By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Before the coronavirus, there was still a China.
The country’s rich history, culture and most important figures have all come to life at Union City Middle School in recent weeks.
Penne Guess’ 6th-grade social studies classes have been studying the world’s most populous land and discovered many interesting facts and figures about the region, its history and its people.
As part of a project to end the learning section, Union City Middle School students were given several options to detail the full story of the East Asia country before presenting their findings to their respective groups.
Presentation options included a detailed ancient timeline, a travel brochure, diaries of ancestors and their worship, informational texts, and/or biographies of historical figures such as Confucius or Laozi – China’s most noted countrymen.
Guess’ five social studies classes had two weeks to complete their project – some of it done in class and some finished at home. Students were allowed to make their posters, brochures or other presentations with the use of their computers or iPads and also were permitted to utilize their textbooks and notes.
“China has been one of our standards (in world study), and it was only a coincidence that we were at this point when the coronavirus concern hit our country,” said Guess, who was named UCMS Teacher of the Year earlier this year. “We’ve talked about it and that it (COVID-19) was reported to have originated there, how it spread quickly and the health issues it has caused, as well as the importance of social distancing because of it.
“This study focused on the country before that, though. We certainly had no idea at how we’d be affected at this point. There are so many interesting times and people from China and the fact that the country is projected to have more than 1 ½ billion people by 2025 is just fascinating and makes it worthy of studying.”