Grades K-2 Lesson Plan - Boats, Trains, and Wagons

Map 10 Main Page

Core Map: Mitchell's Map of the United States. Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1835. Newberry Library call number: H6083.58 (Printable PDF version of the Core Map)

Resources related to Map 10.
Curator's Notes for Map 10.

Overview
This lesson focuses on students learning to read map symbols for transportation, specifically canals, railroads, and highways.

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. identify canal and railroad symbols on the Mitchell map.
2. define canal and railroad.
3. identify some differences between 19th century and modern transportation.

Key Terms
canal, railroad, symbol, lock, transportation, route

Materials
Computer image, color overhead, or color copies of the Environs of Albany Map, Map Key, pictures of modes of transportation (see Resources), white paper for coloring, crayons or colored pencils, Modern map of Albany, scissors, glue or paste

Time
2-3 three class periods, or 60-90 minutes

Getting Started

1. Set up lesson by asking students how they have traveled or would like to travel, including by car, railroad, airplane, and ship. Explain that in the past not all these things were available and people traveled by other means.

2. Show pictures of methods of transportation and query students on what the images are, explaining those they do not know. Save canal boat, canal lock, and steam railroad train for last.

3. Introduce the term "canal" and define it. Discuss how a canal lock works, explaining that the lock helps boats go up and down waterways that rapidly chnage elevations, or go between bodies of water that are at different heights. Introduce the term "railroad" and define it. Where necessary, discuss the railroad track and the locomotive so that students understand what a railroad is.

4. Show students the core map. Explain that it shows the routes of canals, railroads, and major roads in the Unites States approximately 170 years ago. Guide students through the various symbols used to show transportation routes on the core map. Note that red indicates railroads that were planned or under construction and green indicates canals that were planned or under construction. It would be helpful as well to show modern maps with clearly defined transportation routes. Discuss the various types of symbols used to represent routes on these maps, noting how the color of the symbols change to represent different modes of transportation.

Developing the Lesson

1. Display the Environs of Albany Map and distribute a color copy of it to each student. Help students locate the words "canal" and "railroad" (abbreviated as R.R. or Rail R.) Also locate roads and rivers. Review the various colors used to symbolize these different forms of transportation (e.g., yellow for canal).

2. Pass out paper and crayons and colored pencils. Have each student draw a picture of a canal boat, a steam train, and a covered wagon. Be sure that each picture is small enough (approximately 3 in. by 3 in.) so that it can be pasted onto the Environs of Albany Map.

3. Assist the students in pasting each picture onto an appropriate place on the Environs of Albany Map (canal boat on a yellow route, steam train on a blue route, and covered wagon on an uncolored double black line).

4. Have the students share their work with the class.

5. Display the Modern map of Albany. Help the students identify the various symbols from transportation routes on this map, including roads, rivers, and airports. Note that the canals and railroads are not shown on the map, although they still exist (see Curator's Notes).

6. Ask the class what kind of picture you should draw for the transportation routes on the Modern map of Albany. Guide them to suggest cars and airplanes, and draw them on the board, or have students draw them on paper. As a class, discuss why the pictures they drew for and pasted onto the Environs of Albany Map are different from the pictures for the Modern map of Albany (we now use cars instead of wagons; we now have airplanes, which didn't exist in 1835).

Evaluation
Using a 1-4 scale (4=excellent, 3=good, 2= fair, 1=poor) assess student performance as follows:

For 4 points, the student draws and colors all three modes of transportation: a canal boat, a covered wagon, and a steam engine. The student accurately identifies the green or yellow lines as canal routes, the red or blue lines as railroad routes and the uncolored double black lines as road by placing the colored pictures on the appropriate routes on the Environs of Albany Map.

For 3 points, the student draws and colors at least two of the three modes of transportation. The student identifies the routes with only one error.

For 2 points, the student draws and colors at least one of the three modes of transportation. The student identifies the routes, making no more than two errors.

For 1 point, the student draws and colors only one or none of the three modes of transportation. The student does not identify any of the routes correctly.

Extensions

1. Have students examine another map of transportation routes in the United States before 1860 and read the symbols to identify different modes of transportation.

2. Repeat Developing the Lesson steps 5-6 using a map of your own region.