Stark Contrast: A History of Stark County

Overview

Western Reserve Public Media is producing a one-hour broadcast documentary titled Stark Contrast: A History of Stark County. It traces Stark County’s story and looks at the people and enterprises that have influenced the county’s development.

Documentary

The video looks at the county’s communities, industrial development, educational and cultural institutions, sports, art, culture, transportation and more. It also follows two groups of residents representing the county’s older and younger generations. This teacher guide complements the video and follows state standards. It is directed at middle school students.

Teacher Guide

The lessons are hands-on and project-based, and are keyed to Ohio content standards for the subject areas. Students will look at the following topics:

Mathematics

• The population over the years
• The football rivalry between Canton McKinley High School and Massillon High School

 

Science

• The effect of glaciers on the land

 

Social Studies

• The history of the railroads
• Building a timeline
• Famous and important people
• Manufacturing
• The Underground Railroad

 

Language Arts

President McKinley
Creation of a play on the canal years
The doorway to the Amish
Creating a brochure about their city

Web

A companion Web site, http://www.WesternReservePBS.org/starkcontrast, contains the teacher guide in both a PDF and Web-based format, plus a video stream of the television production. The site also contains games and activities that are not included in the teacher guide.