Strategies for merging geography and history

th
in
8 grade social studies curriculum using
geographic information system technology.

for
Social Studies Teachers




Strategies for merging geography and history in
social studies curricula using geography tools
and geographic information system technology
















2


The materials in this toolkit were prepared by:

Diane T. Besser
The Community Geography Project
Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies
Portland State University
PO Box 751, Portland OR 97207
503-725-5869 TAHPDX@pdx.edu


Permission is given for use and reproduction
of the materials for educational purposes only.


Additional resources may be found on the
Teaching American History Project website at:

http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Home.html



Acknowledgements:
Meg Merrick, Coordinator, Community Geography Project
Lesson plans adapted from Teaching American History units
created by middle school social studies teachers: Carol Berkley,
Beverly Daggett, Alice Ferguson-Chadd, Linda Fetzer, Nancy
Hall, Kim Huber, Kathy Lorentz, and Colleen Medlock (2006-
2007).


I believe there are reasons why things are
where they are!

(The creed of geography, from Gersmehl, P. 2005. Teaching Geography.)



It is often said that time is the domain of the historian whereas place is the domain of the
geographer. While such distinctions may serve the purpose of separating knowledge domains,
the fact of the matter is that time and place are intimately connected.

A unique history unfolds in the context of a particular place, and nowhere else. Places cannot be
adequately described without an understanding of the layers of time that have shaped the cultural
and physical landscape.

Geographic concepts, spatial reasoning skills and geo-technologies compliment history curricula
in profound ways. This toolkit provides information, tools, and strategies for social studies
teachers to understand and incorporate geographic concepts and skills into history lesson plans.

How this toolkit is organized.

The first part of the toolkit provides general information about geographic literacy and skills
based on the National Geography Standards (1994). This section will help you gauge how well
your lesson plans address these skills and standards, and also give you ideas about what essential
geographic elements you should be including in your history lessons.

The second section provides a few tools to help you understand and incorporate geographic
inquiry into your lessons. Rather than being stand-alone geography lessons, they offer
suggestions and strategies for using the tools of geography to better understand history content.
Each tool includes a description, some ideas for practice, and a resource section where you will
find sources for more ideas and information.

The third section contains information about Geographic Information System (GIS) technology
and the various GIS-based options what they are, what they are capable of doing, and what
technical proficiency is required for using them effectively in the classroom.

The appendices contain additional resources including a vocabulary list (words in bold italics can
be found on this list), sample lesson plans, and a short slideshow on map projections. All
graphics and maps can be downloaded in pdf or jpg format on the Teaching American
History website for viewing with a computer and in-focus machine. The website also
contains more educational resources.

A link to the Teaching American History Project website can be found on the
Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Community Geography page
(http://www.pdx.edu/ims/comgeo.html).
3
Table of Contents


Geography Elements and Skills
What is Geographic Literacy? ................................................................................ 5
What are Geographic Skills? .. 6
The 6 Elements of Geography and the 18 Standards . 7

Geography Tools
Space and Place .. 11
Place Narratives . 15
Map Interpretation .. 19
Spatial Analysis .. 31

Geographic Information Systems
What is GIS? .. 37
GIS Technical and Proficiency Matrices ... 40
Creating Bridges: GIS Options
Animated Maps (CD or Internet) ..... 43
Internet Applications (Google Earth) ... 45
Desktop GIS Data Viewers (ArcExplorer) .. 47
Desktop GIS Software (ArcView 3.3) . 49

Appendices
Appendix A: The National Geographic Society 8
th
Grade Geography Test .. 51
Appendix B: The Vocabulary of Spatial Thinking 71
Appendix C: Oregon Settlement Sample Lesson Plans . 75
Appendix D: Geography Education Additional Resources ... 131
Appendix E: Slideshow - Map Projections 153

4
What is Geographic Literacy?

Geography is an integrative discipline that brings together the physical and human dimensions of the world in
the study of people, places, and environments. Its subject matter is Earths surface and the processes that shape
it, the relationships between people and environments, and the connections between people and places.

(from Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards, 1994, p.18)


Numerous assessments of educational progress in geography (1988-2006) have underscored the
poor state of geographic literacy in the United States and provide a strong and timely incentive
for incorporation of geography standards into social studies curricula. But, what exactly is
geographic literacy?

According to the Geography Education Standards Project (Geography for Life: The National
Geography Standards, 1994, p.34) a geographically-informed person is one who:

1. sees meaning in the arrangement of things in space;
2. sees relations between people, places, and environments;
3. uses geographic skills; and
4. applies spatial (space and place) and ecological (human/environment interaction)
perspectives to life situations.

Geographic literacy is more than simply knowing the names of countries or all the state capitals.
A geographically literate person understands how people and places interact at various spatial
scales. Without geographic knowledge and skills, our young people are unprepared for a world
increasingly characterized by complex global interactions and pervasive problems manifested at
multiple levels. With geographic knowledge and skills, they are able to understand these
interconnections and apply innovative solutions.


Take the Challenge!

Are your social studies students geographically literate? Have
them take the National Geographic Societys test for 8
th
grade
geography content and skills (see Appendix A). It wont take long
and you dont have to record a grade!

Feeling brave? Take the Roper Geography 2006 Test to find out if
you are geographically literate. No-one needs to know your score!

You can take the Roper test online at
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/

5
What are Geographic Skills?

Asking Geographic Questions

A geographic question first and foremost asks WHERE and WHY THERE? From this starting point,
more probing questions look for common features, spatial patterns, and spatial links. Adding a
historic element would include WHEN and WHY THEN? Asking geographic questions requires
knowledge of general geographic concepts and vocabulary.

Acquiring Geographic Information

Spatial information is differentiated from other types of information in that it has locational
characteristics (the information can be connected or georeferenced to a tangible place on Earth). J ust
like any other data gathering exercise, however, acquiring geographic information requires critical
evaluation of the reliability, comparability, bias, and appropriateness of the data for the purpose at
hand.

Organizing Geographic Information

Once relevant data has been gathered, the information must be sorted, classified, organized, and
presented in ways that address the issue or problem under investigation or support objective decision-
making. Presentation of geographic data has unique challenges in that it requires careful
consideration of issues such as to how to integrate descriptive or quantitative data with locational
attributes, how to aggregate and report the data, what scale to map data, or how to generalize or
classify data without introducing unacceptable distortion.

Analyzing Geographic Information

Analyzing geographic information calls for the full range of critical thinking skills (thinking,
reasoning, questioning, and evaluating). Analyzing geographic information also requires spatial
reasoning skills. In spatial analysis, one looks for patterns, associations, connections, interactions,
linkages, and evidence of change over time and space.

Answering Geographic Questions

Answering geographic questions, as in any inquiry-based activity, is the final step. The analysis
should lead to informed decisions, conclusions, or generalizations. Incorporating geographic data in
to an analysis often aids in decision-making by adding a spatial dimension the WHERE of the
equation.

AN EXAMPLE: School districts routinely gather and analyze data about the population of a city (or region) and
classify it by age, using this information to forecast future school enrollment. If the population of 2-4 year-old
children is very high, certain districts will likely need to consider redrawing district boundaries or building new
elementary schools. But where? The data about the age of a population can identify the need for new schools.
However, mapping that same data locating where those young children live allows the district to select
potential new school sites or create modified boundaries that will maximize accessibility to the population in
need.

(adapted from Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards, 1994, p.42-44)
6
The National Geography Standards

Geography for Life: National Geography Standards, released in 1994 (and soon to be updated), is the
culminating document resulting from years of geography education research. If your state or district
includes geography standards it is likely that they were modeled, at least in part, on these national
standards. For those who are working under a more generalized social studies standards framework,
the following geography elements and related standards will help you identify the geographic
components of your lessons so that you can develop activities that reinforce geographic knowledge
and the skills of geographic inquiry.

The national geography standards include a detailed list of content and skills for three grade levels
(K-4, 5-8 and 9-12) that students are expected to master under each of the standards. Teachers are
encouraged to refer to the entire document for more in-depth coverage of these elements and
standards (see citation below).

The 6 Essential Elements of Geography and the 18 Standards

The World in Spatial Terms
1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire,
process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a
spatial context.
3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earths surface.
Places and Regions
4. The physical and human characteristics of places.
5. That people create regions to interpret Earths complexity.
6. How culture and experience influence peoples perceptions of places and regions.
Physical Systems
7. The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earths surface.
8. The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earths surface.
Human Systems
9. The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earths surface.
10. The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earths cultural mosaics.
11. The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earths surface.
12. The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
13. How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of
Earths surface.
Environment and Society
14. How human actions modify the physical environment.
15. How physical systems affect human systems.
16. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
The Uses of Geography
17. How to apply geography to interpret the past.
18. How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

--------------------------------------------------------
Geography Education Standards Project. 1994. Geography for Life: National Geography Standards.
Washington, DC: National Geographic Research & Exploration. An electronic version of the standards can
be found on the National Council for Geographic Education website
(http://www.ncge.org/publications/tutorial/standards/).
7
8












GEOGRAPHY

TOOLS
9
10
Space and Place

Space

Space is the environmental stage upon which the drama of geography is
played out.

Space represents the where of geographic inquiry. Space in the world is described in terms of
location, distance, direction, pattern, shape, and arrangement.


PRACTICE: As a beginning exercise, have your students come up with 3-4 different ways of describing where
their school is located without adding in the characteristics of place (as described below). Use these prompts to
assist your students:
1. Use only distances and direction (compass directions or, at a minimum, cardinal points) to describe
the location of your school (you will need to select a starting reference point for this description).
2. What is the postal/street address of your school?
3. Describe the location of your school in relationship to other physical and manmade features (Next to
what? Between what?).
4. If your classroom has a globe or wall map, estimate the approximate latitude and longitude
coordinates (use the nearest city that you can locate on the globe as your guide).

Follow the exercise with a discussion about the strengths and limitations of these descriptions. What kind of
information does it convey about the school? Could someone unfamiliar with the school find their way to its
location? Do these descriptions provide enough information to develop any sort of opinion about the school?


Place

Places are particular locations on the environmental stage that impart
meaning to the stage and the actions occurring there.

Place is identified in terms of the relationships within and between physical characteristics (e.g.
topography, vegetation, climate) and human characteristics (e.g. economic activity, settlement,
land use). Places have distinctive features which give them meaning and character. A
description of place, therefore, has an element of human subjectivity. The description depends
on what characteristics about a place you choose to value and highlight and how you organize or
classify that information.


PRACTICE: As a beginning exercise, have your students list and describe the characteristics of your school
(include both physical and human elements). Allow the students freedom to choose whatever attributes they
think are important. Compile the student lists and as a class try to agree upon 3 common characteristics or
themes that could be used to prepare a one-paragraph description for the schools website or an informational
brochure.

Follow the exercise with a discussion about what criteria students used to determine which characteristics were
important to them. How difficult was it as a class to agree upon just a few representative characteristics?


Descriptions of space and place based on the National Geography Standards (1994), pg. 31.
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Space and Place in History

Understanding the nature of space and place is the starting point for asking geographic questions
and acquiring geographic data. Here are some ideas and strategies for using the concepts of
space and place to enhance your history lessons:

1. Place and Primary Sources: When using primary source documents, photos, maps, and
artifacts, make sure that the worksheets students use to analyze the materials include prompts
and questions that explore space and place. Some questions might be:

Where was this document, photo, or artifact created? Where was it found? What are the
physical characteristics of that place? How did the people that created the artifact interact
with that place? What can the artifact reveal about the places its creators lived?
In a photo: How are the features in the photo arranged in space? What are the physical
elements? What are the cultural elements? What are the connections?
In a document: Does the author use words to describe a place? Are the words positive or
negative? How is the place connected to what the author is talking about in the
document? Is place important to the story or does it simply provide the backdrop?
Analyzing an artifact: How did the availability of particular physical and human
resources or environmental challenges influence the creation of the artifact? Might its
form and function have been different under different geographic conditions?

