Connected Puzzles

Culture | December 17th, 2015

How much do you know about North Dakota?

If someone stopped you on the street and asked if you knew what county the state capital of North Dakota is in, would you know?

Actually, the creators of the Connected Puzzles project did just that, and they discovered that most people did not know the answer (which is Burleigh County, by the way). Thus, a project to teach students at an early age about the state of North Dakota was launched.

“There is a sense of beauty in North Dakota that is not always noticed. I am excited about the possibility of helping young students find that beauty earlier on than I did,” says Jonathan Melgaard, project manager for the Connected Puzzles.

Connected Puzzles is soon to reach its goal of supplying a 24-by-18-inch puzzle map to every fourth-grade classroom in the state of North Dakota, with the counties as each puzzle piece. The goal is to connect individuals with a sense of place and help them each understand the history, culture and context of what influences where they live. Melgaard hopes the students will “go on to be civically engaged, responsible citizens who will have an understanding of this unique place, North Dakota, that we live in.”

Each county puzzle piece includes elements of topography, including rivers and county seats. On the back of each piece is a QR code that leads to online curricular content. This links tactile learning to the technology to which students are accustomed. “By combining the new and the old we thought we could make a creative and immersive experience,” Melgaard says.

Fourth-grade students were chosen because all public schools in North Dakota have a unit on the state. The State Historical Society of North Dakota has a developed curriculum on North Dakota. “We wanted to create a tool that complemented that curriculum and make it even more engaging,” Melgaard says.

“This project has taught me a lot about how geography plays a role in our lives,” Melgaard says, who grew up in Detroit Lakes, Minn., but had family ties in North Dakota. “Because of our geography in North Dakota, we feed a large part of the world. Geography unites our communities, as we come together for flooding, for example. Geography relates to our economic booms and declines.”

The next phase of the project is bringing together a roundtable of educators and other stakeholders to examine the curriculum linked to the puzzle pieces and make it more interactive and immersive.

Melgaard’s dream is almost complete. “This is a project that is very meaningful to me and into which I have put a lot of time and effort. I am excited to celebrate that it is coming to life.”

The Connected Puzzles project was incubated at the Kilbourne Group, where Melgaard interned for two years. Partners are the North Dakota Heritage Center and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Connected Puzzles is a nonprofit and part of the FM Area Foundation. Over $45,000 was raised from a variety of stakeholders, and major sponsors include Kilbourne Group, Forum Communications, BNSF Foundation, Grand Forks Community Foundation, West Fargo Public Schools, Fargo Public Schools Foundation, Minot Community Foundation, Minot Public School Foundation, First International Bank and Trust, North Dakota Community Foundation, Mandan Public Schools, Midcontinent Communications, Border States Electric, Red River Teacher Center, Grand Forks Public School Foundation and many generous individual contributors.

YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Connected Puzzles is on the web at http://connectedpuzzles.com Email contact: melgaardjonathan@gmail.com

How much do you know about North Dakota?

RECENTLY IN

Recently in: