ALEX | Alabama Learning Exchange

What if Nothing Ever Changed?

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This lesson provided by:

Author:	Dalany Roberts
System:	Franklin County
School:	Belgreen High School
The event this resource created for:	Alabama Technology in Motion

General Lesson Information

Lesson Plan ID:	36108
Title:	What if Nothing Ever Changed?
Overview/Annotation:	Imagine if the world as you know it never changed. Students will embark on a journey back in time and research what life in Alabama looked like in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Students will compare and contrast the information they research with their present-day lives. Students will then identify how technological advancements changed life for Alabamians and reflect on how they feel their life would be today if things never changed. Students will create an Adobe Express digital story to communicate their researched information and personal reflections. This resource was created as a result of the Alabama Technology in Motion Partnership.

Associated Standards and Objectives

Content Standard(s):

Social Studies SS2010 (2010) Grade: 4 Alabama Studies	16 ) Determine the impact of population growth on cities, major road systems, demographics, natural resources, and the natural environment of Alabama during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. • Describing how technological advancements brought change to Alabamians, including the telephone; refrigerator; automobile; television; and wireless, Internet, and space technologies • Relating Alabama's economy to the influence of foreign-based industry, including the automobile industry Unpacked Content Strand: Economics, Geography, History Course Title: Alabama Studies (Alabama) Evidence Of Student Attainment: Students: Assess the impact of population growth on cities, major road systems, demographics, natural resources, and the natural environment of Alabama during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Assess how technological advancements brought change to Alabamians, including the telephone; refrigerator; automobile; television; and wireless, Internet, and space technologies. Assess the cause and effect of foreign based industry on Alabama's economy including the automobile industry. Teacher Vocabulary: assess technological advancements population growth demographics natural resources foreign-based economy Knowledge: Students know: The causes of population growth in cities includes natural resources, advancements in technology, and placement of foreign based industries. Key technology inventions that have changed the lives of Alabamians. Key technology inventions that have changed the power of the media's influence over Alabamians. Location of major waterways and road systems in Alabama impacts the population density of an area. Skills: Students are able to: Identify major road systems, natural resources, and areas of population growth. Relate Alabama's economy to the influence of technology and foreign based industry. Understanding: Students understand that: Technological advancements that have occurred in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have greatly impacted the lives of Alabamians socially, economically, and globally. The natural resources available in Alabama in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries led to the growth of Alabama's population. Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards AAS Standard: SS.AAS.4.16- Identify reasons for population growth and identify challenges of population growth. SS.AAS.4.16a- Describing how technological advancements brought change to Alabamians, including the telephone; refrigerator; automobile; television; and wireless, Internet, and space technologies. SS.AAS.4.16b- Discuss the foreign-based automobile industry in Alabama.
Digital Literacy and Computer Science DLIT (2018) Grade: 4	R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions. Unpacked Content Evidence Of Student Attainment: Students will: locate information from digital sources to answer research questions. curate information to present or share with others. Teacher Vocabulary: curate keyword search engine database Knowledge: Students know: information to research questions can be obtained from digital sources. how to use resources to organize information. how to find resources to present or share with others. Skills: Students are able to: create a list of keywords or phrases to enter into a search engine and/or database such as the Alabama Virtual Library. use additional words or punctuation to narrow search such as AND (+), OR, NOT ( ), setting date boundaries, or quotation marks (""). organize information. share information by creating a digital resource. Understanding: Students understand that: information can be located from a digital source to answer research questions. information can be organzied and shared by creating a digital resource.
Digital Literacy and Computer Science DLIT (2018) Grade: 4	12) Use basic features of digital tools to communicate key ideas and details in a way that informs and/or persuades. Unpacked Content Evidence Of Student Attainment: Students will: use basic features of digital tools to communciate key ideas and details in a way that informs and/or persuades. Teacher Vocabulary: digital tools communicate key ideas informs persuades Knowledge: Students know: digital tools are available that enable them to inform others. digital tools are available that enable them to persuade others. Skills: Students are able to: use basic features such as headings, text, and images to communicate key ideas that inform and/or persuade. Understanding: Students understand that: digital tools can be used to communicate by informing and/or persuade others.

Local/National Standards:

ISTE Standards for Students

Empowered Learner: 1d Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies, and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.

Knowledge Constructor: 3c Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.

Creative Communicator: 6c Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models, or simulations.

Primary Learning Objective(s):

I can use technology to locate information about life in Alabama from 1970-2019 to answer research questions.

I can explain the differences and similarities of my own life to someone who lived in Alabama in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries (1970-2019).

I can describe how changes in technology affected Alabamians.

I can make an inference on what my life would look like if the world had never changed.

I can communicate what I have learned in the form of a digital story using digital tools.

Additional Learning Objective(s):

I can provide feedback to my classmates.

I can communicate clearly.

I can access and use technology applications such as Symbaloo, Adobe Express, Google Classroom, and Google Forms.