********************
Use the SOAPS organizer and the Map Analysis Worksheet (included in Appendix D Additional
Resources) to assist students in analyzing primary sources.

********************

2. Monuments & Memorials: Monuments and memorials are powerful examples of the
intersection of time and place; many are considered sacred space. Monuments and
memorials differ in how they treat historical subject matter and what kind of feel they impart
to the visitor.

Virtual Tour: Create a virtual tour of some U.S. monuments (Washington DC is full of
them). Have students discuss or write about how the monuments portray history. How is
the space arranged or constructed to support that portrayal? Who or what do they
memorialize? Where is the monument located and why might it be located there? What
kinds of feelings do the monuments elicit (patriotism, sadness) and how might this reflect
the national sentiment about the historic event? How might that national sentiment have
changed over time?

Monuments through Time: When covering specific historical topics over the academic
year, have students research and find photos of monuments or memorials that deal with
that subject matter and gather examples in a portfolio. At the end of the term/year have
students select some examples and create a wall mural on butcher paper showing the
march through time. As a class explore the questions listed in the virtual tour above. In
addition, compare the different monument examples students have selected. How do
memorials of the Revolutionary War differ from those of the Civil War? How do
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memorials of the Civil War in the North differ from those in the South? What different
kinds of monuments depict western expansion and what message do they convey
(conflict, conquest, adventurism, bravery)? What accounts for any noted differences?
Identify the cultural perspectives or biases reflected in the monuments do different
cultural groups have different monuments of the same event? Are they different? Why
or why not?

3. Geography Matters in History: As students are reading a section from their history textbook
or another book that they might be using in their history class, ask them to pretend that they
have been hired to write a sidebar to a section of the book that explains the role of geography
in that piece of history (you can select the historical text or have the students select it
themselves). Have them write 1-2 short paragraphs that use geographic descriptions
What does the landscape look like?
What is the climate like?
What different cultural groups are represented?
Where did they live? How did they feel about and use the land?
How did geography influence the outcome of the historical event?

As an extension to this exercise, have the students imagine a different kind of geography in
the historical account and have them speculate on how this variation could have affected the
outcome of the historical event or the people involved.

Source: National Geography Xpeditions Geography Matters in History available at:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/17/g68/history.html


Additional Resources:

Research on Space and Place (available at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~janzb/place/). This website
compiles resources on the concept of space and place sorted by a wide range of disciplines. Each disciplinary
category provides access to references, online articles, and a bibliography.

13

14 14
Place Narratives
The Meaning and Experience of Place

Describing a place is a narrative exercise that involves recording factual and functional
information about the place as well as the thoughts, feelings, and sensory experience that give
personal meaning to that place.

Facts: Every place contains tangible physical and cultural features. These are the facts about
that place. Where is the place? How do you get there? What kind of vegetation exists at the
place? Does it rain much? Are there buildings located at the place? How many people
congregate or live there? What colors are the trees, the buildings?

Functions: Places are different from spaces in that they serve some function. Why does this
place exist? It can be obvious (a restaurant) or more subtle (a place of meditation or reflection)
as well as multi-faceted (a restaurant can be an eating establishment as well as a place for social
networking). The functions of a place also differ from person to person. A prison, for example,
is a place of employment for a guard and a place of incarceration for a prisoner.

Thoughts: People form opinions about a place or have other thoughts. Do you visit the place
often? How does the place fit in to your life? Is the place important to you, to others? Is there
significance in how objects located in that place are oriented or arranged?

Feelings: Descriptions of places are human-centered. They involve subjective assessments
I dont like this place, this place makes me feel safe, I have sad/happy memories about this place.
Identifying the feelings associated with a place begins the process of creating a personal place
narrative. Identifying the feelings that others have about a place allows one to appreciate and
understand the significance of place from another perspective.

Sensory Experiences: The most personal level of place narrative includes the full sensory
experience. Places can be characterized by touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight. A place can be
warm or smell musty. Perhaps a place at the ocean tastes of salt. Birds can be heard singing or
the sight of a familiar object or color are a defining characteristics. Personal sensory experiences
bring intimate meaning to that place.


PRACTICE: Have students label 5 small index cards (or 5 -sheets of notebook paper). Each card should be
labeled with one of the 5 elements of place narrative listed above. Invite the students to choose a familiar place
(any place will do). On the first card, instruct the students to list only facts about their place (e.g. its location,
physical characteristics, buildings, climate, etc.). On the second card, they should list what functions the place
serves (e.g. eating establishment). On the third card they should record any thoughts they have about the place
(e.g. I visit this place often, I like this place because). On the fourth card they should list both positive and
negative feelings about the place. And, finally, on the fifth card have the students list then evaluate all the
senses with regard to their chosen place and record their observations.

Note: You can model this activity using your school as a familiar place.

Once all the cards are completed, instruct the students to highlight or circle 1-2 items on each of the cards
those they consider the strongest or most important. Have the students integrate their highlighted items into a
1-2 page place narrative or construct a 2-3 minute speech.
15
********************
For a great lesson on the meaning and experience of place check out the PBS education resources
page and the lesson plan Taj Mahal: Memorial to Love located at
http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/education/ed_taj_lesson.html.

********************

Place Narratives and History

Some of the richest sources of historical primary documents are narratives and stories, often
including detailed descriptions of the connections between people, places, and events. Here are
some ideas and strategies for using place narratives in your history lessons:

1. Local History/Local Places: Whenever possible, visit local places that have historical
significance. Have the students conduct the place narrative exercise from their own
perspective (you will need to schedule in contemplative time for students to just sit and
experience the place). Back in the classroom, have students read and explore historic
narratives and documents about that place (from texts, newspapers, letters, diaries, photos).
Have the students again conduct the place narrative exercise, this time ask them to try to
write the narrative from the perspective of the authors of the historic documents. As an
additional activity, return to the actual place and see if the students perceptions about it have
changed.

2. Place Names: Place names reveal interesting details about the history of a place and the
people who lived there. Students can research place names to discover these hidden histories.
For example, the Upper Willamette Valley in Oregon contains names with Native American,
French-Canadian and Anglo-American roots distinctly tied to the history of that place. Place
names (of streets, hills, streams, schools, landmarks) in the Portland region often identify the
original settlers and early leaders of the region. Often, your local historical society will have
interesting and detailed information about these places.

The USGS maintains a database called the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
located at http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/index.html. Use their search screen to find out
information about contemporary and historical names (it will often cite historical sources).

********************
Tidbit: Do you know the story about how Portland got its name? But for the toss of a coin the
town would have been called Boston, not Portland. Co-owner [of the initial land claim], Asa
Lovejoy, was from Massachusettshe liked the idea of owning half of Boston. [His partner,
Francis] Pettygrove hailed from the state of Maine and wanted to name the town Portland. They
snapped up the copper, to use Lovejoys words, and Pettygrove won the toss. (Portland:
Gateway to the Northwest, by Carl Abbott, 1997, pg. 19).

The following website provides more ideas about place name lessons:
http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/articles/isntthatspatial_7_placenames.html.

********************


16
3. Storytelling. Many cultures pass on place narratives from generation to generation through
storytelling. Stories from oldtimers or the local historian often add interesting localized
detail to the accounts of historical events found in history texts. Places once thought void of
human interest suddenly become the nexus of an unfolding historical drama. Place-based
stories also provide a means to add cultural diversity to the study of history. Stories can be
used to explore different perspectives on historical themes.
Storytellers. Invite a storyteller to your classroom that can provide an alternative
view of historical events (e.g. Native American experience of place and time, the
African-American, Hispanic or gendered perspective).

Local Historians. Your local historical society often has resident historians or
genealogists people with a wealth of knowledge about local history, people, and
events. Invite one of these historians to your classroom to share some interesting
stories about a historical event being studied.

Interviews. Have students collect stories about their town or neighborhood from
older residents. Have students find out how the streets were named. Are there any
interesting people or legends to which the street names refer? Are there any local
places in town about which people tell stories? Any haunted houses? Have students
find out when the town was founded and by whom? Visit your local historical society
to see old photographs or artifacts. Have the students create a poster or collage.

Historical Narratives. Have students create an original historical account. Have them
describe the place and event from the point of view of a fictitious citizen who might
have lived there long ago. Encourage the inclusion of descriptions of local landmarks
and issues of the time in the story. Or, alternatively, have students tell the story from
the fictionalized point of view of a resident who actually lived there. Use historic
newspaper articles, diaries, or old photographs for narrative detail.


Additional Resources:

Nelson, Derek. 1997. Off the Map: The Curious History of Place-Names. Kodansha
International. This amusingly written little book contains a wealth of fascinating and arcane information
about maps and cartographers.

Stewart, George R. 1945. Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the
United States. New York: Random House. An old classic filled with interesting historical accounts.

J ohnstone, Barbara. 1990. Stories, Community, and Place: Narratives from Middle America.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Kellman, J ulia. Nov, 1998. Telling Space and Making Stories: Art Narrative and Place. Art
Education 51(6): 35-40. This is an excellent article on how to assist students in individualized and creative
expression of place through various forms of art.

17
Lankgran, David A. and Susan Allen Toth. March 1976. Geography through literature. Places
III: 5-12.

Sobel, David. 2004. Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms & Communities. Nature
Literacy Series No. 4. Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society.

Story Arts Online at http://www.storyarts.org/. The ancient art of storytelling is especially well-suited
for student exploration. As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage students to explore cultural and place-
based traditions. This site explains storytelling and provides lesson plans and other resources.


18
Map Interpretation

















Every map serves a
purpose.
Every map advances an
interest.
Every map has a story to
tell.

(Kaiser & Wood, 2001, Seeing Through Maps, p.4)
Map of the colored population in the eastern United
States from the 1870 National Atlas (Library of
Congress).
Though geographic data comes in many forms (texts, spreadsheets, graphs, pictures), you often
find georeferenced data compiled and presented in the form of a map.

MAPS ARE SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS OF PLACE.

Since printed maps are inherently someone elses understanding and image of the world,
knowing how to interpret maps is a critical skill in geographic inquiry. Every map is a
purposeful selection of everything that is then known about a place. What a mapmaker chooses to
include in a map and how the information is organized, classified, and displayed can tell us
something about the maps objective as well as what the mapmaker felt was important. What is
NOT included on a map can be equally interesting.

Historical Maps: Like other primary source documents, historical maps provide a window into
past places and cultures. They often depict many of the things that modern maps do bodies of
water, locations of cities as well as artifacts of the culture in which they were produced
symbols of sea monsters on early nautical maps. Most old maps are inaccurate compared to
modern ones, but this does not make them useless to the historian. Historical maps tell us about
what people both knew and did not know about a given geographical area. With this
information, we can often infer what people thought and valued or how they interacted with the
places and features depicted in the maps at the time the map was drawn. This kind of empathy
being able to understand history within the context in which it was being played out is an
important historical inquiry skill reinforced by geographic understanding.

Map interpretation or map reading is different than cartography (constructing a map).
Although both are important skills, the emphasis here will be on learning about strategies and
tools to help your students read maps in order to take advantage of the vast repository of
historical maps available online, in books, and at museums.

