Visiting Vandalia Social Studies Strands

By: Amanda DennlerBrittany Farmer

And Leah Higgins

Table of Contents History People in Societies Geography Economics Government Citizenship Rights and

Responsibilities Social Studies Skills and Methods

Visiting VandaliaUnit: Social StudiesGrade Level: 3rd GradeLesson: My CommunityObjectives: Students will be

able to increase his/her awareness of the make-up of the immediate community.

History Activities:1. Students will visit the Vandalia Historical

Society.2. Students will research an important

person from Vandalia and prepare a short presentation.

3. Students will look at historical pictures of Vandalia and compare and contrast those pictures will recent pictures of the same places.

HistoryActivities (continued):4. Students will create a timeline of

events that have occurred in the history of Vandalia.

5. Students will research the Dayton Flood of 1913 and its effects on Vandalia.

HistoryWebsites: Historical Society

http://www.historicalsocietyvandalia-butler.org/index.html

Pictures of Dayton Flood

http://www.familyoldphotos.com/oh/coll/dayton-1913flood.htm

HistoryWeb Sites (continued): History of Vandaliahttp://www.ci.vandalia.oh.us/history-info.cfm

History of the Grand American Trapshoothttp://www.traphof.org/history.htm

City of Vandaliawww.vandaliaohio.org

People in SocietiesActivities:1. Invite the Superintendent to come and

speak to the class.2. Invite a spokesperson from the rotary

club to come and tell the class what the rotary club does for the community.

3. Take the class on a field trip to a local nursing home.

People in SocietiesActivities (continued):4. Take to class to visit a local senior

center to learn how a community has activities for age levels.

5. Compare the community of Vandalia to other communities around the world.

People in SocietiesWeb Sites: Senior Center

http://www.vandaliaohio.org/Senior_Center.cfm

Vandalia Board of Education

http://www.vandaliabutlerschools.org/board_ed.htm

Rotary Clubwww.rotary.org

People in SocietiesWebsites Cont… Amateur Trapshoot Associationhttp://www.shootata.com/ Optimist Clubhttp://www.vandalia-butleroptimistclub.org/community/html

GeographyActivities:1. Look at a map of Vandalia2. Learn the history of Old National Road.3. Take a walking field trip around

Vandalia. Have students take notes about what they see. Use the notes to create a detailed map of Vandalia.

GeographyActivities (continued):4. Discuss the importance and

geography of the Taylorsville Dam.

5. Look at a map of the Dayton airport.

GeographyWeb Sites: National Road

Route 40 - America's Golden Highway (TM) Taylorsville Dam

Miami Conservancy District - flood protection - MCD system - Taylorsville Dam

Vandalia Rec Center

http://www.ci.vandalia.oh.us/Rec_Center.cfm

GeographyWeb Sites (continued): Dayton International Airport

http://www.daytonairport.com/pages/airport_home.htm

Longitude/Latitude

http://www.brainyzip.com/zipcodes/45/45377.html

EconomicsActivities:1. Visit a local farm to see how the farm

handles production, distribution, and consumption.

2. Invite the manager of Krogers to visit the class to explain how corporations work.

3. Visit Marti’s Monogramming to learn about small and how they effect the community.

EconomicsActivities (continued):4. Visit a local bank to learn how

money plays a role in the economy of the community.

5. Compare how small businesses are different from large worldwide franchises like McDonald’s.

EconomicsWeb Sites: Household Income

http://www.idcide.com/citydata/oh/vandalia.htm

McDonald’shttp://www.mcdonalds.com/

Krogerhttp://www.kroger.com/

EconomicsWeb Sites (continued): National City Bank

www.nationalcity.com Ken’s Pharmacy

www.drugman.com Hock’s Pharmacy

www.hocks.com

GovernmentActivities:1. Have a student government

representative from Butler High School speak to the class about student government.

2. Watch a School House Rock video about government.

3. Read a story about the American flag and discuss it’s importance to our country.

GovernmentActivities (continued):4. Have students create a class

government that reflects the government of Vandalia.

5. Have students give a brief presentation on each of the government positions in Vandalia and their importance to the community.

GovernmentWeb Sites: Find a City

www.findacity.net/usa/city?id=4243 History of American Flag

www.usa-flag-site.org/history.shtml

Hometown locator

www.hometownlocator.com/city/vandalia-ohio.cfm#1

GovernmentWeb Sites (continued): Elected Officialshttp://capwiz.com

City Manager

http://www.vandaliaohio.org/City_Manager.cfm

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

Activities:1. Have students participate in student

voting for a local election.2. Have a police officer visit the class and

discuss his job and what service he provides for the community.

3. Have students pick out a community issue to discuss and research.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

Activities (continued):4. Have students create a list of classroom

laws and consequences such as those used in the City of Vandalia.

5. After having the classroom rules and consequences for a couple of days the students will get in groups and propose possible solutions.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

Web Sites: Student voting

www.kidsvotingusa.org Vandalia Police Dept. Youth Programs

http://www.vandaliaohio.org/YouthPrograms.cfm

Animal Shelterhttp://www.co.montgomery.oh.us/AnimalShelter/

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

Web Sites (continued): Conservancy District

http://www.miamiconservancy.org/

D.A.R.E.http://www.dare.com/home/default.asp

Social Studies Skills and Methods

Activities:1. Have students use a map of Vandalia to

find where important places are located.2. Have students practice the process of

ballot voting while voting on their favorite sport.

3. Have students work in groups to discuss appropriate consequences for breaking school rules.

Social Studies Skills and Methods

4. Have students create a model of the City of Vandalia complete with labels explaining the importance of key buildings and places.

5. Have research and write short reports about important jobs in the community.

Social Studies Skills and Methods

Web Sites: Ohio History Teachers

www.ohiohistoryteachers.org Crime Stopper

http://www.crimestopperalert.com

Improving Strategies for Social Studieshttp://killeenroos.com

Social Studies Skills and Methods

Web Sites (continued): Crime Preventionhttp://www.vandaliaohio.org/CrimePrevention.cfm

Vandalia Courthttp://www.vandaliacourt.com/