Grades K-2 Lesson Plan - Down on the Farm

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
In this lesson students are introduced to a map of an Illinois farm. Students will determine whether the map is of the past, present, or future by looking at features on the map. They will also use the map to make a three-dimensional model.

Objectives
Students will be able to:

1. compare an aerial view of the Miller Farm Pictorial Map to an eye-level view by recreating the pictorial map as a three-dimensional representation.
2. analyze the Miller Farm Pictorial Map to determine the historic time period.

Materials
Computer image or overhead of the core map; Directions for Creating the 3-D Map; Sketch of the Miller Farm; unlined paper (same size as Sketch of the Miller Farm); glue; 3-D models or toys of trees, buildings, animals or pictures of these features; Construction paper: black, brown, blue, green, yellow, tan [Cut the construction paper to the following sizes: black - 26 1/2" x 3/4" and 9" x 3/4"; brown - 3 3/4" x 2 1/4"; tan - 22 1/2" x 9"; green - 7 1/2" x 9 3/4"; yellow - 3 3/4" x 6 1/2" and 5 1/4" x 9 3/4"; blue - Cut three narrow creeks, each about 3-4 inches wide; cut a pond and a watering hole (see map for shapes)]; Optional: As the Crow Flies (See Resources)

Time
two-three 1/2 hour classes

Key Terms
eye-level view, bird's eye view (aerial view), large-scale map, small-scale map

Getting Started

1. Obtain small plastic objects to represent the features on the map: farm animals (beef cattle and horses), house, barn, small buildings, railroad station, one room school house, railroad tracks, fence, vegetables, corn, hay stack, wagons. If these are not available, cut pictures from magazines or draw pictures to represent these features.
2. [This step is optional] Read As the Crow Flies. Discuss how what the crow sees is different than what a rabbit sees. Have the students identify what they see in the classroom, first from sitting on the floor and then standing. You may want to select specific items for this exercise.

3. Show the Miller Farm Pictorial Map in a large format. Ask students how they know that this is a map of a farm.

4. Display the picture of the residence. Ask students to identify the difference between the aerial view (from a bird's eye point of view) and the residential pictorial view (eye-level view). Help students to understand that both are maps because they show where features are located. Explain that the picture is of the house owned by the farmer. The map shows his farmland.

5. Tell students to determine whether the map is of the past, the present, or the future. To do this they must look at certain features carefully. For example, transportation methods are often a clue. Have students come up to the large displayed image and point to features, telling whether it is from the past, present, or future. (For example, the steam locomotive is from the past.) Have students tell whether the map is of the past, present, or future. (The map is from the past - 1874.)

1. Read the instructions on Directions for Creating the 3-D Map orally as you have students, as a class, recreate the Miller farm as a 3-D model.

2. Discuss how the map would look different if it was of a present-day farm (tractors with various equipment, sprinkler systems, automobiles and trucks, crossing gates at the railroad tracks).

3. Distribute the Sketch of the Miller Farm. Have students color the map with the same background colors as on the 3-D map. Cut on the dotted lines to create little windows. Glue (along the edges only) an unlined piece of paper to the back of the Farm Map. Have students draw features behind the little windows which would be seen from eye level.

For 3 points, the student fulfills only three of the four requirements outlined for 4 points.

For 2 points, the student fulfills only two of the four requirements outlined for 4 points.

For 1 point, the student fulfills only one of the requirements outlined for 4 points.

Extensions

1. Have students compare the core map to other types of maps they have seen (road map, world map, U.S. map, etc.) If possible display the maps side-by-side. How is the Miller Pictorial Map like and unlike other maps they may have seen? Make a table to compare the purpose of the map to the elements included on the map.
2. Display pictures (or have students create posters) of modern farms: tractors, sprinkler systems, silos, corn cribs, modern milking machines, mechanized planters, harvesters, balers.