19
Map Elements


To interpret maps you must first decode
them. A good map should tell you what it is
about (title), which direction north is
(orientation), when the map was made or
updated (date), who made the map (author),
what the symbols mean (legend or key), how
distances on the map relate to actual
distances on the earth (scale), how to find
selected places on the map (index), where to
find these places (grid), and where the maps
information comes from (sources).
The acronym DOGSTAILS makes it easy to
remember the important elements of a map.

Date D When the map was made.
Orientation O Directions (north arrow).
Grid G Locates places on the map.
Scale S The map distance.
Title T What, Where and When
Author A Who made the map.
Index I Map addresses of places.
Legend L What the map symbols mean.
Sources S Where the data comes from. The first step in map reading is to identify
and interpret these key elements. The
more information that is provided on a map
the better able you are to understand the
maps content, identify its purpose, and
evaluate its accuracy.
National Geographic Society Xpeditions MapMaking Guide
(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/09/
g68/cartographyguidestudent.pdf)


PRACTICE: Decoding Maps: Make copies of two thematically different, yet familiar, well-constructed world
maps from an atlas or downloaded from the internet (e.g. a political boundary or country map and a map of world
vegetation or climate). In small groups have students use the DOGSTAILS acronym to identify the elements on
each of the maps. Have them compare the two maps and speculate about each maps purpose. Instruct
students to discuss the kinds of decisions that might have been made about what was included on the map as
opposed to what was left out. Does there seem to be a political or other kind of agenda? As a class, discuss
some of the students observations.

Maps are particular POINTS OF VIEW. Make an overhead or project the upside-down world map included in
Appendix D. Have the students go through the DOGSTAILS exercise. Is it more difficult because of the
unfamiliar orientation? Does this map seem incorrect? What point of view is reflected in this map? Does north
necessarily have to point up? How might a person from Australia or New Zealand react to this map?



Map Projections

A map projection is the process of transforming and representing
positions on the earth's three-dimensional curved surface (sphere) to a
two-dimensional flat surface (plane). In order to accomplish this task,
some distortion of the mapped features takes place (to illustrate this
phenomenon, remove the skin from an old tennis ball or an orange and try
flattening it out on a table). This distortion of features can manifest itself
in a number of ways including sacrificing accuracy of area on the map in
proportion to actual area on Earth, warping of a features shape, or compromising the ability to
measure distances or determine direction on the maps grid lines.


20
Covering the vast complexity of map projections is beyond the scope of this toolkit. There are
excellent resources listed below to learn more about projections as well as a short slideshow in
Appendix E that illustrates different kinds of projections and the distortions they produce.

What you do need to know about map projections is the extent to which your
interpretation of the map contents might be influenced by the chosen map orientation
and projection.


PRACTICE: For a quick illustration of how projections really do change they way the world looks, have your
students visit the National Geographic Society Xpedition Hall Globe Projector webpage
(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/hall/index.html). Click on the image then follow the online
instructions.

As a follow-up exercise, have a class discussion about what differences they noticed in each of the map
projections. Ask your students if they thought that one map was MORE ACCURATE than another (hint: there is
no such thing as a true or totally accurate map; all maps have distortion and a particular bias).

View the Map Projection slideshow in Appendix E to illustrate the different kinds of projections and how they
preserve or distort different elements.



********************
The Great Map Controversy. Have students read the Great Map Controversy narrative in
Appendix D. Project or make copies of the Mercator, Peters and Robinson world maps that follow.
Have a class discussion about the differences in these map projections and what they might reveal
about a maps purpose and/or point of view. How might a map reader from different countries or
cultures respond to each of the maps?

Additional Exercises: Select some of the simple texts and fun exercises in the Kaiser/Wood book,
Seeing through Maps (cited below), to illustrate how projections really can influence our perception of
the world. Note in particular maps that are Euro-centric or America-centric. What does placing the
United States in the center of the map say about is point of view?

********************

Scale

Scale is the relationship of the size of a feature on a map in proportion to its size in reality (on the
ground). Scale can be described or shown in three different ways:

Words: one inch equals one mile

Fraction or Ratio: 1/100,000 or 1:63,360 (one unit on the map equals x units on the
Earths surface)

Scale Bar:

21
A map showing a small area, able to show large amounts of detail, is a LARGE SCALE map (a
large ratio/fraction such as 1:250). A map of your neighborhood is a large scale map.

A map showing a large area, with relatively little detail, is a SMALL SCALE map (a small
ratio/fraction such as 1:1,000,000). A map of the world is a small scale map.

The scale of the map is the way in which you figure out the actual geometric measurements of
the features shown on the map. Scale is also used to assess and analyze relationships, linkages,
and flows between features on the map (e.g. how easy/difficult is it to travel from one point to
another).


PRACTICE: Calculating distance is a common activity when using maps and a fun way to practice using scales.
Provide students with a copy of a page from a street map of your neighborhood at a large scale (you can use
www.mapquest.com to zoom into and print a street map of the area around your school). Identify two points on
the map (your school and perhaps a fast food restaurant). Have students locate and interpret the scale
information. Have students use a ruler to calculate the as-the-crow-flies distance from the two points. Note the
units of measurement? What is the measurement from the ruler? How is that translated into the actual
measurement on the ground? As an additional exercise, have students calculate the distance using the street
network (they will need to record the measurements for each link or segment in the network then add them
together).

NOTE: This exercise can also be done on historic maps (e.g. how far did people travel along the Oregon Trail?).


********************
Isnt that Spatial? Teaching about Scale: Visit this site for additional ideas on how to teach about
scale (http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/articles/isntthatspatial_scale.html).

The Powers of 10. Use this fascinating slideshow to illustrate successive scaling (moving from the
scale of the universe at 10 million light years to the scale of quarks at 100 attometers) located at
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/.

********************

Simplification, Symbolization and Classification

All maps are the result of a lot of data processing. What kind of data is presented and in what
form and detail depends on many decisions that the cartographer makes along the way. A map is
constructed for a particular purpose and, if standard conventions are followed, the data included
is selected to support that purpose. Including too much data in too much detail can make the map
confusing. Including too little data may make the map less useful or even misleading. Some of
these data processing tasks include:

Selection and Simplification:

A major task in map-making is
simplifying the information to be included
in the map, including determining the
number of features to be included and how
to draw the features themselves. To what
extent features need to be simplified

Smoothing
22
depends on the scale of the map. Small-scale maps (covering a large area) require more
simplification than large-scale maps (that can show much more detail). A common
simplification technique is to straighten curvy lines such as roads using a technique called
smoothing. Cartographers also go through an intense process of selection. Some features need
to be eliminated all-together in order to filter out data not relevant to the maps purpose. The
cartographer must decide the criteria which determines whether a particular feature will be
included or not. The map reader must also understand the limitations of selected and simplified
data. For example, accurate distance measurements cannot be made on a road that has been
straightened to a large degree. A small-scale map, of a state perhaps, may include only
population centers of a certain size and could not be used to determine density of cities and
towns.

As maps serve a particular purpose, analysis of the information contained on the
map should be limited to that purpose.

Symbolization:

Other decisions that need to be made are how to represent the data on the map. Map symbols
serve as a graphic code for the features shown on the map and tell the user what is relevant and
what is not. What symbols are chosen will influence how people understand and are able to
interpret and use the map. Small-scale maps, for example, cannot include highly detailed
information. Cities are represented as dots and rivers as lines, even though both these features
have areal characteristics. A large-scale map can capture these characteristics by drawing them
as polygons instead of points or lines.

Symbols can be intuitive or abstract.
Intuitive symbols include pictographs that
represent real features like using a tent
symbol to indicate the location of a
campground or an airplane to indicate an
airport. Abstract symbols can be
decoded through the legend or key. For
example, various forms of dotted and
dashed lines often represent political
boundaries. Isolines (such as elevation
contours) represent a continuum of points
of equal value and can be used to illustrate
physical features on a flat map (e.g. hills
and valleys).

Symbolization often reflects a cultural bias
(would someone who has never seen an
airplane understand that such a symbol often locates airports?). On historic maps, the symbols
used provide a window into the mapmakers culture and clues as to the maps purpose.

The use of color as a symbolization technique: An important skill in interpreting maps is to
understand how colors, shades and patterns influence how the data on the map is interpreted
(there are cartographic conventions for using colors that will not be covered here see the
23
resources below for more information). What a map reader needs to do is ask critical
questions about how colors, shades and patterns are being used to represent the data. Are
there possible underlying biases invoked by these colors other than what the legend might
suggest. For example, US-produced maps depicting the spread of communism often use a vivid
red color which also symbolizes danger or stop in our culture?

Classification:

One way of representing
information on a map is to aggregate
the data and assign it to a given
number of classes (or ranges) then
display it as variable point or line
symbols or in spatial containers.
A container can be physical
(polygons that represent the
boundaries of watersheds) or
cultural (political boundaries of
counties). A map with classified
data will often use varying shades of
a color to indicate a range of values
(a choropleth map). Darker colors
represent larger values and lighter
colors represent smaller values.
Some examples of classified data
are maps of population distribution.

Classification is a special type of simplification as it takes a large amount of data and tries to
make it easier to interpret by grouping the data. However, in doing so detailed information is
lost. Effective classification depends on a good understanding of the data being mapped
and a good working definition (and justification) of the classification scheme. Though the
ranges of the data can be found in the legend, metadata (or information about the data) should
also be included so that the user, as well, can understand the reasoning behind the classification.



PRACTICE: The Power of Maps to Shape our World View. Have students locate a map from a newspaper
article or magazine accompanying some narrative about regional, national or world affairs. Either in a class
discussion or in written format, have the student analyze the map (start with the DOGSTAILS method). What
scale is it? How are certain areas in the map distorted by the projection selected (usually at the fringes of the
map)? What symbols are being used to depict features? What do the data show? How are the data being
classified and how does that affect interpretation of the map? How does the map relate to or support the article
or news report? And, finally, what point of view does this map represent? Could inclusion of other kinds of
information or different symbology/classification change that viewpoint?

Historic World Views. Maps can shed light on the world views of past cultures. Show students the projection
of Behaims 1492 globe (located in Appendix D), which represents the world view during Columbus day.
Analyze this map using the methods above and the questions below. How might this image of the world have
convinced Columbus that he could indeed reach the Asian continent in a reasonable period of time (Note the
absence of the North and South American continents)?


24
Other helpful questions to ask to discover the deeper meaning in maps:

1. What country do you think the mapmaker came from?
2. For what specific purpose(s) do you think the map was created?
3. Who commissioned or published the map?
4. Who is using or buying the map?
5. What cultural assumptions or biases are reflected in the map (e.g. political boundaries,
place names, symbology)?
6. Whats at the center of the map? Whats relegated to the edges?
7. What features are present on the map?
8. Whats left off the map that might have significance?
9. What words are being used to describe the maps contents and how do these descriptions
inform the cultural biases of the time (e.g. historic census maps often include descriptive
categories that are unacceptable today, such as half-breed, negro, or civilized Indian)?


********************
Use the Map Analysis Worksheet located in Appendix D as an aid for students as they analyze
contemporary and historic maps.

NOTE: The maps referenced above can also be downloaded in pdf format from the Teaching
American History webpage (a link can be found at http://www.pdx.edu/ims/comgeo.html). You can
also download the Map Projection pages as a Powerpoint presentation from this site.

