Geo-Generations Ancient Greece Unwrapping Mummies Activity Index

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Create a Geo-Generations Scrapbook that charts where members of your family have lived and tells what those places were like.

You may not have known it, but you grew up in a library of geographic knowledge—your family. Your parents, sisters and brothers, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins have probably lived in a variety of places. Those who've lived in the same place for a while have witnessed changes in everything from architecture to politics to pastimes. Gathering stories from your family can give you new insights into the world and your place in it.

Get as many relatives as you can to tell you about the places they've known. (You might want to record their answers on audiotape or videotape.) The following questions might help you get a conversation going. Add more questions as you think of them. First a few "basic bio" questions:

• Where were you born? How has that place changed?
• Where did you grow up? How has that place changed?
• Where do you live now? How has that place changed?
• Where did you live the longest? How has that place changed?
• What place do you consider home? How has that place changed?
• What was the farthest you traveled as a child? As an adult?
• What was the most interesting place you ever visited? Why?

Now a few sample childhood questions:

• What did you do for fun as a child?
• What sort of energy was used to heat your house?
• Did you have chores to do?
• Did you have a job outside the house?
• What was school like?
• What invention made the biggest impact on your life?
• What people affected you the most?
• What kind of music did you listen to?

As you do each interview, you may want to ask for memorabilia to include in your Geo-Generations Scrapbook: letters, photographs, postcards, newspaper articles, magazine articles, report cards, and so forth. Relatives who want to keep the originals might let you make copies. You could also print maps from our Xpeditions Atlas and mark the places where your family has lived.

Once you've gathered information, create your scrapbook. You might create a binder, a notebook, a poster, or even a Web site. Show it to your family, then store it in a safe place for the next generation.

Younger Xpeditioners: Imagine being a kid in the year 2025 and finding the Geo-Generations Scrapbook. What would you think? How might life have changed? Write a story, cartoon, or skit about looking back toward today.

Older Xpeditioners: Predict what life will be like on your 25th birthday, your 50th birthday, and your 75th birthday. Put each set of predictions in an envelope to be saved and opened when those celebrations arrive.

Parents: Children, especially those who are young or shy, may need help with arranging and conducting interviews. If you do not have enough older relatives available, you might enlist friends or neighbors. (Note: If you are involved with the interviews, you may want to take the opportunity to compile a family medical history, which can be an important resource.)