Preparation Information

Total Duration:	91 to 120 Minutes
Materials and Resources:	Google Classroom (Link to Google Slides Presentation): Presentation will be used to introduce the assignment and be used as a home base for students to reference independently. Google Forms: Students will answer essential questions using Google Forms. ABC Brainstorm: Students will complete an ABC brainstorm using Google Forms to think about things that have caused a change in the world around them. Symbaloo: Students will use Symbaloo to access teacher-approved websites and as another home base to access other tools needed for the assignment. Adobe Express: Students will use this to create a digital story. Chromebooks/iPads Research Organizer (Paper Copy- 1 per student) Story Script Organizer (Paper Copy- 1 per student) Rubric
Technology Resources Needed:	Chromebooks/iPad Projector Screen/Smart Board
Background/Preparation:	Students: Students will need to have basic computer skills (logging onto a computer, accessing Google Classroom, typing in a URL web address, and keyboarding skills). Beyond basic computer skills, students will need to be familiar with how to navigate and use the following technology tools: Symbaloo, Adobe Express, and Google Slides. Teacher: The teacher will need to be familiar with the following technology tools: Symbaloo, Adobe Express, Google Forms, and Google Slides. Prior to the lesson, the teacher will need to create a Symbaloo for students to access. Websites will need to be reviewed prior to adding to the Symbaloo class page. The teacher will also need to create an Adobe Express account that each student will be able to access, as well as student examples using Google Slides and Adobe Express to clearly outline expectations. Symbaloo: A tool used to organize a variety of web links. This will help prevent a student from accessing websites that are not relevant to the lesson or may have inappropriate content. Adobe Express: A tool used to create a video using photos, videos, music, text, and or your own personal recordings. This tool will be used for digital storytelling. Google Slides: Google Slides is a presentation program that students can access at any time from any device. Google Forms: Google Forms is a survey administration application, that students can gain access to at any time from any device.

Procedures/Activities:

Before Strategy/Engage

**Please note that students will need to have their devices readily available before starting the lesson**

Start the lesson by asking the class the essential question, “What would life be like if nothing ever changed?” (The teacher can display a Google Slides presentation on the board to facilitate the lesson, or students may access the slideshow on their own device so that links within the lesson for the assessments and activities are easily accessible.)
Allow students to discuss the essential question with their classmates nearby.
After students have thought about the essential question, show a picture of a cell phone from 1984.
Open up the discussion again and allow students to share how they would feel if this was the cellphone they had.
Ask the students another driving question, “Is change a good or bad thing?” Using Google Forms, ask students to explain their thoughts on if the change is a good or bad thing in a short paragraph.

During Strategy/Explore/Explain

Ask students, “How have technological advancements brought change to the lives of Alabamians?”
Using the ABC Brainstorm have students think of as many technological tools as possible that they feel may have changed the lives of Alabamians.
After students have completed the ABC brainstorm, explain that they will be researching how items such as the telephone, refrigerator, automobile, television, Internet, and space technologies changed lives.
Show students the Symbaloo Web Mix they will use to conduct their research.
Distribute the research organizers and script organizers for their Adobe Express digital story.
Allow students time to explore the web pages on the Symbaloo and start their research.

After Strategy/Explain, Reflect

Once you have approved each student's research, allow them to start working on their Adobe Express digital story. Adobe Express is a technology tool that is user-friendly. Students will be able to communicate ideas and information for a specific assignment and still create a piece of work unique to them.
There will be a minimum of 5 slides for the digital story. Students can access the requirements on the Google Slides Presentation or the Rubric. An example of the assignment can also be accessed here: https://adobe.ly/2GVMvwH.

Slide One: Answer the essential question “What would life be like if nothing ever changed?”
Slide Two: Students will describe one way their life is different than the lives of Alabamians in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Slide Three: Students will describe one way their life is the same/similar to the lives of Alabamians in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Slide Four: Students will explain how the technological advancement they chose changed the lives of Alabamians.
Slide 5: Students will answer the question, “What would your life look like today if the world had never changed?”

Students will share their digital stories in Google Classroom as a comment under the announcement post created by the teacher. Students will share the link that Adobe Express will create when asked to share. Sharing on Google Classroom will allow their peers to easily access and view videos.
Students will be required to choose two different digital stories to leave comments on.

Assessment

Assessment Strategies

Google Forms assessment will be used as a formative assessment to track student thinking about the concept of change.

The ABC Brainstorm encourages students to start thinking about the things in the world around them and examining how they may have impacted/ changed the world.

Students will create an Adobe Express digital story, and it will be used as a summative assessment to track students' understanding of how technological advances have shaped the world they live in today and changed the lives of Alabamians. Students will follow the rubric to complete this assignment and the teacher will assess student mastery of the standard using the rubric.

Acceleration:	Students have learned about how “things” have changed and shaped the world around them. To accelerate learning, students can start discovering famous Alabamians that changed the world. Students can research and discover the impacts that their actions had on Alabama, as well as the world.
Intervention:	Students who need to receive additional assistance, may get help from a partner, or be provided with a research organizer with sentence stems to help narrow down what information is needed.

View the Special Education resources for instructional guidance in providing modifications and adaptations for students with significant cognitive disabilities who qualify for the Alabama Alternate Assessment.

ALEX Lesson Plan

What if Nothing Ever Changed?