Lesson #2

2007-12-10T03:27:00.000-06:00

Mississippi River Scavenger Hunt

Grade Level:
Fifth Grade

Theme/Title of the day’s lesson with a brief description:
Mississippi River Scavenger Hunt- Students will "hunt" for information about the Mississippi River online, given a worksheet.

Materials/resources needed:
1. Computer lab reserved
2. Pencils
3. 27 worksheets (one for each member of class plus 2 extra)

Goal(s) for today’s lesson:
Students will be able to use the Internet to find information on the Mississippi River on their own.

Objectives for today’s lesson:
Given a worksheet, students will use their research skills to find basic information about the Mississippi River on the Internet.

Procedures:

introductory experiences: (5 minutes)
Inform students that they will be going on a scavenger hunt today online. Bring students to computer lab.

developmental experiences: (35 minutes)
( 4 minutes) Once students are in the computer lab, list the web addresses on the white board of where they will find the answers. Point out that these websites are on the top of their worksheet also. Let them know that they have 30 minutes to find their information. http://cgee.hamline.edu/rivers/Resources/river_profiles/mississippi.html
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/umesc_about/about_umrs.html
http://www.greatriver.com/
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200111/miss.asp
(30 minutes) Allow students to begin their scavenger hunts. As students are "hunting" for their information, walk around the computer lab to answer any questions the students may have.
(1 minute) When the 30 minute time-limit is done, direct students back to classroom.

culminating experiences: (5 minutes)
Go over answers to scavenger hunt.
Have students write a few sentences about something that they learned about the Mississippi River today.
Tell students that they will be making a travel brochure using this information in tomorrow’s class.

Assessments used during lesson:
Informal assessment done by walking around during "hunting" time and making sure students know how to research using the Internet.

___________________________________________________________________

http://cgee.hamline.edu/rivers/Resources/river_profiles/mississippi.html
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/umesc_about/about_umrs.html
http://www.greatriver.com/
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200111/miss.asp

Name:___________________________

Scavenger Hunt Questions:
1. Who was the first European to explore the Mississippi River?

2. In what year did he first explore the Mississippi?

3. About how long is the Mississippi River?

4. Where does the Upper Mississippi River begin and end?

5. Where does the Lower Mississippi begin and end?

6. How many people in the United States rely on the Mississippi River and its tributaries for drinking water?

7. When was the city of Winona first founded? By whom?

8. How did the Mississippi River get its name?

9. What does the name mean?

10. What famous document made most of the area along the Mississippi the property of the United States?

11. When was the first lumber mill built in Winona?

12. What is the "Mississippi flyway"?

13. How many states does the Mississippi River flow through?

14. What are those states?

15. What are the Mississippi headwaters?

16. What famous Delta Blues musician gets his name from the lower portion of the Mississippi River?

17. Winona Normal School became the ________ school ________ of the Mississippi River in _______.

___________________________________________________________________

ANSWER KEY:
1. Hernando de Soto
2. 1541
3. about 2,350 miles
4. From Minneapolis/St. Paul to Cairo, Illinois
5. From Cairo, Illinois, to New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Gulf of Mexico
6. 18 million
7. Native Americans gave the river the name Mississippi
8. "Big River"
9. Louisiana Purchase
10. October 18, 1851 by Orrin Smith
11. 1855
12. A migration corridor used by 40 percent of North America's waterfowl and shorebirds
13. Ten
14. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana
15. The first 400 miles of the river
16. Muddy Waters
17. First, west, 1858

Lesson #1

2007-12-09T23:12:00.000-06:00

Mississippi River Timeline

Grade Level:

Fifth Grade

Theme/Title of the day's lesson with a brief description:
Mississippi River Timeline- Students will create a timeline of the life of the Mississippi River as a class after thorough research.

Materials/resources needed:
1. The Mighty Mississippi by Linda Vieira
2. 25 event worksheets (one for every student)
3. Writing utensil for each student.
4. Library reserved.
5. Butcher paper already in library.
6. Masking tape.

Goal(s) for today's lesson:
Students will become aware of the history of the Mississippi River and its importance to society.

Objectives:
Students will research a topic on their own.
Students will know how to create a timeline.
Students will understand the importance of the Mississippi River historically.