********************

Map Interpretation and History

Historic maps are often overlooked primary source documents, though they can be used in many
creative ways to gain insight into and recreate a past place. Historic maps can also be hard to
interpret because of cryptic symbolization, uncertainty about the data contained in the map or the
maps purpose within its historic context. But, these are the very reasons that you should include
historic maps in your history lessons as an instrument of historical and geographical inquiry.

Before using historic maps in your lessons, however, it may be useful to reinforce the skills of
map interpretation in your students by completing the practice exercises above with maps that are
familiar to them. Once your students have gained proficiency in map interpretation, you can
introduce historical maps into your lessons. Here are some additional ideas and strategies:

1. Maps as Both Historical Artifact and Display of Historic Information: Historic maps are
artifacts just like documents and photographs and can be analyzed (using a SOAPS protocol
for example) carefully and thoroughly to provide a more indepth understanding of a
particular historical context.

Maps, however, can also provide the means with which to compile and display historic data
available in other formats, such as spreadsheets. As long as the data are aggregated using
some sort of spatial container, these maps can highlight spatial patterns and linkages that
might otherwise go unnoticed. For example, simple maps that show the radically changing
boundaries of the United States over time reinforce the idea of Manifest Destiny. The US
25
Census creates thematic maps that show data aggregated at the state or county level. An
1860 map of the distribution of slaves in the U.S. (by county), for example, graphically
illustrates the importance of the slave economy in certain areas of the agricultural South (the
slave population in some counties exceeds 75% of the total population!). Combine these
maps with others that show the distribution of cotton and tobacco production and you have a
rich forum for illustrating and discussing the political, social, and economic ramifications of
the institution of slavery in pre-Civil War America.

Using Maps in the Classroom:

Make an attempt to locate historic maps (primary documents) that support the historical
content you will be covering during the year and build map interpretation and analysis
into your classroom activities (start with the online sites listed below).

Use the University of Virginia Librarys Historic Census Browser: You (or your
students) can create maps on this website using selected census categories from 1790-
1960 (such as family size or foreign-born). Have students come up with questions, as a
historical researcher would, then use the site to create maps that will help them answer
these questions.

Visit the TAHPDX: Teaching American History Project website and explore the data
compiled for the historical topics, historic GIS (geographic) data, curricula and other
geographic resources that may be applicable for the topics you will be teaching. Start
with the home page at: http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Home.html.

2. The National Atlas (1870, 1880, 1890). The Library of Congress has scanned the pages
from the 1870, 1880 and 1890 National Atlases. These atlases are full of maps, graphs and
explanatory text that paint a vivid picture of the state of the country in these time periods and
can be used as a backdrop for contextualizing historical events. For example, comparison of
the distribution of colored people in 1870 (immediately following the Civil War) and again
in 1890 (two decades later) show that there was not much migration of African-Americans
out of the South. The distribution of African-Americans today (from the 2000 census) still
shows a similar pattern, with high densities of African-Americans still concentrated in the
Deep South. Analyzing and asking questions about these historic spatial patterns helps to
stimulate discussion about enduring cultural and political institutions that define where
people choose (or are forced) to live. This type of critical inquiry is at the heart of asking
geographic questions and analyzing geographic data.

The pages in the atlases provide a wealth of information about social, economic and
environmental conditions, but they also give clues as to what kinds of data the government
felt was important to gather and how the government chose to categorize and classify
information. Of interest are the changing categories for tallying racial and ethnic groups in
the U.Slabels that are vestiges of political, social and economic policy at the time. These
atlases provide a productive way to reinforce map interpretation.

You can access the 1870-90 National Atlases from the Library of Congress American
Memory website at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/census.html.


26
********************
downloaded as J PG2000 files. Unfortunately, most standard image readers

3. ental Maps then and now. Many historic accounts include sketches of travels and places
ent (e.g.

Once the students are comfortable with creating and evaluating mental maps, locate some

ese
xtensions:
ch historic descriptions about places (e.g. from Overland Trail diaries or the
s
physical and cultural environments, perhaps

4. ost at Sea: The Search for Longitude. This is a PBS/NOVA program with many fun and



******************
rom EdSITEment is a great lesson on how to use historic maps to understand past
The images can be
wont recognize this format, but, if you have Acrobat Distiller, you can download the file to your
computer then right-click on it to save it as a PDF file. There are also free plug-ins that you can
download to read and convert these files. ER_Viewer, from the ERDAS ER_Mapper website
(http://www.ermapper.com/) is one such free application.

****************** **

M
visited (the Lewis & Clark Expedition and travels on the Overland Trails are good examples).
These sketches are mental maps that represent a persons unique perspective of that place.
Have students practice by creating a mental map of their neighborhood or the area around
their school. In a class discussion, identify what elements students included on their
sketches. How do these elements reflect the students interaction with their environm
locations of bus stops, major roads, inclusion of fast-food restaurants or video arcades
indicate features of contemporary importance)?
18
th
or 19
th
century sketches of historic places. Compare these mental maps of places by
explorers with the sketches drawn by the students. How do they differ? How are they the
same? What elements did the explorers include as opposed to students? How does this
reflect what these explorers and pioneers felt was important in their environment? Are th
things still important today or has the cultural landscape changed? If so, how?

E
Find ri
Lewis & Clark journals) and have students try to draw a mental map of these place
using these descriptions this will help students to see these places from the
perspective of the historical characters.
Discuss alternative ways of viewing the
using Native American art (be careful that your selection is not simply an anglo
version of native art).
L
informative activities for students to learn how early transoceanic navigation and exploration
depended on an accurate method of calculating longitude (and how vitally important and
difficult a task that was). A video of the program can be purchased, but is not necessary to
complete many of the activities. Information and materials can be found at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/programs/2511_longitud.html.

**
Mapping the Past f
cultures and can be used as a way to look at changing world views from the Renaissance, the Age of
Exploration, and Westward Expansion in North America. The lesson is available at
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=328.

********************

27
Additional Resources:

Historic Maps Online

The Library of Congress, Geography & Map Division (http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/). This is
a great portal to the LOCs vast historic map and atlas collections. A link on this site also takes you to a
comprehensive list of web resources.

The Library of Congress, American Memory Pages, Map Collections
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html). Locate the LOCs online map resources by
searching by geographic location, map title, or subject matter.

ER Mapper Software: Most map images can be downloaded from the Library of Congress Map
Collections in a J PEG2000 format. You will need special software to read these files (this is not your
regular J PG format). ER Mapper is a free download from Geospatial Imagery Solutions that will read
these images. Once loaded into the ER Mapper, you can save the image as a regular J PG, TIF or BMP
format that can be read by most imaging software. Download the free software at
http://www.ermapper.com/ (click on Image Viewer).

The Newberry Library Historic Map Collection
(http://www.newberry.org/collections/mapoverview.html)

David Rumsey Map Collection (http://www.davidrumsey.com/)

Perry Castaneda Library Map Collection (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/)

USGS Map Catalog: Culture & History
(http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/mapcatalog/culture.html)

Map Stores

National Council of Geographic Education (http://ncge.org/)

National Geographic Society: Maps, Globes & Atlases
(http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/gateway/120/105.html)

Websites Cartography and Map Projections

National Geographic: Round Earth, Flat Maps
(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/2000/projections/). This is an interactive website that provides a
brief look at projections.

The Geographers Craft (http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/contents.html). A
comprehensive website from the Geography Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder all you ever
wanted to know about projections.

US Geological Survey (USGS) Educational Resources for Secondary Grades
(http://education.usgs.gov/common/secondary.htm). A great portal for mapping lessons, teacher information
packets, map/projection posters, and more.

28
Books

Kaiser, Ward L. and Denis Wood. 2001. Seeing Through Maps: The Power of Images to Shape
our World View. Amherst, MA: ODT, Inc.

Monmonier, Mark. 1996. How to Lie with Maps, 2
nd
Edition. Chicago, IL: The University of
Chicago Press.

Monmonier, Mark . 1993. Mapping it Out: Expository Cartography for the Social Sciences and
Humanities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. A very readable introduction to the principles of
cartography aimed particularly at students and scholars who have had little training in geography or
cartography.

Muercke, Phillip C. 1978. Map Use: Reading, Analysis, and Interpretation. Madison, WI: J P
Publications.

Wood, Denis. 1992. The Power of Maps. New York: The Guilford Press.

29
30
Spatial Analysis

The central idea of spatial analysis is to study, explore, and model processes having properties
and relationships distributed in space. Spatial analysis deals with both environmental and
socioeconomic data. In general, the analysis process is preceded by a visual presentation of the
data in the form of graphs or maps and the identification of spatial dependencies, relationships, or
patterns in the data under study. Some examples of spatial analysis include the following:

Point Pattern Analysis: The object of interest in point
pattern analysis is the spatial location and distribution of
discrete events (or data points in space and time). Are
the points distributed randomly? Are they clustered or do
they exhibit another regular pattern? Further hypotheses
would consider reasons for the observed patterns. For
example, in industrialized countries, dot density maps that
depict the distribution of a population would probably
display a clustered pattern, evidence of population highly
concentrated in urban areas. The point pattern in an
agrarian country might show a more regularly distributed
pattern indicating widely spaced farms. Point pattern
analysis also seeks to determine a correlation between
events and environmental factors. For example,
epidemiologists study the incidence of disease in a
population in order to determine whether the distribution
is random or whether a particular pattern can be discerned
that likely points to a cause of the disease (or at least a
reason for its spread). Crime analysis, as well, looks for hotspots where additional police
presence is warranted.


Overlay Analysis: Overlay analysis is a common spatial
analysis technique particularly well suited for a GIS
(geographic information system) computing environment.
Overlay analysis uses many different layers of geographic
information (or filters) to answer research questions or
determine locations that meet specific criteria. For
example, an organization that wants to set up a new daycare
facility would need information about zoning (where is it
allowed to operate a business?), demographics (where are
the highest concentrations of young children?), street
networks (far away from high traffic areas yet still easily
accessible), locations of schools (proximity to primary
schools), and so forth. Hazard modeling also uses overlay
analysis that incorporates not only different layers of
geographic data, but also how these layers interact to either
increase or decrease susceptibility to danger.
Source: ESRI


31
Networks, Linkages, and Flows: Spatial processes
occur both within and between geographic phenomena and
are evidenced by linkages connecting geographic features
and flows of activity among them. For example,
transportation modeling integrates information about flows
of traffic and potential impediments in order to manage and
maintain the road system. Dispatchers will use network
analysis to calculate the fastest route to a number of
destinations using a geographically referenced street
network. Key to understanding the impact of point source
pollution involves identifying links between human actions
upstream and how that affects conditions downstream as
well as understanding the processes within an interconnected system that move the pollution
from one place to another. Biologists use collar transmitters and satellite receivers to track the
migration routes of caribou and polar bears to help design programs to protect the animals.

Migration of the Monarch Butterflies


PRACTICE: Where can I get a latte? Most spatial analysis begins with a visual interpretation of geographic
data to look for patterns or linkages. A fun way for students to practice spatial analysis skills is to formulate
hypotheses or generalizations about the connections between various spatial phenomena shown on a map.

In Appendix D you will find three contemporary maps of the Portland metropolitan area. The first map shows the
location of Starbuck Coffee Shops. The second map overlays the points on a map of the distribution of young
adults (18-29). The third overlays the points onto a map of median income distribution.

Small group or class activity: Using a visual inspection, on the first map do the students see any patterns in the
point distribution? Have them speculate why or why not. On the second and third maps, do they see any
possible correlation between the points and income or age? Have students discuss possible reasons for their
observations. Can they formulate any hypotheses about these relationships? Might there be other criteria used
to locate the coffee shops (e.g. access to main roads, commercial areas) that would be better predictors. How
might they go about testing their hypotheses? What other geographic layers might the students want to look at?

NOTE: There are no definitive answers to these questions. Students should begin by decoding the information
on the map using their map interpretation skills, then looking for patterns based on their suppositions about why
Starbucks might locate coffee shops in particular areas. Do these generalizations seem to fit the pattern?


********************
For a great lesson on exploring spatial patterns and how human activity shapes the landscape, visit
the National Geographic Society Xpeditions Lessons webpage at
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/matrix.html. Search for the Explore the Spatial
Patterns of Your Hometown lesson in the Standard 3 section.

********************

32
Spatial Analysis and History

Building spatial analysis activities into your lessons is a great way to build spatial reasoning and
critical thinking skills in your students. However, such activities must go beyond a prescriptive
approach. In order to challenge students reasoning skills, activities must require students to
analyze and synthesize information in order to develop their own opinions and solutions. The
following ideas can help you to use spatial analysis activities to enhance the study of historical
events.

1. Change over Time: Maps are great resources to capture a point in time. As you move
through your history units, challenge your students to analyze maps of a subject created at
different time periods and look at changes in spatial relationships over space and time and
how that might have affected the outcome of historical events.

A good example can be found in the Canals, Roads & Trails GIS projects (available in
GoogleEarth, ArcExplorer and ArcView project formats) that can be downloaded from the
Teaching American History website in the Westward Expansion section on the Historic GIS
Data page. Students can explore how changes in transportation methods contributed to the
settlement and expansion of the United States. Note how early settlement of the North
American continent concentrated at ports and other waterways. How does the growth of
cities correlate with major overland trail jump-off or supply points? How did the
transcontinental railroad change the pattern of western and urban development? How did it
contribute to the incorporation of the western territories into the United States?

The Smithsonian Institute also has a great website on the role of transportation called
America on the Move (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/).

2. Demographics, Economics, Environment, and Politics: Spatial analysis techniques can be
used to provide opportunities for students to think critically and develop hypotheses about
why historical events happened where they did. Students can use geographic data and maps
to make connections between social, economic, environmental, and political conditions and
the events that are being studied. For example, students can be encouraged to look for
connections between maps of the spread of cotton and tobacco production in the South
(available in the National Atlas) with maps that show the growth in the density of the slave
population. While today we may think of the institution of slavery within a moral context, in
the period leading up to the Civil War, slavery was very much an economic issue. The
politics of the time, and the political rhetoric of politicians in the Deep South, also reflected
this spatial connection.

The University of Virginia Historic Census portal is a great resource to get access to historic
census data and create customized national maps from as early as 1790 through 1960 on a
whole host of demographic data. You can access this portal at:
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/.

The actual U.S. Census website for historic census data can be found at:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html.

33
Additional Resources:

Resources for spatial analysis mainly focus on the use of geographic information system (GIS)
technology as a spatial analytical tool. Most cover topics and quantitative techniques much too
advanced for the purposes here. The few noted below provide basic information about spatial
analysis or contain activities and ideas for projects that enhance spatial reasoning skills. Much of
the GIS-based activities and projects can be adapted for use with hardcopy maps and atlases.

Alibrandi, Marsha. 2003. GIS in the Classroom: Using Geographic Information Systems in
Social Studies and Environmental Science. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Audet, Gary and Gail Ludwig. 2000. GIS in Schools. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.

Malone, Lyn, Anita M. Palmer and Christine L. Voigt. 2002. Mapping Our World: GIS
Lessons for Educators. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.

Oldakowsk, Raymond K. 2001. Activities to develop a spatial perspective among students
in introductory geography courses. Journal of Geography 100:243-250.

Sharma, M. B. and G. S. Elbow. 2000. Using Internet Primary Sources to Teach Critical
Thinking Skills in Geography. Greenwood Professional Guides in School Librarianship.
Westport, CT: The Greenwood Press.

USGS Geographic Information Systems (http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/gis_poster/). While this site
focuses on geographic information system technology, it provides a good description of the different spatial
analysis techniques with numerous illustrations.
34





GEOGRAPHIC
INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
35
36
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

What is it?

A geographic information system (GIS) is an integrated system of hardware, software, and
procedures designed to support the collection, management, manipulation, analysis, modeling,
and display of spatially referenced data about Earths surface in order to solve complex planning
and management problems (Geography for Life: National Geography Standards, 1994, p.256).

A GIS stores geographic data as a collection of thematic layers associated with a common
geographically referenced grid (such as latitude/longitude coordinates). Each layer has two
information components: one is the location of a place in geometric terms (which allows the
software to draw the features in geographic space) and the other is a description of the attributes
or data about that place (this information is stored in a linked database in the form of a
spreadsheet).

Both a hardcopy map and a GIS locate and represent things in space. It is the information
system that makes a GIS different from a static map. What GIS has, that a hardcopy map does
not, is the ability to create a dynamic interface between the user and the geographic information.
In a GIS, the user has the ability to manipulate the information (as a cartographer would do to
create a static map), access multiple attributes of a single feature, and use the data to ask and
answer geographic questions.

********************
Example: You could probably easily locate your school on a city map and, through different kinds of
symbolization the map might even tell you whether it was a middle school or a high school. If a GIS has a
school thematic layer and a street layer for your city, you could also easily locate your school in the GIS
computer map view as well. But, if you queried the database linked to the school layer, you could also retrieve
information such as the telephone number, perhaps student enrollment figures, and potentially a whole host of
other kinds of information.


What can GIS do?

A GIS is certainly not necessary to successfully undertake geographic inquiry. However, the
advantage of GIS is that it can organize, manage and retrieve vast amounts of geographically
referenced data. Rather than be limited by the snapshot in time of a static map or by the content
choices of a particular cartographer, a GIS allows dynamic interaction with geographic data. It
enables us to ask geographic questions of multiple databases because we can visualize several
layers of data in direct correlation with their actual locations on Earth. We can acquire and
compile geographic data from a variety of sources into a single project. Once compiled, we can
organize and classify the data in multiple ways based on selected properties or attributes and
analyze the data by performing spatial operations on interconnected databases according to our
own criteria. In the end, we can answer our geographic questions, or at least be better informed
about spatial relationships and linkages.



37
An example of the computer interface for ArcView 3.3 (a GIS program developed by ESRI). Notice the thematic layers in the table of
contents to the left of the map view. Each represents a separate data file, but all are displayed in the same geographic space on the
map view so that we can visualize and analyze spatial connections and linkages within and between the layers.

What cant GIS dowhat shouldnt it do?

GIS is a support system for geographic inquiry because it can store and organize large amounts
of data and perform tasks that would otherwise be unacceptably time-consuming or even
impossible. GIS is a tool for geographic inquiry and spatial analysis and its effective use
depends on practiced spatial reasoning skills and a solid understanding of geographic concepts.
Simply learning how to operate a GIS computer program is not the same thing as geographic
understanding. GIS should be used to provide an interactive environment within which thinking
and learning can take place. It does not replace geographic knowledge or learning nor is it
particularly efficient at teaching the basic geographic skills.





38


The following pages provide information about options for using, viewing, manipulating, and
analyzing spatial data in different kinds of map viewing and GIS environments. The two
matrices that follow list the options capabilities, with regard to analytic functions and ability to
utilize geographic skills and support geographic inquiry, and the technical proficiencies needed to
use the technology effectively. The matrices are followed by brief descriptions of the map
viewing and GIS options including sources for additional resources.


Map Viewing and GIS Options:

Animated Maps (Atlas of Oregon)
Interactive Internet Mapping (Google Earth)
Desktop GIS Data Viewers (ArcExplorer)
Desktop GIS (ArcView 3.3)
39
GIS Technical and Proficiency Matrices

Technical Capabilities:

Each map viewing and GIS option has different technical capabilities with regard to the
softwares ability to access and display geographic information or independently manipulate
the data to ask and answer geographic questions. While the spectrum of options range from
simple to sophisticated, this does not imply that one is more useful than another. Which tool
is more appropriate depends on the task to be accomplished. Simple applications, such as
animated maps, can be efficient tools for investigative tasks such as map interpretation or
gathering information about geographic features, and can help students formulate more
probing geographic questions. Simple tools assist students in the investigative and analytical
skills necessary to master the more sophisticated capabilities of a desktop GIS data viewer
such as ArcExplorer or a desktop software package such as ArcView.

The following matrix consolidates each software options capabilities. A more detailed
description is given in the pages that follow. Use the matrix to assess which option is most
appropriate for the task you wish students to complete.

Capabilities Description

Storing Projects: Does the software allow a user to store and retrieve a project that has been
worked with, added to, or otherwise changed?

Data Display: Regarding the map viewing area to what extent can it be controlled by the
user (zoom in/out, pan around, etc.) or have tools to view the data in various ways (turning
layers on/off, arranging layers in a legend).

Add Data: Does the software allow the user to add geographic or other GIS-ready data
layers from external sources?

Create Data: To what extent does the software have tools to actually create new GIS data
layers (X,Y coordinate point data, making new themes by digitizing, address-matching, etc.)?

Data Manipulation: To what extent does the software allow manipulation of geographic data
such as selecting subsets of larger datasets based on a specific criteria, using geoprocessing
tools (dissolve, merge, clip features), or adding additional attribute data (joining tables).

Connection with Data Attributes: How does the software access the attribute data about the
geographic features on the map?

Other Spatial Analysis Tools: Other analysis tools include calculating distance, creating
buffers, and other ways to assess the spatial characteristics of the data and one layers
relationship to another (e.g. proximity).

Map Layouts: Does the software allow a user to create and print a map layout?

40
Capabilities Matrix

Software
Capabilities
Animated
Maps
Google Earth ArcExplorer ArcView GIS
Storing Projects No Yes Yes Yes
Data Display Minimal High High High
Add Data No
Yes
(kml and kmz files)
Yes
(shapefiles/images)
Yes
(shapefiles/images)
Create Data None X,Y point data only X,Y point data only
Multiple
geoprocessing tools
for creating data
Data
Manipulation
None None None High
Connection with
Attribute Data
Access to
linked data via
buttons
Click on feature to
see attributes (one
viewing box)
Find, ID, Query
Can view entire
attribute table
Find, ID, Query
Can view entire
attribute table
Other Spatial
Analysis Tools
None Distance
Distance, Buffer,
Hotlink
Distance, Buffer,
Overlay Analysis,
Geoprocessing, and
more
Map Layouts
Print screen of
the map view
Print screen of the
map view
Yes Yes
Software
Required
Optional: Flash
Plug-in (free)
GoogleEarth (free) ArcExplorer (free)
ArcView (purchase)
Additional free scripts
and extensions
GIS Data Format none Open Source ESRI Shapefile ESRI Shapefile
GIS Project
Format
none *.kml/*.kmz *.axl *.apr


Proficiency Requirements:

Each of the GIS options has different capabilities. But, of equal importance, is that each
requires different levels of technical proficiency to be used effectively as a teaching and
learning tool. As is the case of an applications analytical capabilities, the higher the
sophistication, the more technical proficiency is required. The following matrix lists some of
the more important skills necessary to use each option most effectively. TECHNICAL
PROFICIENCY REFERS TO SKILLS THAT BOTH THE TEACHER AND THE
STUDENT NEED.

A checkmark in a cell indicates that a high degree of understanding and proficiency is
necessary for optimal use of the application.




41
Proficiency Matrix

Animated Maps Google Earth ArcExplorer ArcView GIS
Training Time Low Med Med-High High
Computer Operations:
Launching Programs

Creating & Saving
Digital Files

Downloading & Installing
Software


Internet Operations:

Navigating Internet Sites

Downloading Files

Software Operations:
Navigating Map Views

Using Buttons and Sliders


Using Menus and Tools

Adding & Organizing
Data Layers


Creating Queries

Understanding GIS Data:
Spatial Data Formats

Raster (images) & Vector


Projections & Coordinate
Systems


Spatial Analysis Beginning Beginning Intermediate Advanced
Other Skills:
Spreadsheets (e.g. Excel)


42
Animated Maps

The Atlas of Oregon CD
















Animated maps are basically images of static maps with some additional text or graphs
accessible through buttons, sliders or point-and-click functions. An organized compilation of
animated maps can be found on CDs (as in the Atlas of Oregon) that you load and operate on
your computer or, more commonly today, access through internet sites via your computers
internet browser.

The maps are static in that they represent snapshots in time. Skilled professionals design the
maps and interactive elements and choose the content that will be included with the maps.
Animation is created by turning thematic layers on and off or creating a series of static maps that
display a time sequence of specific information. There is no ability to add data or to change the
way data is compiled. Nonetheless, a large amount of information can be stored and retrieved
about a particular topic in formats including images, narratives, graphics, and map series.

These applications can be viewed using many different operating systems such as Windows,
Macintosh, Unix, and PDAs (pocket PCs). Internet applications, however, most often require a
plug-in application called Flash Player that supports the animation features.

Animated maps are primarily a data delivery system, not a data analysis system. There are
limited ID capabilities (such as access to a graphic or narrative by clicking on a map feature).
Use of animated maps are most suited to investigative tasks (such as map interpretation or
content analysis).


43
Resources for Interactive Maps:

The Atlas of Oregon. Published by the University of Oregon Press, the Atlas of Oregon is a
comprehensive reference guide on Oregon's history, human geography, economy, and physical
landscape. Ordering information: https://millrace.uoregon.edu/uopress/index.cfm.

Internet Sites:

The Smithsonian Institute (http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/History_and_Culture/)
Much of the vast collections held at the Smithsonian have been organized into interactive and
animated websites based on various historic and contemporary themes.

PBS/OPB (http://www.pbs.org/search/search_programsaz.html). Interactive websites have been
prepared for many of the programs developed by PBS. Search the program listing to find a
program of interest.

Digital History (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/). An online history encyclopedia containing
media resources, flash movies and virtual exhibitions. The interactive timeline
(http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/timeline/timelineO.cfm) offers an interesting way to see
particular events accessed via a U.S. map.

The Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History
(http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/index.html). Contains 24 internet-based modules for
teaching and learning history based on the Institutes collections.

University of Oregon: Mapping History (http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/). Excellent
interactive maps of US territorial expansion and other history modules. Requires Adobe
Shockwave to run (http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/).




44
Interactive Internet Mapping

Google Earth



Google Earth is different than Google Maps. Google Maps is an internet-based navigation tool
(like MapQuest) that will give you directions to a specified address and is accessible as a link on
the Google home webpage. Google Earth is a separate piece of free software that requires
downloading and installing on your computer.

Google Earth is a satellite imagery-based mapping application. It enables users to fly from
space to street level to find geographic information and explore places around the world. Google
Earth combines video game technology and a mapping or search engine it's basically a 3D
model of the entire planet that lets you grab, spin and zoom down into any place on Earth.
Different versions offer tools for measuring, drawing, saving, printing, and GPS device support.
Google Earth uses an open source KML format for geographic data.

The Google Earth interface includes map navigation tools (zoom in/out, tilt, pan). The
application also comes preloaded with many layers (on the list to the left) that can be turned on
and off. Attributes associated with those layers can be accessed via a hotlink (point-and-click on
the feature). The My Places section contains packaged GoogleEarth projects that you can load
from external sites or create yourself.

45
Students can use Google Earth demos and pre-packaged projects to study a wide variety of topics
that include images, links to other sites, and text descriptions. You can use the map views
distance tools to calculate distance from point to point or use the map views coordinates. Using
additional tools such as Google SketchUp and historic overlays, students can recreate historic
sites and cities. Placemark tools allow students to add their own material as hotlinks, such as
photos and narratives, to a project. Independent student work with Google Earth can be saved as
a KML project file, for future access or for sharing on the internet.

Using Google Earth requires only minimal technical instruction (how to use the navigation tools,
where to find the data in the legend, how to access the links). To actually create KML projects,
however, requires a bit more technical proficiency. The Additional Resources section lists
sources for tutorials and using Google Earth in the classroom.

Resources for Google Earth:

Google Earth Version 4.3 is available for download at http://earth.google.com/.

Google Earth Tour (http://earth.google.com/tour/) provides a basic introduction to Google
Earth and how to navigate the map views and legends.

Google Earth Outreach (http://earth.google.com/outreach/index.html) Learn about other
Google Earth projects, access tutorials, download and upload KML project files.

Google Earth Tutorials (http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/tutorials/index.html) - This set of
tutorials can help you understand how to use the fun, powerful features of Google Earth. Each
tutorial provides a hands-on lesson using the application.
Google Earth Projects (http://earth.google.com/gallery/) explore and download dozens of
Google Earth projects.

Google Earth for Educators (http://www.google.com/educators/index.html) a site
dedicated to providing information for educators on how to incorporate Google Earth into
your classroom.

Creating KML Projects (http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/) this is a more
advanced site that has instructions for how to create KML files and projects for use in Google
Earth.


46
Desktop GIS Data Viewers

ArcExplorer



ArcExplorer is a free GIS data viewer available from ESRI (Environmental Systems Research
Institute). ArcExplorer offers tools for viewing and querying geographically referenced spatial
and attribute data. The viewer has a full suite of navigation tools that allow you to move around
the map view. It also contains tools that allow you to symbolize and classify the data layers
(creating graduated symbols or a choropleth map for example) that allow you to begin to
understand the characteristics of the geographic data (e.g. where things are located and why they
might be located there). You can perform other simple spatial analysis tasks such as selecting
and buffering selected features but you cannot create new data layers. ArcExplorer allows you
to ID a feature on the map and get access to the features attribute data (stored in a separate
database). However, ArcExplorer allows you to only view the attribute database; you cannot
change it in any way. Layout tools allow you to create and print a map layout. The tools in
ArcExplorer are somewhat difficult to use and not as sophisticated as in a fully-functional
desktop GIS software (such as ArcView).

You can use pre-packaged ArcExplorer projects that you find on the web, but a key feature of
this software is that you can create individualized ArcExplorer projects by adding your own
external GIS-ready data layers. The software uses ESRIs proprietary spatial data format called a
shapefile. You can create projects with data layers that directly reflect your lesson objectives.
The cost: You need to be technically competent enough to understand the nature of spatial data
47
(raster v. vector, projections, etc.), where to get it, and how to manipulate it in a GIS environment
in order to create customized projects. Students will need to be given explicit step-by-step
instructions on how to use the tools in ArcExplorer. Additional time will need to be set aside for
student training in how to use the software before they can begin to use it to analyze geographic
data.

ArcExplorer functionality includes:
Add GIS-ready data (shapefiles and images).
Pan and zoom the maps view extent.
Query spatial and attribute data (Find tool, ID tool).
Create a buffer around selected features.
Measure distances on your map.
Symbolize and classify the data layers on the map (e.g. choropleth mapping).
Label map features.
Locate an address (with an appropriate street layer).
Create and print a map layout.


Resources for ArcExplorer:

Download ArcExplorer at:
ESRI, Inc. (http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download.html)
Read the instructions before selecting the software version that will be right for your application.
ArcExplorer 9.2 J ava Edition supports Windows, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Linux platforms.
ArcExplorer J ava Edition for Education Version 2.3.1 comes in both a Windows and Macintosh
version.

ArcExplorer Tutorials

ArcExplorer Tutorial (http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download.html).
ArcExplorer Tutorial (http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/pigwad/tutorials/arcexplorer.htm)

ArcExplorer Lessons

ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute), ArcExplorer and ArcView GIS Lessons
(http://gis.esri.com/industries/education/arclessons/arclessons.cfm).
This site contains a database of GIS lessons prepared by K-12 teachers using GIS (both ArcExplorer
and ArcView GIS). Use the search fields to look for social studies or history lessons.

Books

Alibrandi, Marsha. 2003. GIS in the Classroom: Using Geographic Information Systems in
Social Studies and Environmental Science. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.



48
Desktop GIS

ArcView 3.3



While many options exist that allow for spatial data viewing and limited data manipulation, there
are, as of yet, no free applications that deliver sophisticated spatial analysis capabilities (e.g.
overlay analysis) or allow a user to directly edit spatial data (e.g. geoprocessing tools and
selection queries) within the software (although an open source GIS called GRASS is becoming
popular though its interface is still difficult to use). Desktop GIS software offers the most
comprehensive technology tool for a user to access geographically referenced data, conduct
spatial analysis, manipulate the data layers, and generate new spatial data based on user-defined
queries. There is a cost, however, in both dollars and time. Though a desktop software package
such as ESRIs ArcView 3.3 is relatively inexpensive, it is generally not free (prices vary). In
addition, desktop GIS software is sophisticated and complicated to learn. The user must commit
to training both in operating the GIS software and in spatial reasoning skills to take full
advantage of the softwares analytical capabilities.

ArcView 3.3 is a desktop geographic information system and can only operate on PC machines
(not MAC). The software allows you to visualize, explore, and analyze geographic data,
revealing patterns, relationships, and trends that are not readily apparent in databases,
spreadsheets, or statistical packages. With ArcView you can create dynamic maps using data
from many sources. You can also use multimedia links to add pictures, sound, and video to your
49
maps. To present your maps and analysis, the software has a layout module where you can create
presentation-quality print products.

Key features include:
o Add GIS-ready data (shapefiles and images).
o Pan and zoom the maps view extent.
o Query spatial and attribute data according to location, content, proximity, intersection.
o Perform spatial operations such as creating buffers.
o Measure distances on your map.
o Perform geoprocessing operations such as clipping, merging.
o Perform spatial analysis such as overlay analysis.
o Create spatial data using graphic tools, selection queries, geocoding or joining.
o Aggregate data geographically by summarizing.
o Symbolize and classify the data layers on the map.
o Label map features.
o Locate an address (with an appropriate street layer).
o Create and print a map layout.
o Add to the softwares functionality with free scripts and extensions (e.g. image
georectifying).

Resources for ArcView GIS:

Purchasing ArcView for Schools: Visit the ESRI website at
http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/winter0102articles/ann-av33.html.

ArcView Tutorials

USGS Getting Started with ArcView (http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/globalgis/tutorials/index.html)

Getting to Know ArcView GIS (by Pat Breslin, Nick Frunzi, Eileen Napoleon and Tim Ormsby.
Redlands, CA: ESRI Press, 1998.)

ArcView Lessons

ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute), ArcExplorer and ArcView GIS Lessons
(http://gis.esri.com/industries/education/arclessons/arclessons.cfm). This site contains a database of
GIS lessons prepared by K-12 teachers using GIS (both ArcExplorer and ArcView GIS). Use the search fields
to look for social studies or history lessons.

Malone, Lyn, Anita M. Palmer and Christine L. Voigt. 2002. Mapping Our World: GIS Lessons
for Educators. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.

