Relationship Between Geography and Settlements/The First Thanksgiving/ Less Than 0/

Introduction

In this WebQuest, students will be provided with the opportunity understand people will settle where the geographic features give the best chance of sustaining life, examine the first Thanksgiving to explore the historical significance that took place with the Pilgrims voyage, and also gain valuable insight into microeconomics and learning about savings, opportunity cost, and borrowing. These activities would be appropriate for students in grades 3rd-5th.

Task

Relationship Between Geography and Settlements

Objective - Determine what are the relationships between human settlement and geography.

Students will be able to use map features to make logical inferences and describe relationships between human settlement and physical geography (e.g. population density in relation to geographical features, cities' proximity to water, utilization of natural resources).

Background knowledge - Students should be familiar with basic map skills such as using compass and directions. Students and educator will want to be familiar with Google Earth and its use. www.googleearth.com

Materials

  • an apple
  • a knife
  • balloons
  • newspaper strips
  • white glue
  • paint
  • encyclopedias
  • National Geographic Kids (or similar)
  • non-fiction books about different areas of the world
  • paper
  • magazines (for cutting out photos)
  • easel paper
  • markers
  • salt dough if wanted

The First Thanksgiving

Objectives -

1) Develop an understanding of the Pilgrims' experiences and hardships while traveling to and establishing a settlement in the New World.

2) Interpret Timelines

3) Gain an understanding and be able to identify social and cultural changes from colonial times until present day.

This activity is done through technology tools and will provide information to help students with historical perspective of First Thanksgiving.

Materials

  1. The First Thanksgiving online activity
  2. Mayflower Compact (PDF)
  3. Venn diagram (PDF)
  4. KWL chart (PDF)
  5. Timeline (PDF)
  6. First Thanksgiving Questions for Grades 3-5 (PDF)
  7. First Thanksgiving Answer Key for Grades 3-5 (PDF)
  8. Grading Rubric for Grades 3-5 (PDF)
  9. Basic art supplies (paper, glue, crayons, markers, etc.) will be needed for several activities

Less Than 0

National Voluntary Content Standards in Economics

Standard 2, Benchmark 2 for Grade 4: Saving is the part of income not spent on taxesor consumption.•National Standards in Personal Finance:Saving and Investment Standards, Grade 4 Benchmarks:1. People save for future financial goals.2. Every saving decision has an opportunity cost.Spending and Credit Standards, Grade 4 Benchmarks:2. People pay for goods and services in different ways.3.Borrowing money to buy something usually costs more than paying cash, becausethere is a fee for credit.4.Responsible borrowers repay as promised, showing that they are worthy of gettingcredit in the future.

This activity is created to help students understand the concepts of borrowing, investing, savings goal, and saving

Materials

•Less Than Zeroby Stuart J. Murphy• A copy of Activity 1 for each student• Transparency 1• A pencil for each student• Overhead projector pen

Process

Relationship Between Geography and Settlements

The educator will begin with students sitting together as a group and introduces questions regarding why do people come to America? Why did some people come in the past and what keeps them coming now? The educator should allow for ample time for responses....(some answers may include jobs, education, war in their country).

While in whole group, take an apple and cut it in half, then into fourths. The educator will go on to explain that the Earth is 3/4 water.  The remaining 1/4 will then be cut into eighths. The educator will further explain that one in eight pieces represents visable land as well as usable water.

Next the group will be split into groups of 4 to 5 students. After providing each group with easel paper and markers, the educator will have each group make a list of four places on the Earth they would choose to live and explain why they want to live there. As group is creating list, the educator will also ensure that each group as books, magazines, globes, and maps to help them make their decision. Allow for 10 to 15 minutes to complete task.

The following day, the groups will present to their classmates. Have students create Venn Diagrams to make determinations about what is similar and different about their choices. After students complete Venn Diagrams, have a whole group discussion about why people settle in certain areas. Drive the discuss by reviewing the information from previous discussion and let students know that people settle for the same reasons that they always have. The educator should pull up Google Earth and let the class examine populations centers around the world and see what geographic features they have in common.

