From Kittery to Eastport, outposts and fortifications sprouted for nearly two centuries along the coastline, on islands, and at strategic points along its rivers.

"Maine Historical Forts" is an interdisciplinary unit taught in Ronda Boody's math and social studies classes at Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland, Maine.

Middle school students planned a virtual trip to several forts in Maine by exploring Internet sites, emailing chamber of commerces, historical societies, schools, and travel agencies. They also accessed other computer-related technologies, such as scanners and software programs including: Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Each group selected a team captain who was responsible for keeping track of each individual's contribution to the group and reporting the group's progress to the teacher. As a group, students reviewed the questions related to each activity. Each member of the group was responsible for taking notes and then sharing that information with their team.

Students explored a variety of Web pages and corresponded through email, gathering cultural and historical information on the various Maine forts: construction history, present day maintenance, fees, hours, future plans, etc.

As a group, they were required to keep daily expense sheets and create a weekly budget plan using Microsoft Excel. Expenses included: hotel, fuel, food, fees, and unexpected costs.

Each student was required to keep a journal with daily entries about the trip. They were to include such things as humorous incidents, which occurred along the way, difficulties they encountered, what they saw, impressions of the forts, etc.)

The final project was a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, which mapped out their travel route, mileage, descriptions of their chosen forts, and information about each fort.