What are the differences between the old and the young?

How do we tend to let these differences hinder us from interacting so much with everyone in our community?

How could this seem like such a barrier within a community?  

How accurate were our measurements (for the filter-cloth) and why is it so important that you are accurate when measuring something?  

How does being inaccurate affect a project and everyone else who is working with you on the project?

Why is having good communication so important?

To become aware of the age barrier that seems to exist between the old and the young generations

For students to realize, even though others are different from them, they can still listen to them and respect them

For students to work well together with the retirement home members

To do a good job landscaping the retirement home

(45 minutes)  Have a morning meeting:  Make a list of the different jobs each student will do, write down the amount of pea-gravel that will be used, the size of the filter cloth needed and the schedule you expect to follow, brief the students on the "age-barrier" that seems to exist in society, talk about the importance of respecting those that seem to be different from you

Drive to retirement home by bus

Have a 45 minute tour, introduce students and main members of the home and help them get ready to come outside to supervise or help work along side of the students

(10 minutes) Unload tools

(30 minutes)  Have the plant group and members plant the 7 plants while the other group measures and cuts the filter cloth

(10 minutes) lay it down, cutting holes for the plants to stick out through

(20 minutes) dump most of the pea-gravel from the trailer and work with the "come-along" tool and the wheel barrows to get the rest out.  Have everyone straighten it out with hands and hard-backed rakes

Have an hour lunch break while getting to know retirement home members

Have students pair off with a member and have them share with each other what their interests are and how they feel like they can "break down barriers" within their community  

(15 minutes)  Have every pair take a bucket of boulders to free-form decorate with on top of the pea-gravel

put away tools and load up the bus

(30 minutes)  In the main building of the retirement home, have a group sharing on what they all learned about cooperation and working with people of different ages they were not so familiar with 

(15 minutes)  In their journals, have them write about their impressions of the people in the retirement home.  What they would do differently if this was their project and what did they feel comfortable or uncomfortable about?  Lastly, did they break down any barriers that day?  If so, how?

Drive back to campus

Read their journals and see how much depth they gained in focusing on the question of breaking down barriers

take notes on the group discussion to answer these questions:  How well were they able to articulate what they were thinking about and address the group?  Did they learn anything new about cooperation?

observe them in their small groups and make notes of how well they cooperated with the retired citizens