The educator will draw a T-chart on the board and students will list positive and negative features where people reside.

On the third and final day, the educator will have students create their own globe out of paper mache or balloon of salt dough. As an alternative, educator can also allow some students to create a poster or write a report of what their planet would be like. With either globe, poster or report, the students will need to show where the people live and why and make inferences on population centers based on the geographic features that he or she created for their world.

The First Thanksgiving

In preparation for activity, the educator will have students explore the Voyage of the Mayflower at http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/voyage/

First day - Graffiti Wall

After visiting the website for preparation, the students will be placed in groups of 4 to 5 students and given large sheets of paper for use. In the groups, the students will create graffiti by writing down key words and phrase that they have gather from the preparation activity.

Second day - Mayflower Compact

The students will begin their first read of the Mayflower Compact, which documents can be found at (either the Mayflower Compact article or the Mayflower Compact PDF). After the first reading, the educator will go over any unfamiliar terms or concepts that students struggle with. Additionally readings can be done over several days and each reading is provided to help students begin to think critically about the interaction between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag. The following list of analysis questions at http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/thanksgiving-lessons-gra… are used to help students gain understanding of document:

First Reading: Document Analysis

  1. Who is writing the compact?
  2. Why did the Pilgrims decide to go on this voyage?
  3. What action are the Pilgrims taking in this document?
  4. What is the reason they are taking this action?
  5. What will they do after this?
  6. When did they all agree on this compact?
  7. In two sentences, provide a summary of the Mayflower Compact.

Second Reading

  1. Who do the Pilgrims say they are signing in the presence of?
  2. The Pilgrims say they will do what from "time to time"?
  3. Why do the Pilgrims say this is necessary?
  4. Without the Mayflower Compact, what might have happened? What were the Pilgrims trying to avoid?

Third Reading

  1. Read the first line of the Mayflower Compact. Why does it begin that way?
  2. The Constitution created a separation of church and state. The Pilgrims did not have such a separation. What line in the compact best demonstrates this?
  3. What is a “civill body politick”?
  4. What is the overall purpose of the Mayflower Compact?
  5. Can you name other documents from other historical time periods that have a similar overall purpose to the Mayflower Compact?

Third Day - Mayflower Schematics

After visiting http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/voyage/tour.htm, the students will be placed in groups again to create diagrams of the Mayflower. Within the diagram, students will identify the key areas of the ship and explain the importance and functions of these areas.

Fourth Day - Passenger Reflections

Using the information that was provided for Mayflower passengers Elizabeth Hopkins and Desire Minter, the students will read the information and then answer the following reflective questions:

Reflective Questions

Then have students imagine they are Pilgrims traveling on the Mayflower. Ask the following questions, as well as adding your own, to help evoke in students the sense of a personal, first-hand experience:

  • What are your feelings about leaving family, friends, and belongings behind?
  • How do you spend your time on the Mayflower?
  • How do the passengers and crew treat you and each other?
  • What do you eat? Do you get enough to eat?
  • What frightens you about the voyage?
  • Have you felt angry during the voyage? If so, why?
  • What is the best thing that's happened during the voyage? The worst thing?
  • What do you expect to find when you reach the New World? How does this make you feel?

Less Than 0

The educator and students will begin reading Less Than Zero by Stuart J. Murphy. The educator will inform students that the book is about a penguin that is trying to save money to buy a new scooter. After reading to page 5, the educator will ask the following questions:

What did Perry want to buy?

What was the cost of the scooter?

What did Perry's dad say he had to do to buy the scooter?

How many clams did Perry have?

Introduce the concept vocabulary to the students. Inform them that saving money means not spending it right away and putting it away for a later date. Perry has a savings goal to buy a scooter. A savings goal is something that you work toward purchase in the future. Start reading again and stop and ask questions after reaching page 9:

What did Perry have to do to earn clams?

What type of graph did Perry make?

