Introduction
Welcome! We're so glad to have you here in Mississippi. Many people think they understand us - they think of our cajun cooking and our accents and figured they have us pegged. Not true! There is so much more to the people and places of Mississippi, especially on our Gulf Coast. Since you've arrived as an ambassador to help us, we hope that you can really dig in to the culture and legacy of our coast and show the rest of the country that we're not just about fishing boats.
Task
Your task, as an ambassador, is to help others explore and understand what makes the Mississippi Gulf Coast so special. Having the chance to visit and experience our towns fully takes a lot of planning, and many people only have a short time to absorb all that is offered from this great city. What would you recommend to others who are unfamiliar with the Gulf Coast? What are the little-known secrets? What is life like for us? Find, discover, and share!
Process
Your first assignment is to locate your co-ambassadors. Check in with the Mayor of Mississippi to discover with whom you will be working to discover the Gulf.
The Mayor will also give each group of ambassadors a number. That number will correspond with the specific research to be completed by the ambassador clusters. Remember that each ambassador in a group is responsible for participating in researching a topic, website or literature different from the others in his group!
Specific Group Instructions:
Group 1:
- Use the internet to research the symbols that are associated with the state of Mississippi. You will research the state flag, state flower, state bird, state land mammal, state waterfowl, state fish, state song, and state motto.You will also pick three other symbols that interest you and your group members. Use websites such as www.theus50.com to find your information. You may access other sites about Mississippi.
- Use the library to find books about the state symbols. "M is for Magnolia" by Michael Shoulders is an excellent book that tells about the symbols of Mississippi.
- Make a list of all of the symbols that you can find. Type this information on out and find pictures of each symbol to print out for the survey.
- You will write a brief, but interesting description of each symbol. Please type all of your descriptions.
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Make a visual aid to accompany your descriptions of each symbol. This may be done by using a posterboard and even making a collage. But, you may also wish to create a PowerPoint or Prezi.
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Present your findings to the class.
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Conduct a survey to see which symbol your classmates like the best. Use the Mississippi Symbols Survey sheet provided in the attachments section.
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Create a computer generated graph to show the results of your survey. Use this website to help you create your graph. Follow the directions on the page and print your graph when you are finished.http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx?ID=46530114ad04442fa3a09cb5f7281c2b
- Share the results of the survey with the class.
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Turn in your completed project to the teacher for a grade.
Group 2:
- Use the internet and the libray to find out about the history of Mississippi. You should find something about Mississippi's statehood, people in the history of Mississippi (e.g. Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner), past historical events (e.g. Civil War), and three additional facts that you find interesting and that you think would be beneficial for the class to know. You may use www.history.com for your research or any other approved site. You may check out Mississippi: A Document of History by Bradley Bond to get you started. Any books that pertain to your research are acceptable.
- Produce a written report including the information mentioned in step 1.
- Produce a historical timeline using the information you find. This will be your visual representation. Name your timeline "Mississippi's History" and put all of the group members first names. Follow the directions on the screen to make your timeline. Print out your timeline. www.readwritethink.org/materials/timeline/index.html
- Present your report and visuals to the class.
- Turn in completed work to the teacher for a grade.
Group 3
- Use the internet and the library to research two Native American tribes from Mississippi. You will need to find information about the location, language, and government of the tribes you choose. You may usewww.accessgeneology.com/native/Mississippi/index.htm to find your information on your tribes. You may use other sites that are approved by the teacher. You may choose any books that you want, but Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes by Carl Waldman is a very good source of information on the Native Americans of Mississippi.
- Use the information you find on the web or in books to compare and contrast the two tribes you chose. Put your information into a Venn Diagram. Use this link to create your Venn Diagram.www.readwritethink.org/materials/venn/index.html
- Create a visual using pictures from the web or by drawing picture that represents the two tribes.
- Present your project to the class.
- Turn in your finished work to the teacher for a grade.
Group 4
- Use the internet and the library to research the culture of Mississippi. Culture consists of the food, music, art, and religion. www.theus50.com is a good resource.
- Create a collage using pictures from the internet and magazines that depict the cultures of Mississippi. Cut and glue your pictures onto a 1/2 size posterboard and include captions for each picture you find. You may use this link to find pictures. http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=mississippi&mkt=en-us
- Present your collage to the class and tell about each picture in your collage.
- Turn in the finished product to the teacher for a grade.
Evaluation
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