The main component of this website is an interactive game created using The Palace , a multiuser graphical chat environment. Students interact with a chat facilitator, and each other, while they explore various aspects of the Kumeyaay lifestyle in an 'edutaining' environment. Possible activities include online events in which students, teachers, and others interested in Native American or California history can participate. Instructional Objective and Learners California history is the focus of history-social science instruction at grade 4. The history of California is the story of successive waves of immigrants from the 16th century through modern times and of the enduring marks each left on the character of the state.
Great emphasis is placed on the regional geography of California.
As part of the grade 4 curriculum standards, student are required to analyze the different regions and the interactions of physical characteristics and cultural forces and how the landscape of California has provided different resources for different people at different times, from the earliest to the present. The website and game also offer students a unique learning environment that combines use of technology, research, collaboration, and problem solving. The game is also flexible enough to be played many times or over the course of time as a continuous game. Guest speakers could be introduced to the students during the game to serve as experts or facilitators. A list of local San Diego Native Americans contacts is available from the website from which guests could be invited to the game.