Tell students that they will create a graph like Perry’s. Enter

the following on the transparency and have students work alone on their graphs.∑•On the left side of the graph, number the lines (not the spaces) from 1-10, going upfrom 0.∑•On the blank line along the left side, label the y-axisNumber of Clams.∑•On the blank line at the bottom, label the x-axisDays of the Week.∑•Place a dot at the coordinates (Sunday, 0), then another dot at (Monday, 4).∑•

Connect the dots

Start reading again and pause at page 13 to ask the following questions:

Is Perry spending or saving?

What did he spend his clams on?

What does Perry have minus one clam?

Continue reading and pause at page 17 to ask the following questions:

What is Perry doing?

What did Perry do to pay for the fishy treat?

After borrowing from Baldy, how many clams has Perry borrowed?

Here the educator will want to explain the term borrowing. When saving is done, money is put away for future use. When borrowing money, money is taken away from someone with the promise to repay them in the future. Read to page 21 and pause to ask the following questions:

What did Perry want to go outside?

Perry found a clam where?

What happened after Perry found the clam?

How many clams did Perry find on his clam search?

How many clams will Perry have to use to repay his friends?

Finish reading to end of story and ask the following questions:

What happen to the eight clams Perry had?

What do you think will happen next with Perry?

What did Mr. Spike do for Perry?

How did Perry get enough clams to buy the scooter?

What did Perry earn for shoveling snow?

To get nine clams, how many days did Perry work?

Ask the students if they have ever had a savings goal like Perry’s.(Answers will vary.)Explain that people save to buy things in the future. Ask the students to identify asavings goal—something for which they would like to save. Suggest to the students thatthey can begin to save coins in a piggy bank, jar or small box. When the container isfull, they can have a relative take them to a bank to open a savings account with themoney they save. Explain to the students that when people save in a savings account at a bank, the bankpays interest.Interestis money the bank pays its customers for keeping their savingsat the bank. Earning interest from the bank helps people reachtheir savings goalsmore quickly. Discuss the following:a.How would putting his clams in a savings account at a bank have helped Perry?(Answers will vary, but should include the following: He wouldearn interest so that hewould reach his goal more quickly, his money would have been safe, he wouldn’t have losthis eight clams and he would have been less tempted to spend the clams if they were inthe bank.)b.How did borrowing for the Ice Circus and for fishy treats keep Perry from reachinghis goal?(Before he could save money for the scooter, he had to earn money to repay whathe borrowed. So it took him longer to reach his goal.)

Evaluation

Relationship Between Geography and Settlements

Students will be assessed based on the following rubric:http://www.uen.org/Rubric/rubric.cgi?rubric_id=19961

The First Thanksgiving

Students will be assesed based on the following rubric:http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/asset/file/gradi…

Less Than 0

Students will be assessed based on following questions:

6Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson in its entirety for educational purposes, provided the user creditsthe Federal Reserve banks of St. Louis and Philadelphia. http://www.stlouisfed.org/education/Assessment:Ask the students to complete one or more of the following:1.Write a paragraph in which you describe what advice Perry should give to otherpenguins who want to buy something but don’t have the money to do so. Includethe ideas of saving, savings goal, interest and borrowing.2.Write about a time when you had to borrow money to buy something or for anactivity (a “less than zero” experience). In your story, explain why borrowing is theopposite of saving. Include how you repaid the loan. If you have never borrowed,

write a fiction story that involves borrowing

Credits

Zimmerman, L. & Hartshorn, K. (2009). Geography Features and Human Settlements. Retrieved from http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview?LPid=23798

Scholastic.com. (2014). The First Thanksgiving. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/thanksgiving-lessons-gra…

Hill, A., Austin, J., Meszaros, B., & Suiter, M. (2014). Less Than Zero. Retrieved from http://www.philadelphiafed.org/education/teachers/lesson-plans/less-tha…

Teacher Page

Each activity should be 40 to 50 minute activity.  These activities are for use in your classroom to combine the use of technology and content learning in a meaningful way.