Education 799C, Kern County History Projects
Alfred P. Clark, Ph.D., Instructor

Course Description:

This course continues the exploration of the history of the area now covered by Kern County, California, from Yokut Indian times to the present day, by engaging the participant in the development of lesson plans, bulletin boards, and other curriculum development relating to Kern County political, economic, social, and cultural history. It carries one semester hour of professional credit for those who register for it. Prerequisite: EDUC 799A, History of Kern County.

Course Goals:

1. The participant will take his/her familiarity with Kern County physical and political geography, Yokut Indians, Spanish and Mexican periods, early settlers, ranches, farms, oil industry, railroad and road construction, mining, cities, education, and culture (acquired in EDUC 799A, History of Kern County, and perhaps EDUC 799B, Kern County History Topics as well) to create lesson plans, bulletin boards, videos, games, puzzles, and/or other curriculum materials relating to Kern County political, economic, social, and cultural history.

2. The participant will utilize these materials in his/her classroom, library, office, or program for the edification and enlightenment of others about Kern County history.

Requirements for Participants taking the Course for Credit:

1. Develop curriculum materials relating to Kern County political, economic, social, and cultural history using information learned, insights gained, materials collected, trips experienced, and photographs and videos taken in EDUC 799A, History of Kern County, and perhaps EDUC 799B, Kern County History Topics as well. It is expected that the participant will devote about 15 hours to the development of the curriculum materials, so depending upon difficulty or elaborateness, one or more projects might be required. For example, one video might take 15 hours to complete, but one bulletin board might consume only four hours. Hence, the participant completing the video would only need to do one curriculum project, while the teacher creating the bulletin board would need to do more. The following are some examples of acceptable curriculum materials that can be developed, but many others are possible if they fit into the participant's curriculum:
   • Bulletin boards
     
   • Lesson plans
     
   • A large map for use in the classroom or handout maps (of political, physical, social, or economic geography, or of history, water resources, explorations, etc.)
     
   • A commercial video with explanation for use in the classroom, such as Mark Pahuta's Visions in Stone about the Coso Petroglyphs, or the not-yet-released The Kern River about water history and water rights.
     
   • A personal video, edited and narated for classroom use.
     
   • A written and/or illustrated walking tour (of the historic part of a city, of a historic site, etc. for student use)
     
   • Written materials to further expand docent-guided tours at the Kern County Museum, Ft. Tejon, and other sites.
     
   • A virtual "walking" tour for use on the world wide web
     
   • A photo essay.
     
   • A slide show.
     
   • A collage.
     
   • An activity center unit.
     
   • A creative writing project.
     
   • A featured work from Kern County with label for classroom use.
     
   • A featured work from Kern County on a photograph for classroom use.
     
   • A model of a piece of architecture, city, historic site, geographical feature, etc. in Kern Co.
     
   • A game.
     
   • A puzzle.
     
   • A plan for story-telling.
     
   • A play or a skit.
     
   • Ethnic foods from Kern Co. (e.g., Basque, Mexican, etc.)
     
   • A labeled collection of rocks or of artifacts from Kern County appropriate for the classroom.
     
   • Projects involving documents or artifacts, such as those available in the special collections of the Kern County Library or those contained in the collections of the Kern County Museum. Most such projects would be available for advanced high school students only, but some could be geared to challenge the analytical and creative processes even of elementary students.
     
   • Projects involving literature such as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath or Frank Norris' The Octopus, or anthologies of literature such as Highway 99: A Literary Journey through California's Great Central Velley, or themes in literature such as Dust Bowl literature or migrant literature. This might also involve nonfiction such as Children of the Dust Bowl, by Jerry Stanley.

2. Share these materials with the rest of the class (primarily using e-mail, listserv, and chat technologies).

Assessment and Grades:

Each registered student will be assessed on the quality, creativity, and probable success of the curriculum materials he/she develops. As a non-degree-credit professional education course, no tests or papers are expected or required.

Materials and Resources used in the Course:

Given that this is primarily an activity course, there is no required text. The primary recommended text is William Hample's Historical Site Makers Kern County (Bakersfield: Kern County Historical Society, c. 1991), because it is in print, inexpensive, and contains a good time line, useful thumbnail historical sketches, and both information about and directions to historical landmarks (local as well as state registered) in Kern Co. In addition, students are encouraged to find works on the Select List of Books on Kern County History in their local libraries that provide information useful to the development of the curriculum materials they are developing.

The Web provides numerous articles from the Bakersfield Californian; information on sites throughout Kern County; economic, demographic, and planning statistics, and much more of use for the development of curriculum materials in this course. Many of the websites containing these materials are linked to the two other courses in the Weekend Series trio on Kern County history, EDUC 799A, History of Kern County, a prerequisite to this course, and EDUC 799B, Kern County History Topics.

In addition to books, articles, documents, artifacts, and websites, the course is built upon the collections, documentation, guidebooks, and docent information at museums, historic sites, historic buildings, visitor centers, farms, and industries throughout Kern County. The opportunity to see, feel,hear, touch, and smell the artifacts of Kern history--both for the participant who has already done this in EDUC 799A, History of Kern County (and perhaps EDUC 799B, Kern County History Topics, as well) as well for the participant's students, colleagues, and friends at whom the curriculum materials are aimed--is the essence of this course.