|
|
Teacher's Guide for APPLESEEDS Exploring the MississippiApril 2005
This guide was prepared by Polly Flaum Zieper, B.S., M.Ed. Mrs. Zieper is a fifth-grade teacher at Everglades Elementary School in Weston, Florida.
Objectives:
- to increase historical perspective
- to increase understanding of the geography of the Mississippi River region
- to improve map skills
- to improve reading comprehension
- to improve verbal communication skills
Before reading this issue:
Assess the students' understanding of the following terms: source, mouth, crest, levee, lock, dam; read and discuss definitions when necessary.
Glossary:
| source |
origin or beginning of a river |
| mouth |
end of a river |
| crest |
highest point of a river |
| levee |
an embankment or ridge built along a river to hold back the water |
| lock |
water elevator that raises or lowers the water level to match the level of the next section of river, allows boats to travel between levels of river |
| dam |
a barrier to hold back the flow of water |
"Amazing Facts About An Awesome River" (p. 2-3), & "Flood Alert!" (p. 4-7)
Provide each student with a (consumable) map of the United States. Ask them to trace the upper-Mississippi from its source (at Lake Itasca) to the Ohio River in Cairo, Illinois, in light blue marker or colored pencil. They then trace the lower-Mississippi from Cairo to the mouth, or end (at the Gulf of Mexico), with dark blue marker or colored pencil.
Students lightly color the states that border the Mississippi River, bordering states in different colors. Discuss the following with the students:
- The timeline on p. 7 lists the major floods on the Mississippi over how many years?
- The biggest flood in the lower-Mississippi took place in 1927, the upper-Mississippi's worst flood was in 1993. How many years passed between these two disasters?
"Flood Busters: Controlling the Mighty Mississippi" (p. 8-10)
Fill in the blanks:
- For thousands of years, the Mississippi River was not controlled by humans. It was deep or shallow, narrow or wide, depending on the________________ and ______________. (year and season)
- In the early-1800's, settlers from __________________ arrived in the Mississippi Valley and began to control the river. (Europe)
- _____________, ___________, and ___________ are examples of ways that people have tried to control the river. (levees, flood walls, locks, and dams)
- Controlling the river has made it easier and safer for ____________ to live in the area. (people)
- Unfortunately, species of __________, __________, __________, and ___________ have lost their habitats due to human involvement with the river. (fish, birds, reptiles, mammals)
"The Mounds of Cahokia" (p. 11-13)
Read the article orally to the class, asking the following discussion questions:
- The article states that the city of Cahokia was abandoned. Think of some reasons why the inhabitants might have left their community.
- If the inhabitants of Cahokia did not survive to modern times, how could historians know so much about the city? What might historians or archaeologists have found there that could give them clues about life in this city?
- Why do you think this community was built on the banks of the Mississippi River in the year 1150? How might the people have used the river at that time?
"Boats of the Mississippi" (p. 14-17)
Give each student a sheet of white paper, 12" x 18", on which to make a timeline. Students fold the paper in half the long way. Divide the length of the paper into thirds, labeling them "1700s," "1800s," and "1900s to present." Holding the paper the long way, students draw pictures of the boats mentioned in the article, in the order in which they were used by people along the Mississippi River. Students label each picture. Next to each picture students write a short (1-3 sentences) description of the boat.
"Mississippi Music" (p. 18-21)
- Name three types of music mentioned in the article.
- Where did blues music originate?
- What do jazz and the blues have in common?
- Why did jazz and the blues begin in communities on the Mississippi River?
- What is the purpose of music?
"Meet Mark Twain" (p. 22-23) & "Huck and Jim on the River" (p. 24-25)
Students do research online to learn more about the life of Mark Twain. The following Web site might be helpful: www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/index.html.
Read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the class. (Several Mark Twain books can also be read online at www.literaturepage.com/authors/Mark-Twain.html.
"Explorers from Europe" (p. 26-29)
- The first Europeans to see the Mississippi were trying to find a route from the ______________ to the _____________. (Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean)
- Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto treated the ____________ very cruelly. (American Indians)
- Thousands of American Indians died in the next hundred years due to _____________. (diseases)
- The next explorers came from ________________. (France)
- The French traded _______________ with the American Indians. (furs)
- French King ______________ sent another French explorer to claim the land for France. (Louis XIV)
- At different times, the land surrounding the Mississippi River was claimed by the countries of ______, ____________, and __________. (France, England, Spain)
Concluding Activity
Divide the class into nine groups, assigning each group a state along the Mississippi River (Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee, and Mississippi). Using internet and classroom resources, groups research their assigned states, looking for ways people in these states use and depend on the Mississippi River, and ways that humans have changed or damaged the river. At the conclusion of the research, groups present their information orally to their classmates.
The following websites may be helpful:
|
|
Home
Back
Print