Books

Alibrandi, Marsha. 2003. GIS in the Classroom: Using Geographic Information Systems in
Social Studies and Environmental Science. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Audet, Gary and Gail Ludwig. 2000. GIS in Schools. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.
50











APPENDIX A

The National Geographic Society
Eighth Grade Geography Study
Spring 2002

51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68







APPENDIX B

The Vocabulary of Spatial Thinking
69
70
The Vocabulary of Spatial Thinking

Ac c essi bi l i t y
An aggregate measure of how reachable locations are from a given
location. Common measures of accessibility are distance and cost.
Aspec t
The direction in which a slope or surface faces; usually expressed in
degrees relative to North (north is 0 degrees, south is 180 degrees).
At t r i but e A trait, quality or property describing a geographical feature
Azi mut h
The horizontal angle of the observer's bearing, measured clockwise from a
referent direction, as from the north, or from a referent celestial body,
usually Polaris.
Boundar y The dividing line between one spatial group and another.
Car t ogr apher A person who designs and produces maps.
Cl assi f i c at i on Procedures for combining individual observations into categories.
Coor di nat e syst em
A recognized reference system for the unique location of a point in space
based on its location on horizontal and vertical axes.
Lat i t ude
Angular distance measured in degrees, minutes and seconds 180 degrees
north and south to the geographic poles from the equator.
Par al l el
An east-west line of latitude used to measure angular distance north and
south of the Equator (latitude 0
o
).
Longi t ude
Angular distance measured in degrees, minutes and seconds 180 degrees
east and west of the Prime Meridian, the imaginary north-south line
through Greenwich, England.
Mer i di an
A north-south line of longitude used to measure both time and distance
east and west of the prime meridian (longitude 0
o
) that passes through
Greenwich, England.
Dat abase
A compilation, structuring, and categorization of information (print or
electronic) for analysis and interpretation.
Di f f usi on The spread of phenomena over space and time.
Di st anc e The extent or amount of space between two things.
Di st r i but i on The frequency or occurrence of a feature over geographic space.
71
Di r ec t i on
The line along which anything lies, faces, or moves, with reference to the
point or region toward which it is directed.
Car di nal
di r ec t i ons
The four main compass directions: north, east, south and west.
I nt er medi at e
di r ec t i ons
The points of the compass that fall between north and east, north and
west, south and east, south and west (e.g. NE, NW, SE, SW).
Feat ur e
A set of points, lines or polygons in a spatial database that represent a
real-world entity. The terms feature and object are often used
interchangeably.
Geor ef er enc e
To establish the relationship between coordinates on a planar map and
known real-world coordinates.
GI S
Acronym for geographic information system, an integrated system of
hardware, software, and procedures designed to support the collection,
management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, and display of spatially
referenced data about Earths surface.
Gr i d
A pattern of lines on a chart or map, such as those representing latitude
and longitude, which helps determine absolute location and assists in the
analysis of distribution patterns.
I nf or mat i on syst em
A functional set of resources and procedures, whether automated or
manual, composed of people, tools, and/or computers organized to collect,
process, transmit, and disseminate data.
Legend An explanatory description or key to features on a map or chart.
Li nk age
Contact and therefore flow of ideas, information, people, or products
between places.
Loc at i on
The position of a point on Earths surface expressed by means of a grid
(absolute) or in relation (relative) to the position of other places.
Map
A graphic representation of selected characteristics of a place, usually
drawn to scale on a flat surface, that uses symbols and colors to show
how human/physical features are located, arranged, distributed and
related to each other.
Base map
A map showing fundamental information on which additional special data
can be compiled (a state boundary map or a street map are examples of
base maps). Also known as Reference Map.
Cadast r al map
Map showing the boundaries of the subdivisions of land for purposes of
describing and recording ownership and taxation.
Chor opl et h map
A thematic map portraying properties of a surface using area symbols
such as shading. Area symbols on a choropleth map usually represent
categorized classes of the mapped phenomenon.
Cont our map
A representation of some part of Earths surface using lines along which all
points are of equal elevation above or below a fixed datum (usually sea
level).
Gl obe
A scale model of Earth that currently represents area, relative size and
shape of physical features, distance between points, and true compass
directions.
72
Themat i c map
A map designed to show a specific category of information (a color-coded
map showing the distribution of world climate zones is a thematic map).
Ment al map
The psychological representations of maps (usually sketch maps) that
reveal a persons perception of space.
Met adat a
Data about data (who collected it, when, why, for what purpose) and what
the data can be used for.
Or i ent at i on
One's position in relation to true north, to points on the compass, or to a
specific place or object
Nor t h ar r ow
A North Arrow on a map indicates the direction in which north lies. /
Compass r ose
A compass rose is a symbol that shows the cardinal directions
(N, S, E, W) and sometimes the intermediate directions (NE, NW,
SE, SW).
Pat t er n
A combination of qualities, acts, tendencies, etc., forming a consistent or
characteristic arrangement.
Pr oj ec t i on
A method of representing the earth's three-dimensional surface as a flat
two-dimensional surface using a mathematical transformation model. Such
representations necessarily distort some parameter of the earth's surface,
such as distance, area, shape, or direction.
Regi on
An area with one or more common characteristics or features which give it
a measure of homogeneity and make it different from other areas.
Sc al e
The relationship of the size of a feature on a map in proportion to its size in
reality, usually shown as a ratio (1:25,000, one unit on the map is equal to
25,000 of the same units on the Earth).
Lar ge sc al e
A large ratio (1:500), shows lots of detail in a small area (e.g. a map of
your school building and grounds is large scale).
Smal l sc al e
A small ratio (1:1,000,000), shows lots of area but little detail (e.g. a map
of the world is small scale).
Spat i al dat a
Information pertaining to a place referenced by positional coordinates (e.g.
latitude/longitude) on the Earth.
Topogr aphy
The study and display of the relief of a given area on the Earth's surface,
usually on a large scale, including both natural and man-made features.
Topol ogy
The relative location of geographic phenomena independent of their exact
position. In digital data, topological relationships such as connectivity,
adjacency and relative position are usually expressed as relationships
between nodes, links and polygons.
0


73
74






APPENDIX C


Sample Lesson Plans:
Oregon Settlement
75

76 76
WESTWARD EXPANSION AND SETTLEMENT OF THE
OREGON TERRITORY

Target Grade Level: 8
th
Grade U.S. History

Essential Questions: Why did families migrate to the Oregon Territory? What impact did
this migration have on the Oregon landscape?

Overview:
In the mid-1800s thousands of Americans traveled westward along the Oregon Trail to start a
new life in the Oregon Territory. Promotional material and accounts at the time extolled the
Oregon Territory as a paradise, a land of fertile soil and mild weather. Many headed west to
take advantage of the governments offer of free land. Others were answering the call of
adventure or escaping from hard-times back East. In the following lessons, students explore
the Oregon Myth, investigate local pioneer families, and create narratives that compare the
myth and the reality of early Oregon settlement.

Prerequisite Knowledge:
Manifest Destiny
Pacific Northwest Fur Trade (17-18
th
century)
Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1805
Louisiana Purchase and U.S. Territorial Expansion (1700-1850)
Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Time Needed: 10-16 block periods (for entire unit)

Unit Pedagogical Goals:
The lesson plans in this unit are designed to integrate historical content with historical
inquiry, geographic inquiry and technical skills. Though non-technical modifications
are noted in the lessons, it is preferable if students are able to have access to a
computer lab in order to develop technical competencies.
There is heavy emphasis on use of primary documents and maps integrated with
secondary data sources to give students exposure to a wide variety of historical
material.
The lessons build content knowledge from a national to local perspective.
Though each lesson can be used independently, they work better as a unit. Skills
learned in one lesson are often repeated in another to provide additional practice.
A variety of pedagogical tools are used in order to accommodate a diversity of
learning styles.

Oregon State Social Studies Standards (History Strand):
1. Understand, represent, and interpret chronological relationships.
o Represent and interpret data and chronological relationships from history, using
timelines and narratives.
o Compare and contrast historical interpretations.
77
2. Interpret and represent chronological relationships and patterns of change and
continuity over time.
3. Identify and analyze various perspectives and interpretations of historical issues and
events.
o Identify primary and secondary sources.
o Evaluate data within the context it was created, testing its reliability, credibility
and bias.
4. Understand the importance and lasting influence of individuals, issues, events,
people, and developments in U.S. history.
o Understand the effects of 19
th
century westward migration, the idea of Manifest
Destiny, European immigration, and rural to urban migration on indigenous
populations and newcomers in the United States.
5. Understand and interpret events, issues, and developments in Oregon history.
o Understand how individuals changed or significantly influenced the course of
Oregon state history.
6. Understand and interpret events, issues, and developments in local history.
o Understand the lasting influence of events and developments in local history.

National Geography Standards:
Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and
technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
o How to make and use maps, globes, graphs, charts, models, and databases to
analyze spatial distributions and patterns.
Standard 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments
on Earths surface.
o How to use the elements of space to describe spatial patterns.
o How spatial processes shape patterns of spatial organization.
Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of places.
o How different human groups alter places in distinctive ways.
Standard 6: How culture and experience influence peoples perception of places and
regions.
o How personal characteristics affect our perception of places and regions.
Standard 9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on
Earths surface.
o The demographic structure of a population.
o The types and historical patterns of human migration.
o The effects of migration of the characteristics of place.
Standard 12: The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
o The spatial patterns of settlement in different regions of the world.
Standard 15: How physical systems affect human systems.
o How the characteristics of different physical environments provide
opportunities for or place constraints on human activity.
Standard 17: How to apply geography to interpret the past.
o How peoples differing perceptions of places, peoples, and resources have
affected events and conditions of the past.

78
Lesson Plans:

These lesson plans can be included as part of a unit dealing with westward migration.
Ideally, these lessons should follow units on Manifest Destiny, the Louisiana Purchase, and
the Lewis & Clark Expedition and should precede lessons on the Civil War.

Westward Expansion: Preparation Activity
The video Americas Westward Expansion with its attending activities can be used to
introduce this unit on Oregon Settlement and review the pre-requisite knowledge.
Questions on the activity sheets can be used to design a pre-quiz to gauge student
knowledge.

Lesson #1: The Oregon Myth (Space and Place)
Students will explore the myth of Oregon and read and interpret primary source
documents to learn about the push/pull factors that drove people to migrate westward
in the mid-1800s.

Lesson #2: Destination Oregon! (Space and Place)
Students will use the Atlas of Oregon to learn about the westward trails, particularly
the Oregon Trail. Students will develop an understanding of the conditions and
challenges along the trail and about the human-environment interactions that shaped
the western landscape.

Lesson #3: Donation Land Claims and the PLSS (Map Interpretation/Spatial Analysis)
Students will learn about the Donation Land Act of 1850 and the Public Land Survey
System (PLSS) and how they contributed to the partitioning of the west. Students
will then analyze the 1860 Willamette Valley Cadastral Map to apply their knowledge
and gain an understanding of the spatial patterns of settlement in the upper
Willamette Valley.

Lesson #4: Pioneer Family Stories (Place Narratives)
Students will use the 1860 U.S. Manuscript Census for Oregon, the ca.1860
Willamette Valley Survey Map, and independent research to create narratives of a
selected pioneer family. In doing so students will use maps and data to understand
the demographic characteristics of pioneer families and the environmental and
cultural characteristics of settlement in the upper Willamette Valley.

