Objective: Students will identify historic and modern landmarks in their town.

Warm-Up  Activity: Your town/neighborhood has landmarks.  Landmarks are buildings, sites, or  objects (such as a tree) that have special significance  because of  their  history,  construction, or  long  association with a place.  Landmarks help identify a community or  a  place.  Landmark  buildings give  a  place its unique  identity.  For example, the Liberty Bell is a landmark  in what city?  Mount Vernon is a landmark  where?  Old Faithful is a  natural landmark  in what park ?  In what state?   Without  its landmarks, each place would lose its individual identity and would look like any other town. 

Main Lesson: As your class tours your town/neighborhood, have them fill out the attached landmark identification chart. They may need to locate reference materials for research and dating.  Sketch or photograph local landmarks for follow-up projects.  Change the dates and categories as appropriate for your town/neighborhood.

Extending Activities:

- Make charcoal sketches of landmarks. Spray with fixative and use
  the sketches as guides to create a watercolor of the landmark.

- While on tour, take photographs of landmarks and create a   
  town photo album. Write captions or stories to accompany each photo.

- Use the photographs or sketches to make a "Landmarks of My Town"
  calendar.

- Create a web site of historic landmarks of your town.       
     

This lesson plan is based on an idea included in Walk Around the Block (CUBE, 1982). It may not be reproduced except for classroom use without permission.   For more ideas or to order this book of lesson plans or other materials from CUBE, click here.