Navigate:

EDUCATE > COAST CONNECTIONS > SANDY SHORES
​

• Background
• Essential Concepts
• Driving Questions
• General Resources

Entry Events

• Invite A Guest Speaker
• Read a Book
• Engage the Senses

Driving Questions:

• DQ1: Why are our sandy beaches special? 
• DQ2: How can we take care of sandy beaches? 
• ​​DQ3: Why do we need to restore Oregon's dunes?

Authentic Projects for DQ1:

• AP1: Critters of the Coast
• AP2: Mapping Our Beaches

Authentic Projects of DQ2:

• AP1: Oregon's Beach Bill
• AP2: Our Beach, Our Responsibility

Authentic Projects of DQ3: 

• AP1: Restoration Project
• AP2: Recruitment Campaign

Authentic Project 2: Mapping Our Beaches

Students explore where Oregon's sandy beaches are, and how they were formed. Then they create a large-scale map highlighting Central Oregon Coast beaches and how they have changed over time.

Purpose: Oregon's sandy beaches are some of our greatest public treasures, but many have changed over time and many others are disappearing. The map students create will illustrate the natural and human events that have caused them to change, raising awareness and encouraging people to take action to preserve our beaches.

Authentic Audience: The school and/or public community.

Group work: This project should be done as one class - i.e. it should produce only one map. However, you can assign student work groups to different tasks, including:

• Researchers (reads materials and shares information with the group)
• Writers (distills the information provided by the Researcher into short, easy-to-understand descriptions and labels on the map). See additional information on Youth Activities: Reading & Writing.
• Artists (create drawings, paintings, sketches, etc. on the map). See additional information on Youth Activities: Art.
• Cartographers(ensuresthatthemapisbeingcreatedaccuratelyandtoscale)
  
  

See our Guide to Facilitating Student Group Work for more information.

Teacher's role: You are the Project Manager, overseeing students as they learn and create. You will provide each student with the materials they need to fulfill their above roles. You should make sure that students remain on-task and on-deadline while also ensuring that they have the freedom to design their map however they want. You should also help students make sure that the information they're providing is correct and that their materials are easy to read and visually appealing — since ultimately their projects will be viewed by the public.

Student research materials:

• Oregon Dunes Restoration Collaborative
• Old Maps of Oregon
• ​Student Atlas of Oregon

Additional Resources:

• Center for Geography Education Oregon
• Map making with Children by David Sobel
• Mapmaker Kits by state from National Geographic

Community Partners:

Use our Guide to Working with Community Partners to contact and secure your partner(s) ASAP.

Option 1: You may choose to display your map at school for students and families only. Host a Family Geography Night at your school to showcase student work and engage the community! Check out this guide from the Center for Geography Education Oregon for details about how to easily host this event.

Option 2: Alternatively, or in addition, you can reach out to public places. Places in the Central Coast area willing to display student-created work may include:

• Public Libraries: Newport, Siletz, Toledo, Waldport, Driftwood (Lincoln City) 
• Oregon Coast Aquarium
• Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center
• Pacific Maritime Heritage Center
• Alsea Bay Historic Interpretive Center
  
• Newport Farmer's Market
  

​Engage a geographer: Contact the Center for Geography Education in Oregon to find a geography expert who may be able to work with your class. Opportunities to engage an expert could include:

• Class visit (in person or via Skype)
  
• Consulting and providing feedback for student map drafts
  
• Providing a guest lecture, activity, or other expertise at your Family Geography Night or other public event.​

Learning Activities:

What is a map?  

Exploring Maps and Models (from National Geographic)

Where are our dunes and sandy beaches?

• Flying Over Oregon's Dunes (from Oregon Coast Aquarium)
  

How do beaches change over time?

•  Modeling Beach Erosion (from New Jersey Sea Grant)
  

How do we create a map to scale?

• Measuring Distances On a Map (from National Geographic)
  
• OPTIONAL EXTENSION: Latitude and Longitude Online Game (from Kids Geography)
  
  

How should we design our map?
While the purpose of the map is to inform the public about changes to Oregon's sandy beaches, students may choose to interpret the map in any number of ways. What changes do they want to visually represent on their map, and how? They may want to include historical markers on their map, ecoregions, distribution of wildlife, etc. For some great examples and inspiration, use the Student Atlas of Oregon, available for free download at this link. Students — and you — can also decide how large to make the map - should it be very large and placed on the floor, where people can walk around on it? Or perhaps it's more of a "mural" placed along a school hallway? Consider the time and resources you have available when deciding.

Field Trips:

Field trip to Lincoln County Historical Society: The LCHS Research Library houses thousands of photographs, documents, maps, and records pertaining to local and regional topics. Set up an appointment to visit (they're open Weds-Fri, 11am- 4pm). Have students ask the librarian(s) for old maps of the area. Help students seek out materials related to the geographical changes they're focused on.

Field trip to a sandy beach: Pick a destination from the Field Trip Sites section on Page 2, or choose your favorite local spot. At the beach, ask students to draw a map of what they can see, including landmarks, physical and natural features, animals they spot, the shape of the shoreline where it meets the sea, etc. To enlist a Park Ranger in facilitating an education program at a State Parks field site, contact: Paul.Reilly@oregon.gov