Grades 3-5 Lesson Plan - Country Mouse, City Mouse?

Map 16 Main Page

Core Map: "Pictorial Map of the 130 Acre Farm of Jonathan Miller, on West half of section 36, Township 18, Range 6, Northwest suburbs of Athens, Menard Co., Illinois." In Illustrated Atlas of Menard County, Illinois (Edwardsville, IL: W. R. Brink & Co., 1874). Newberry Library call number: +F896565.43. (Printable PDF version of the Core Map)

Resources related to Map16.
Curator's Notes for Map 16.

Overview
Today urban sprawl blends countryside into suburban developments along corridors of development. Students often do not see the distinct difference between urban, suburban, and rural regions. This lesson helps students to recognize the characteristics of a rural area.

Objectives
Students will be able to:

1. analyze land use to determine whether the map is of a rural (country) area or an urban (city) area.
2. recognize a large-scale map.

Materials
Computer image or transparency of the core map, Rural or Urban?, Where Was the Mouse? City Mouse, Country Mouse (see Resources), Illinois map (see Resources for historic maps or use a modern map), chart paper, and markers

Time
two 1/2 hour classes

Key Terms
rural, urban, suburban, meadow, pasture, residence, large-scale map, small-scale map

Getting Started

1. If using an overhead projector instead of a computer-projected image, make transparencies for use with the reading.

2. You may want to collect pictures of rural areas and of urban areas from magazines, calendars, and/or books and have them available for comparison of the two regions.

3. Have students compare the core map (a large-scale map) to one of Illinois or the U.S. Help to make the distinction that students can see more detail on a large-scale map than on a small-scale map.

4. If available, read the short story City Mouse, Country Mouse (see Resources). Making a list (words and/or pictures) on chart paper have students identify characteristics of the country and of the city. Introduce new vocabulary: urban for city and rural for country. (If the short story is unavailable, show pictures of rural areas and of urban areas. Have students identify differences between the country and the city. List words and/or pictures on a chart.)

5. Have students agree upon definitions for urban and rural. Introduce the term suburban. For purposes of this lesson, suburban areas are considered part of the urban landscape.

Developing the Lesson

1. Display the core map for students to view as a class. Discuss features that indicate that this is an historic map (steam locomotive, horse drawn carriage and carts).

2. Tell students that next they will determine whether this is a map and house from an urban area (city) or from a rural area (country). Remind them of the definitions they made.

3. Read Where Was the Mouse? to the students. As the mouse travels around, show the images of different locations.

4. At the end of the story, ask students whether this was a country mouse or a city mouse. Ask them to give reasons for their ideas.

5. Discuss how the map would look different if this were a story about a city mouse. What features might be on both maps (railroad track, schoolhouse, houses, roads)?

6. Ask students to create their own stories about the mouse's adventures around the map. Have them tell their story to the class or to another student. Encourage students to use directional words (north, south, east, west) and to use meadow, cornfield, pasture, etc. for farm features.
7. Give each student a copy of Rural or Urban? Go over the directions with the class and have each student complete the handout.

Evaluation
For 4 points, the student will identify all of the pictures correctly under the categories of urban, rural, or both.

For 3 points, the student will identify the majority of the pictures correctly under the categories of urban, rural, or both.

For 2 points, the student will identify some of the pictures correctly under the categories of urban, rural, or both.

For 1 point, the student will identify a few or none of the pictures correctly under the categories of urban, rural, or both.

Extensions

1. Have students create city mouse maps. Allow them to tell their stories to each other.
2. Have students determine whether they live in an urban, rural, or changing (rural to urban) area.
3. Collect various maps. Have students compare the scale and identify whether the maps are small- or large-scale maps.