Procedures:

Introductory Experiences: (15 minutes)
Read The Mighty Mississippi by Linda Vieira to the class.
Ask probing questions about the book (Why did the Ojibwe Indians call the river “Mes-sipi?” What does this translate to in English?- “Big River” or “Father of Waters”) (What did the Missouri earthquakes in 1811 do to the Mississippi River? It ran backward for hours) (Why did the Mormons cross the frozen river in 1846? They were looking for a safe haven.)
Tell students that they will be making a historical timeline of the Mississippi River.

Developmental Experiences: (25 minutes)
(3 minutes) Students will need to be put into groups of five. Each group will be given five different sheets of paper (one for each student). Each piece of paper will have one important historical event that happened with the Mississippi River on it. Historical events at end of this lesson along with correct dates (year)
(3 minutes) Hand out one direction sheet to each group that gives students the directions. Tell the students the directions verbally after each group has gotten the direction sheet. Directions: research your event to find the year (1932) on which the event occurred. Once you find the date of your event, you need to write it on the large piece of butcher paper in the library.
(2 minutes) Bring class to the library where they will be allowed to use multiple resources for their research (computers, encyclopedias, books, magazines, journals, etc.).
(2 minutes) When class arrives at the library, have them sit down and remind them of the library rules and the research guidelines that were given to them last week. Inform them that they will be given 15 minutes to find their information.
(15 minutes) Allow students to quietly research. They can use www.google.com to research their information on the Internet. They can use Encyclopedia’s to research their information from books
Once the 15 minutes is done and the timeline is filled in bring students back to classroom.

Culminating experiences: (5 minutes)
Once all students are back in class and seated, tape the timeline to the front wall of the classroom.
Discuss timeline with classroom, making sure everything is correct. When you get to the following historical events, put the corresponding picture below it. 1823: First steamboat comes up the River to Fort Snelling; stops at Dakota Village site named Hoo-poo-hoo-d oo-ta (later Red Wing). Post two steamboat pictures and picture of steering wheel. 1852: Lumber business starts up in Winona, an assembly point for logs floating down the River, city becomes major logging center. Post two pictures of lumber yard. 1900: Logging declining in Minnesota, River loses importance. Post picture of men.

Assessments used during this lesson:
The completed timeline is the assessment.

___________________________________________________________________

Directions: research your event to find the year (example: 1932) on which the event occurred. Once you find the date of your event, you need to write it on the large piece of butcher paper in the library.

___________________________________________________________________

1492- first Europeans come to North America
1673- Marquette and Joliet record discovery of Upper Mississippi River
1695- Pierre LeSueur in charge of Fort Isle Pel'ee (Prairie Island)
1766- Jonathan Carver, adventurer, visits St. Anthony Falls
1782- smallpox plague, brought from Europe, wipes out entire Native American villages along the Mississippi and throughout Midwest
1805- Lt. Zebulon Pike secures from the Dakota 100,000 acres at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers for trade goods valued at $200
1819- construction of Fort Coldwater (Fort Snelling) begins
1823- first steamboat comes up the River to Fort Snelling; stops at Dakota village site named Hoo-poo-hoo-d oo-ta (later Red Wing)
1837- U. S. government secures from Native Americans the triangle of land formed by the St. Croix and the Mississippi Rivers
1840- white settlers pour into Minnesota
1848- Franklin Steele opens sawmill at St. Anthony Falls
1849- construction of Fort Gaines, renamed Fort Ripley, begins first Minnesota newspaper, the Minnesota Pioneer, is printed by James Goodhue in St. Paul
1851- treaty signing at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota
1852- lumber business starts up in Winona, an assembly point for logs floating down the River, city becomes major logging center
1855- river ferry links La Crescent with La Crosse, Wisconsin first sawmill commences business in Winona; railroad arrives founding of Hamline University at Red Wing
1856- the Anderson House opens in Wabasha; still operating in 1993
1858- 1068 steamboats arrive in St. Paul, bringing hordes of immigrants Minnesota becomes a state
1864- Legislature approves Lake City as a grain marketing port
1870- Red Wing becomes largest primary wheat market in the world
1880- bridge over River connects Fort Snelling and St. Paul
1884- Army Corps of Engineers construct six dams on the River in Minnesota to stabilize water levels downstream.
1890- tornado capsizes steamboat "Sea Wing" near Red Wing; 98 of 203 drown, including many local residents
1892- wagon toll-bridge operates on River at Winona
1900- logging declining in Minnesota, River loses importance
1938- idea of Great River Road Parkway along Mississippi conceived
1946- Fort Snelling closes as a military post
1988- Congress designates River, from Dayton to Hastings, as the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

Teaching Social Studies

Lesson #2

Lesson #1