Daily Archives: September 16, 2008

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As one of the culminating activities of this term's Inquiry Unit "Who Makes The Rules?", my and my co-planning partner's classes are heading into the heart of Adelaide for a tour of our state's Parliament House with our local member of Parliament being our guide. Two classes together makes for nearly sixty students which is too many for a tour all at once. So, we will be going in two groups an hour apart which leaves one group to pursue another activity - a walking trail that ties in with major points of interest nearby.

So, borrowing heavily from resources on the Adelaide Unplugged website, I put together a trail that looks at a number of significant buildings and momuments while checking out some of the intriguing outdoor art within that part of the Adelaide CBD. I'd like to share the Trail documents I've created but I've copied remixed quite a bit of content that can't really be posted online. However, if you are a teacher in Adelaide and are interested in seeing what I've concocted, drop me a virtual line.

I used Google Maps to create a map to guide our Trail and when Maria (my co-planning buddy) and I were working out the exact route, it was a great tool to use Street View to be really sure of what we wanted the students to take in. When we wanted to work out how to get back from the front of the South Australian Museum across to the Festival Centre, zooming right in to see the backs of buildings and possible pathways removes a lot of the guesswork. The only thing we can't be totally sure of is whether we can cover the whole Trail in the hour!

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Not every learning experience needs to be technology loaded, but using Google Maps does make sure that the hands on excursion involves a lot less guesswork.