The sixth period 11th grade U.S. History class took an opportunity to learn Westward Exploration in a whole new way. In an attempt to utilize the Project Based Learning approach and promote creativity and interaction with their learning, Mr. Griffith created the “Wagons West” project for the class. Students were to work in groups and prepare a wagon exhibit that they would use to showcase and demonstrate what they learned.
Operation
Students were able to research one of four different westward destinations. They then put together displays of miscellaneous artifacts, images, and maps into a wagon that they created for their project presentation. The collected items were used to assist them in presenting their wagon display to the rest of the class.
Outcome
Student presentations took place in class and each group took their wagon to the front and presented the wagon contents and the information surrounding the items in the wagon. The interactive exploratory components to this project allowed students to pursue their own interests and present them in a creative format.
