American History: A Historical Field Trip

The purpose of this lesson is to prepare students for their trip to Washington, D.C. at the end of their sixth grade year. They will use a recall of information taught throughout the school year as background in choosing the sites for their journal. Students will use the internet to research many of the museums and monuments they will be visiting on their trip to Washington, D.C.

This webquest is designed for a sixth grade social studies curriculum.

STANDARDS

Geography: 

6.3.01 - Understand the characteristics and uses of maps.

6.3.02 - Know the location of places and geographic features, both physical and human.

Culture:      

6.1.01 - Understand the nature and complexity of culture.

6.1.04 - Recognize how cultural and individual's perceptions affect places and regions.

6.1.05 - Understand the role that diverse cultures and historical experiences had on the development of the world.                  

Governance and Civics:    

6.4.02 - Describe the purposes and structure of governments.

History:         

6.5.02 - Understand the place of historical events in the context of past, present, and future.

Individuals, Groups, and Interactions:

6.6.01 - Understand the impact of individual and group decisions on citizens and communities.

6.6.02 - Understand how groups can impact change at world levels.

Reading:  The student will develop the reading skills necessary for word recognition, comprehension, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and appreciation of the written text.

Writing:  The student will develop the structural and creative skills necessay to produce writen language than can be read and interpreted by various audiences.

CLASSROOM LESSONS

The following is a list of the historical fiction and/or biography literature selections from the language arts program which correlate with the students' humanities studies. An overview of subject objectives is also included.

         Readers

Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell

Across Five April by Irene Hunt

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Objectives

A.  Westward Expansion

     Idea:  Manifest Destiny, Freedom, and Diversity

     1.     Lewis and Clark:  LA Purchase

     2.     Wautaga Settlement

     3.     Texas, West Florida, Kansas, Nebraska

B.  Slavery

     Idea:  Complex:  Malevolence and Ambivalence

     1.     Jefferson and Randolph

     2.     Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman

     3.     Garrison, Douglass, Adams, Stowe

     4.     Abolitionism

     5.     Compromises

C.  Nationalism

     Idea:  Ideology and Regional Conflicts

     1.     Marx, Revolutions of 1848

     2.     Remaking Europe

     3.     Greeley, Calhoun, Lincoln

 D.   War Between the States

     Idea:  Two Wars:  Political and Economic

     1.     Lee, Jackson, and Davis

     2.     Grant, Sherman, and Chamberlain

     3.     Revivals and Slaughters

     4.     The Dred Scott Case

E.   Reconstruction

     Idea:   Remaking North and South

     1.     Death of Lincoln

     2.     Stevens and Seward

     3.     Grant, Hayes, and Garfield

F.   Industrialism

     Idea:  Innovation, Monopoly, and Opportunity

     1.     Factory Towns and Labor Issues

     2.     Rockefeller, Carnegie, Mellon

     3.     Ford, Edison, Firestone

G.  American century

     Idea:  The Making of a Super Power

     1.     Spanish American War

     2.     Teddy Roosevelt

     3.     Booker T. Washington

     4.     Mark Twain, Horatio, Alger

H.   Great War

     Idea:  The Unnecessary War of Colonialism

     1.     Wilson, Bryan, and Pershing

     2.     Alvin York, Eddie Rickenbacher

I.   Normalcy

     Idea:  The American Reaction

     1.     Henry Cabot Lodge

     2.     Calvin Coolidge

     3.     Roaring Twenties and Prohibition

J.   Depression

     Idea:  Economic Experiments Backfire

      1.     Hoover and FDR

      2.     Worldwide Socialism/Fascism

      3.     Hilter, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco

K.   World War II

       Idea:     Ideas Have Consequences

      1.     Churchill Alone

      2.     Kissing Cousins:  Russia Germany

      3.     Eisenhower, Patten, MacAuthor

      4.     D-Day, Battle of the Bulge

L.   Civil Rights

      Idea:  Freedom is Always a Fight

      1.     DuBois and NAACP

      2.     Dr. King,  Booker T. Washington

      3.     Rosa Parks, Montgomery Buses

      4.     Freedom Riders

M.   Vietnam

      Idea:  The Hot and the Cold War

      1.     Iron Curtain, East Bloc

      2.     Conquest/Domino Theory

      3.     Kennedy, Johnson, Westmoreland

N.   Postmodernism

      Idea:  The Transformation of a Culture

      1.     Hollywood and Television

      2.     The Sixties and Pop Culture

      3.     The Seventies and Eighties Greed

      4.     Francis Schaeffer

Mini Unit:  Civics

      1.     Three branches of national government; head of each branch

      2.     Qualifications of Congressman, Senator, and President

      3.     Differences between the House and Senate

      4.     Checks and balances

      5.     Constitution and amendments

Geography

A.   Map Work

      1.     Finding position on the earth:  latitude and longitude

      2.     Finding objects in relation to each other:  Bearing

      3.     Topographical Map:  Looking at a map of Nashville, study contours, map

               symbols, physical features.

B.   The United States

      1.     Review locations of 50 states by memory

      2.     Mapping westward expansion, addition of states

      3.     Division of the Civil War:  States of the North and South

      4.     Primary, secondary, and tertiary activities of the USA

      5      People groups/populations

C.   Study Map of Asia

      1.     Identify and locate countries by memory

      2.     Study languages and religions

D.   News Geography: Discussions of world news articles which are brought in regularly by students.