Lesson 5

(Including: patents, Lincoln’s invention, National Road, Erie Canal, transportation, farming)

 Grade Level and Time Frame:  3^rd grade students, 45 minutes

 Broad Goals:  The students will appreciate the inventions that were created from 1830 on.  The students will know what the inventions were called and what they looked like, as well as know about major transportation routes in the past.

 Social Studies Standards:

National:  II.  Time, Continuity, Change c.  Compare and contrast different stories or accounts about past events, people, places or situations, identifying how they contribute to our understanding of the past.

State:  16.A.2c.  Ask questions and seek answers by collecting and analyzing data from historic documents, images and other literary and non-literary sources.

 Lesson Objective:  Third grade social studies students will demonstrate their knowledge by completing a worksheet about some of the inventions that were created from the early 1800’s on until Lincoln’s death.  The students will demonstrate their knowledge of the National Road and the Erie Canal, important transportation routes during the 1800’s.

 Resources:

Freedman, Russell (1987).  Lincoln:  A Photobiography.  New York, NY:

            Clarion Books.

KIDS DISCOVER:  Industrial Revolution, Volume 11, Issue 11, November 2001.

KIDS DISCOVER:  Pioneers, Volume 17, Issue 4, April 2007.

http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/education/patent.htm

http://www.eriecanal.org/

http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/gal/flatboat.jpg

http://www.ridertown.com/canal/canal15.jpg

http://www.dcnyhistory.org/images2/watts-horse-buggy.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/schooksonruss/1248048511/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcellis/4867160/

http://ghostdepot.com/rg/images/tennessee%20route/malta%201501%201706%20locomotive%20passenger%20train%201940%20rhkpc.jpg

http://www.eriecanal.org/general-1.html

 Purpose:   The purpose of my activity is so that the third grade students will gain an understanding of inventions and other major transportation routes that were around during Abraham Lincoln’s life.

Content Knowledge:  After we have finished reviewing the inventions that were covered in the previous lesson, we will move on.  This lesson will be about land and water travel, the routes for each, and the machinery that was used.  I will first ask the students about the rivers that were discussed in the previous lesson.  Does everyone remember learning about the important rivers in Illinois?  Who can name some of the rivers for us?  (Rock, Mississippi, Illinois, Kaskaskia, Wabash, Ohio)  (I will have a large map of Illinois and its rivers and have each child trace the outline of each river in the appropriate colors based on the key on the worksheet)  The next part of the lesson is to describe one of the ways that people at that time transported by water.  This is where I will introduce the Erie Canal.  I will read a small portion of information to the students about the Erie Canal.  The students will have a worksheet that is halfway filled in with information for them to fill in.  The students will have to listen to the reading and then be able to recall the information once the reading is finished.  What date was the Erie Canal started? (1808) What date was it finally finished? (1825) What does the Erie Canal link? (Lake Erie in the west and the Hudson River in the east)  How deep was the canal?  (4 feet deep)  How wide was the canal?  (30 feet wide)  Between what years was the canal enlarged?  (1836 and 1862)  How large was the Erie Canal now?  (7 feet deep and 70 feet wide)  I will show the students pictures of the canal.  I will ask them what they think the boats carried across the canal and why they were carrying supplies.  (trade)  I will show a picture of a flatboat that Lincoln used on his journey to New Orleans and have the students describe to me how it was powered; I will show a picture of a canal boat and ask the students how it was powered; I will show a picture of a steamboat and ask the students to explain to us how it was powered.  They will be able to see the hierarchy of improvement in our water transportation. 

Next, I will move on to the improvements in land transportation.  Students will see the hierarchy from horse and buggy, stagecoach, steam engine train, to passenger train.  (I will have visuals of these as well)  I will introduce the National Road in the same manner that I introduced the Erie Canal.  I will create and read a short passage to the students.  They will be able to recall facts about the National Road back to me and record them on their worksheets.  What is another name for the National Road?  (Cumberland Road)  Why was it called the Cumberland Road?  (Construction was to begin in Cumberland, Maryland)  Where did the road end?  (On the border near St. Louis between Illinois and Missouri)  What was the road made out of?  (stone, grave, sand)  How many states did the National Road pass through?  (6)  Can you name and locate these states on this map?

Response Activity:  The students will be able to recall facts from the information that was learned in class at the end of the lesson.  There will be questions based on all of the information that was learned typed up and put in a container.  Instead of a worksheet, students will draw a question out of the container, read it for the group and answer it.  If the student does not know the answer they may call on a classmate to help them.  I think that this will be a great activity for the students and get them away from the usual worksheet!  The following is a list of the questions that will be used

·        Can you name one of the inventions that you learned about?

·        What was the name of the boat that Abraham Lincoln traveled on?  Can you name the two other boats that we discussed that were invented after?

·        What is another name for the National Road?

·        How deep was the Erie Canal when it was originally built?

·        How deep was the Erie Canal after it was enlarged?

·        How wide was the Erie Canal when it was originally built?

·        How wide was the Erie Canal after it was enlarged?

·        In what year did construction on the Erie Canal take place?

·        What year was the Erie Canal completed?

·        What two rivers did the Erie Canal connect?

·        Where in Maryland did construction on the National Road begin?

·        What was the road made out of?

·        What sort of people traveled on the National Road?

·        How many states did the National Road pass through?

·        Can you name one state that the National Road passed through?