activities that address the following topics:

• Threats to Our Heritage (concept map activity, Microsoft Word version, Inspiration version)
• Why We Preserve (Research Question Guide)
• Who Preserves? Preservation Organizations (paraphrase passport activity)
• How We Preserve: Preservation Strategies (TrackStar #213815 and Trackstar guide sheet)
• How We Preserve: The Role of the State Historic Preservation Office (four-square foldable activity)
• What Makes a Place Historic? The National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana (A search for historic places in Louisiana)

Go to Activity 2: Our Plea to Preserve a Historic Place

Students will work in teams, select a historic place in Louisiana, and design and develop a proposal/presentation to defend why their historic place should be preserved to an advisory board (each student in the class will sit on an advisory board and will be expected to prepare at least two questions for the presenting team).

Activity 3: Historic Places in Your Community (OPTIONAL)

Closure:

Students will present their proposals to the other members of the class and before the assigned advisory board members. They should be ready to defend their historic place according to the questions asked by the board. Have the presentations available for parent viewing at a school sponsored open house or submit the projects to the local tourist agency.

• Classroom management cards
• Learning center posters
• Learning center instructions
• Concept map (see Microsoft Word version, Inspiration version) - one per student
• Research question guide – one per student
• Regions of Louisiana map
• General Louisiana map
• Trackstar guide sheet – one per student
• Four-square foldable instructions
• Historic place note card
• Checklist
• Rubric
• Advisory Board Sign Up Sheet

• Have students keep a folder (a manila folder is fine but one with pockets and brads would work best). Each item in the folder will be assessed according to the checklist.
• The proposal/presentation will be assessed using the rubric provided.