Collaboration Conversation

May 2, 2013

In March, I wrote a blog post about our collaboration with Decatur Middle School and Valley Mills Elementary School on an activity for our upcoming Indiana Bicentennial Train project. I met with this group of bright young people last week and wanted to share their idea.

The team chose a 1907 railroad map from our collection as the basis for a game visitors can play when they visit the Train this fall. Emma Key, one of the 8th graders on the team, said her objective was to make it active. “We wanted something active with competition, and that’s when we got the idea for a game,” she says.

Using the railroad routes and stops on the map, visitors will engage in a race to travel across the map. Miniature depot icons will mark where players need to stop and answer a question in order to move forward. The questions will focus on the locations with some broader Indiana history to make connections to the academic standards.

The next step is for the team to write a few questions for each depot site and for the IHS team to figure out the best way to fabricate the map so it is large enough and holds up in the elements. We are excited to work with Decatur Township learners and are looking forward to featuring this activity at the Train!

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