Meredith Lane SST 309-04 Library of Congress WebQuest Preparation Activity: Go to http://educationextras.com/ On the right side of this site is a link to many Library of Congress lesson plans created by teachers, and using the primary sources available at LOC. Click on that link and explore the lesson plans you find there. Tell a title of one that looks interesting from each: Early Elementary, Michigan, 5 th grade, and from the Intermediate tab (4 titles). You may include one of these lessons as a part of your unit if it fits your expectations. 1. Early Education: The History of Women Addressing Problems in the Community 2. Michigan: How do people use, modify, and adapt to the environment of Michigan? 3. 5 th Grade: Who Was Kosciuszko and Why Don't We Remember Him? 4. Intermediate: The Immigrant Experience in America Activity Three: (related to 5-U2.3.2 Describe the daily life of people living in the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies.) From the home page of the LOC, www.loc.gov, click on the square called Prints and Photographs. Type in Colonial life in the search box. See #2, “Photocopies of original historical prints…colonial life.” Click on the Group of images. Based on these pictures, what do you see and what could you say about life in colonial America in three sentences? Based on the pictures in the colonial life group, I think you could say that a lot of focus was placed on violence and war; many pictures show fighting, especially with Native Americans. Then again, there are a few pictures that depict peaceful interactions between settlers and Native Americans. The rest of the pictures that I could see are mainly of fairly mundane aspects of their life, including building settlements and transportation. Activity Four: (related to 4-G4.0.1 Use a case study or story about migration within or to the United States to identify push and pull factors [why they left, why they came] that influenced the migration. AND 4-H3.0.7 Use case studies or stories to describe the ideas and actions of individuals involved in the Underground RR in MI and in the Great Lakes region.) To the right of the squares, there is a section called “Especially for…” Click on Kids and Families, then the circle labeled Local Legacies. On the US map, click on the state of Michigan. On the list, click on Underground RR Activity in SW Michigan. Read the paragraph. On a map of Michigan, locate and label the MI locations (Detroit, North Berrien, Vandalia, Cass County) mentioned in the paragraph.
A. Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph and
then examine individual items. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study each section
to see what new details become visible.
B. Use the chart below to list people, objects, and activities in the photograph.
People Objects Activities
farmhouse
sand
shrubbery
window
door
barn
branches
Step 2. Inference
Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this
photograph.
The house looks abandoned, so there isn’t anybody living there.
The sand piled up over the plants, which may have caused them to die.
There are ripples in the sand, which means the wind was blowing hard.
Step 3. Questions
A. What questions does this photograph raise in your mind?
Was there a family living here before they were forced to move from the dust?
Did they have to move their livestock with them?
Could people have adapted to the weather if they didn’t have the means to migrate?
What could people have done to protect themselves and their property from the dust?
B. Where could you find answers to them? You could use the resources available on the Library of Congress website to determine these answers; you could look into case studies, newspaper articles, videos, books, and more photographs to find out more about the Dust Bowl.
