Has anyone else had to do a 3D map of NC with their child? (credit, middle school)

[NC gal (aka Oregon gal)]

My daughter's teacher has assigned a project that seems beyond normal 8 & 9 yr. old abilities. They are expected to do this project without help from parents.
Beyond just being upset about my daughter being expected to even DO this on her own (and on track out no less) I don't know where to start.

Have any of you had to help your child do this?
Did you use playdoh for the mountains?
Any ideas on how to represent the Piedmont area in 3D?

I've looked all over the internet and the only thing I found was a recipe on how to make salt playdoh.

Thanks in advance - I always appreciate the help we give each other on here.

[mariliz]

Play dough or clay for the mountains sounds like a good idea- why don't you do the same for the Piedmont but just flat and at a lower elevation? Then maybe paint them different colors. Think simple- I am sure the teacher isn't expecting anything too elaborate. For the coastal plain maybe you could use sand?

[CHTransplant]

God I used to hate those school assignments. I used to think to myself "what on earth does this teacher think my kid is going to learn from this (other than a few swear words courtesy of dad)?" I'm sure I stressed out over them more than was warranted, and I think mariliz is right - teachers expect the work of a 9-year old and nothing more.

Here's my suggestion for your project:

Get a piece of cardboard (or foam board) and help your daughter trace/draw an outline of the state. Try to include at least a few barrier islands too.

First paint around that outline - greens and browns for bordering land, blue for the ocean.

Then start packing clay onto the map she's drawn - just a thin 1/4" or so layer everywhere. Keep it a little bumpy.

Build up the areas of the mountains another half inch or so.

Etch in some rivers and lakes with the end of a popsicle stick.

Then paint - sandy tan near the ocean, browns and greens in the middle, blue gray & white for the mountains. Paint the rivers and lakes blue.

Done.

After that, show it to your daughter so she can pass it off as her own.

[FVmommy]

I really thought they were not supposed to assign homework over track out - it's supposed to be the equivalent of summer vacation. The WCPSS website says: "Track-out time is like summer vacation. Students are not assigned homework but many students use this time to get ahead by reading and by attending intersession programs."

I've been a big supporter of year-round schools, but not if they start giving my kid big projects to do on our vacation.

I agree it seems like a big project for a 3rd grader (I remember doing something similar in middle school, and thought it was a bit much even then), but the timing bothers me even more.

[NC gal (aka Oregon gal)]

FVmommy - I had no idea that there were guidelines for homework during track out - I am going to bring it up with her teacher now - thank you!

CH - YOU are awesome! I wish my mind was as creative as yours - I actually feel like this won't be SO BAD now <and believe me, swear words, courtesy of Mom have already happened!!>

Mariliz - I hope you are right - I hope she won't be expecting anything elaborate but her "guidelines" for the project are pretty extensive. <ugh> Thank you for the ideas - between you & CH we should be good now.

I love this forum !!!!!!!!!!!

[saturnfan]

Not everyone has creative ability so the assignment is unfair unless it is an art class.

[mariliz]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

Not everyone has creative ability so the assignment is unfair unless it is an art class.

Not really...unless of course creativity is used as a criteria for grading. It sounds like there is a specific set of criteria in place. If the project meets them, I would imagine that it will receive full credit. There will always be "prettier" projects that will come in, but that doesn't mean they will score any better.

Most 4th grade projects in Wake County are scored on a scale of 1-4 anyway, with a level 3 being on grade level. If the child wants to go "above and beyond" there should be a list of things they can do to do that. (If not, email the teacher and ask for one if you are interested!)

[lamishra]

The assignment is not unfair unless they are specifically being graded for artisitc ability in a class that's not an art class. It's social studies and yes, my child had to do this project years ago! It's not as hard as you think and easily done by a 8-9 year old. One thing we did was for the coastal plain, we covered that third with glue and then covered the glue with sand. For the piedmont area, we used coffee filters that we balled up several times and then used a green, washable marker to color. Spray it with water and the color spreads. It gave it color and dimension and looked really cool. For the mountains we did paper mache and painted them. Try pretty sparkly blue glitter glue for rivers!

[kelly237]

We had fun with this project years ago and my kids learned a ton about our state .

The hard part is watching all the perfect/professional ones come into the class that the parents did.

I would not make my kids do the project during the break.
When are they supposed to do normal kid summer things???
I would be assertive and send a memo to the teacher and principle
stating that your child will be busy with family activities during the break and that the project will be completed when she/he returns to school.

I did this once with work assigned during Christmas break.
I didn't tell my kids enough to give them an attitude about it at school.
Just told them they were making it up later.

[kelly237]

Stores like Michael's have this stuff that is easy to shape and then dries hard. It isn't the modeling clay that comes in colors. I will try to get the name of the stuff.

I think this is what we used:

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/d...285&channelid=