Students participate in a variety of activities in a unit about the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System. They create a diorama, read related stories, and correspond with other classes located in other port cities along the St Lawrence...

While canals are not the way to travel today, in the first half of the nineteenth century, they were sometimes the best way to move goods and people. Scholars examine primary sources, including maps and pictures, to investigate the role...

Encourage reading for information with a text about United States geography. Kids read a short passage about the landforms in the United States, including mountain ranges and natural resources, and answer five reading comprehension...

Students locate the Great Lakes on a US map, then read a news article about a sled being used as a wintertime school bus in Wisconsin. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a map and vocabulary activity,...

In this Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry learning exercise, learners read a 3 page article and then answer 10 statements as true or false.

Students examine the building of the I & M canal in Chicago. Using the internet, they research the lives of the individuals who worked on the construction and develop a timeline of events. They explore the impact of the canal on...

Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered lesson on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional cross-state...

After reading Elvira Woodruff's George Washington's Socks, young readers and writers embark upon writing their own historically based story, with a focus on developing ideas and details throughout the piece. In small groups, class...

Here is a beautiful handout through which learners can explore the history of California, from the earliest Europeans to visit the Golden State up through its experiences during the Great Depression and position in the modern...

Fourth graders describe the weather conditions and location of the Edmund Fitzgerald when it sank in Lake Superior.

In this reading for information worksheet, learners read a passage about traveling from Moscow to Beijing on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Students answer 8 multiple choice questions.

Students explore the Transcontinental Railroad. In this geography skills instructional activity, students use map skills in order to locate legs of the Transcontinental Railroad on globes.

Students identify places and landmarks in North America, specifically Canada and the United States, by using and constructing maps. Six lessons on one page; includes test.

Learners participation in a simulation of laying the track of Transcontinental Railroad starting from three different locations. They use toothpicks and coffee stirrers to build the rails. They evaluate which group laid the most track...

Students discover the role of a watershed. In this geography lesson, students are shown a diagram of a watershed and discuss the definition of a watershed. Students demonstrate the role of a watershed by using an umbrella and spraying it...

Students create timelines depicting the important events in the lives of the groups that arrived at the Fort St. Louis. They include the fate of La Salle and the colonists.

In this North Dakota learning exercise, students match 14 words pertaining to the state of North Dakota with their definitions in another column.

In this geography skills activity, students watch the National Geographic video "Travel by Train." Students then respond to 18 short answer questions about content in the video about South America.

Third graders become familiar with names of the different parts of a river, define and locate drainage basins, locate six of the continents and explore the major rivers on each one, conduct research on a river of their choice.

Fourth graders read aged letters that describe communities or stops along the route of the early Pony Express. Each day they mark on a map where the letters come from and chart the Pony Express route. They compare to today's mail and...

In this North Dakota worksheet, students answer multiple choice questions about the history of North Dakota. Students answer 10 questions.

Students discuss modes of transportation of pioneers, listen to one of the handcart stories, build model handcart out of paper, and sing 'The Handcart Song.'

Students work in small groups to identify some of the major transportation centers, recommending two as possible sites for a national political convention, based on population density and the travel networks available in 1835.

For this geography worksheet, students read a 2 page selection detailing the location, history and early statehood of Oklahoma. They answer 10 true or false questions based on the reading.