Highlights
How do buildings change, and how do historians learn about these changes? Through our interactive Changing Constructions game, students will explore how Heritage Interpreters and other historians have learned about the architectural changes at Clifton Museum. Students will play a collaborative game that sees them create their own houses. Their houses will change as technologies and needs shift. Guided by a Heritage Interpreter and supplemented by various visual aids from the history of Clifton Museum Park, this game is designed to encourage students to think about the history of their built community and how we learn about the past.
The Changing Constructions station is one of five options available as part of the Hands-On History program.
Curriculum Outcome Links
Grade Five Specific Learning Outcomes (Social Studies):
- Learners will investigate how we learn about the past, with a focus on Acadians, African Nova Scotians, Gaels, Mi’kmaq, and additional cultures.
Activities
3 Minutes: Introduction
Students will be given a quick overview of the history of the Clifton Museum building and its various residents.
10-15 Minutes: Changing Constructions Game
During this guided game, students will construct their own houses on whiteboards. They will be prompted to add and remove features of their houses through drawn cards. They may also be prompted to move houses, where they will switch houses with a peer. Each feature added or removed from their houses will be supplemented by visual aids and historical context by a Heritage Interpreter.
3-5 Minutes: Conclusion
Students will discuss their feelings after the game and compare houses. They will be encouraged to compare how each house was given the same prompts but was executed differently. Students will also be encouraged to discuss how each person who “lived” in a house impacted its final design.