Optional Culminating Exercise: Where Would I Settle? (Spatial Analysis)
Students will use an ArcView GIS project and spatial overlay analysis to develop
criteria for determining a place to settle in the Upper Willamette Valley based on
physical and human characteristics. Students will use their criteria to select a
donation land claim site. Students will then compare that site to its physical and
human characteristics today.
79
********************
Lesson plans adapted from Teaching American History units created by Carol
Berkley, Beverly Daggett, Alice Ferguson-Chadd, Linda Fetzer, Nancy Hall, Kim
Huber, Kathy Lorentz, and Colleen Medlock (2006-2007).


Bibliography for Westward Expansion:

General Westward Expansion and Settlement

Barnes, Demas. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, Overland via the Overland Stage, 1865, a
Series of Letters. Overland Trail. Available at http://www.over-
land.com/diarybarnes.html.
Brands, H.W. 2002. The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American
Dream
Ewart, Shirley J ane and J ohn Anderson (eds). 1991. A Long and Wearisome Journey: The
Eakin Family Diaries 1866. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, Inc.
Hine, Robert V. and J ohn Mack Faragher. 2000. The American West: A New Interpretive
History.
May, Dean. 1994. Three Frontiers: Family, Land, and Society in the American West, 1850-
1900.
Meinig, D. W. 1968. The Great Columbia Plain: A Historical Geography, 1805-1910.
Milner, Clyde, Carol Connor and Martha Sandweiss (eds). 1996. Oxford History of the
American West.
Nelson Limerick, Patricia. 1987. Legacy of Conquest.
Ronda, J ames P. 1990. Astoria & Empire.
Townsend, J ohn Kirk. Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia
River. Boston, MA: Perkins & Marsh, 1839.
Unruh, J r., J ohn D. 1979. The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-
Mississippi West, 1840-1860.
Weber, David. 1992. The Spanish Frontier in North America.
White, Richard. 1991. Its Your Misfortune and None of My Own: A History of the
American West.

Early Oregon Settlement

Allen, Barbara. 1987. Homesteading the High Desert.
Boag, Peter. 1992. Environment and Experience: Settlement Culture in Nineteenth-Century
Oregon.
Bourke, Paul and Donald DeBats. 1995. Washington County: Politics and Community in
Antebellum America.
Bowen, William. 1978. The Willamette Valley: Migration and Settlement on the Oregon
Frontier.
Clark J r., Malcolm. 1981. The Eden Seekers: The Settlement of Oregon.
Corning, Howard McKinley. 1973. Willamette Landings: Ghost Towns of the River.
80
Dicken, Samuel and Emily Dicken. 1979. The Making of Oregon: A Study in Historical
Geography.
Dodds, Gordon. 1977. Oregon: A Bicentennial History.
_____. 1986. The American Northwest: A History of Oregon and Nevada, 1840-1890.
J ohansen, Dorothy and Charles M. Gates. 1957. Empire of the Columbia: A History of the
Pacific Northwest.
MacColl, E. K. 1988. Merchants, Money, and Power: The Portland Establishment, 1843-
1915.
Mooberry, Lester C. 1862. The Pacific North-West Guide for Settlers and Travelers.
Found in Mooberrys Guide Book Extolls Oregon Country Merit. Hillsboro Argus.
Archived in the Washington County Historical Museum.
Peterson del Mar, David. 2003. Oregons Promise: An Interpretive History.
Scott, Abigail J ane. 1852. Journal of a Trip to Oregon. April, 1852. Available at
http://cateweb.uoregon.edu/duniway/notes/DiaryProof1.html.
Snyder, Eugene E. 1989. We Claimed This Land: Portlands Pioneer Settlers. Portland,
OR: Binford & Mort Publishing.
Webber, Bert and Margie Webber. 1993. Oregon City (By Way of the Barlow Road) At the
End of the National Historic Oregon Trail. Medford, OR: Webb Research Group.
Contains lots of pictures and a few maps.

Gender and Race

Asher, Brad. 1999. Beyond the Reservation: Indians, Settlers, and the Law in Washington
Territory, 1853-1889.
Barlow, J effrey and Christine Richardson. 1979. China Doctor of John Day.
Chan, Sucheng, Terry Wilson and Mario Garcia. 1994. Peoples of Color in the American
West.
Faraghar, J ohn Mack. 1979. Women and Men on the Overland Trail.
Harmon, Alexandra. 1998. Indians in the Making: Ethnic Relations and Indian Identities
around Puget Sound.
Hoxie, Frederick E. 1995. Parading Through History: The Making of the Crow Nation in
America, 1805-1935.
Igler, David. 2001. Industrial Cowboys: Miller & Lux and the Transformation of the Far
West, 1850-1920.
J ameson, Elizabeth and Susan Armitage (eds). 1997. Writing the Range: Race, Class and
Color in the Womens West.
J effrey, J ulie Roy. 1991. Converting the West: A Biography of Narcissa Whitman.
J osephy J r., Alvin M. 1965. The Nez Perce and the Opening of the Northwest.
McLagan, Elizabeth. 1980. A Peculiar Paradise: A History of Blacks in Oregon, 1788-
1940.
Lockley, Fred. 1981. McKinney, Sophia Ellen Tibbetts. Conversations with Pioneer
Women. Eugene: Rainy Day Press.
Schlissel, Lillian. 1982. Womens Diaries of the Westward Journey. New York: Schocken
Books.
Takaki, Ronald. 1989. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans.
Tamura, Linda. 1993. The Hood River Issei: An Oral History of Japanese Settlers in
Oregons Hood River Valley.
81
Taylor, Quintard. 1998. In Search of the Racial Frontier: African Americans in the
American West, 1528-1990.
Van Kirk, Sylvia. 1980. Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur Trade Society.
Vibert, Elizabeth. 1997. Traders Tales: Narratives of Cultural Encounters in the Columbia
Plateau, 1807-1846.
Ward, J ean M. and Elaine A. Maveety, eds. 1975. Pacific Northwest Women, 1815-1925:
Lives, Memories, and Writings. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.
Zhu, Liping. 1997. A Chinamans Chance: The Chinese on the Rocky Mountain Mining
Frontier.

Websites

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Oregon Trail Diaries. Available at
http://endoftheoregontrail.org/road2oregon/sa26diaries.html.

The Oregon Trail. Sponsored by Idaho State University. Available at
http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html.

The Over-Land Trail. Links to the Oregon Trail. Sponsored by the Oregon-Washington
Trails Association. Available at http://www.over-land.com/trore.html. Has comprehensive list of
links and other information.


82
WESTWARD EXPANSION: PREPARATION ACTIVITY

This video (if available or if your library is able to purchase it) can be used to introduce this
unit on westward expansion and review some of the pre-requisite knowledge. The teachers
guide includes transcriptions and activity sheets.

Americas Westward Expansion. 1996. Madison, WI: Knowledge Unlimited, Inc. This
education resource can be purchased at the Knowledge Unlimited website
(http://thekustore.com/kucatalog.cgi/) Click on the Social Studies link and use the
search engine. Cost $59.95.

Well before the United States became a nation, European settlers in North America were restlessly moving
West. But beginning in 1805, with the explorations of Lewis and Clark, America's expansion to the West
became relentless. Why would thousands of men, women, and children want to leave the relative safety and
comfort of the East to face an uncertain future in the harsh and "unsettled" West? And what impact did this
exodus have on the people who already inhabited the region: the Native Americans? This highly acclaimed
program takes a close look at some of the key events that spurred America's westward expansion, including the
impacts of the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark's expedition. It also addresses the conflict generated by
this expansion between the new settlers and the Native Americans. And it covers the settlement of Texas, the
Oregon Trail and settlements of the Northwest, and the Mexican War. Teacher's guide includes scripts, learning
objectives, reproducible activities, and bibliography. 1996. Color, 30 min. Grades 5 and up. Cost $59.95.

Time Needed: 1/2 - 1 block period

30 minutes to view the video.
Optional: 15-20 minutes to complete 1-2 of the activity sheets.
Optional: 15-20 minutes for class discussion.
15-20 minutes for a quiz on knowledge of the pre-requisites for understanding
westward expansion
o Manifest Destiny
o the Pacific Northwest fur trade
o British/American economic and military interests in the West
o Louisiana Purchase
o finding a water passage to the Pacific
o Lewis & Clark Expedition
o rumblings and political turmoil of the pre-Civil War era
o the panic of 1837

83
84
LESSON #1: The Oregon Myth

Description: Students will explore the myth that fueled the Oregon fever. Students will read
and analyze transcriptions of primary source documents to learn about the push/pull factors that drew
people to the territory in the mid-1800s.

Outcomes/Goals:
The learner will
understand the Oregon Myth that influenced peoples desire to migrate to Oregon.
understand and correlate the variety of push/pull factors that drove people to
move westward.
appreciate the characteristics of space and place that attracted migrants to Oregon.

Objectives:
The learner will
read and analyze, through interrogative questions, transcriptions of primary
source documents which describe reasons why people moved to Oregon.
demonstrate their understanding of the Oregon Myth by drawing and writing
about reasons people decided to move to Oregon.

Time Needed: 2 block periods

Materials/Resources Needed:
Class set of Oregon Myth Handouts:
Oregon Propaganda at Home and Abroad
Ezra Meeker: An Adults Rationale for Oregon Immigration
George Riddle: The Story of a Teenager Immigrating to Oregon
Symbols on the Oregon State Flag

Procedures:

Day One (in the classroom)

1. Opening Activity to interest students in the Unit: On their own paper, have students
answer the question: Think of a time you really, really wanted something that you
eventually got. Describe what it was and why you wanted it. Then describe what you
finally got. Was it what you expected? Why or why not? Students should then share
their answers either as a class or in small groups.
2. Explain to students: For our next unit we will be learning about people who really, really
wanted to come to Oregon. We will explore who they were, why they came to Oregon
and if they found what they were looking for when they arrived.
3. Pre-reading strategy making predictions: Have students brainstorm as a class What do
you like about Oregon? Why do you think people would want to come here? Write
answers on the board or piece of butcher paper where students can see them. Its okay
for students to guess this activity will focus their reading of the primary documents.
85
4. Have students read and complete the answers for one of the three primary source
documents (start with Oregon Propaganda at Home and Abroad). Teacher should
circulate and check for understanding (30 min). Students who finish early could continue
on with the next document.

Day Two (in the classroom)

5. Have students share how, based on the first reading, their ideas about why people would
come to Oregon have changed or been reinforced (refer back to their previewing activity
in Step 3).
6. Have students read the other primary source documents and answer the questions.
7. After students are finished, have them draw a head on a piece of paper and at least 5
thought bubbles around the head. In each thought bubble, students should write a reason
to come to Oregon and draw a symbol, icon, or logo for that reason.
8. Share out ideas, pictures and logos. During the discussion, students may add to their own
drawings new ideas that they had not originally included.
9. Compare/contrast students original thoughts of why people moved to Oregon and their
reasons gathered from the readings. Are these similar, different, what they expected?

Assessment:
Answers to the questions on the Oregon Myth Handouts.
Thought bubbles listing the reasons people moved to Oregon: Better climate, free
land, few people, gold, good paying jobs, possibility of a comfortable retirement,
fertile soil.
Participation in class/small group discussions.

Modifications:
Struggling readers: Only read and analyze Oregon Myth: Oregon Propaganda at
Home and Abroad and/or Oregon Myth: George Riddle: The Story of a Teenager
Immigrating to Oregon.
Students could complete the readings in pairs, small groups, or as a class.
Use the Document and Image Analysis Worksheets or SOAPS protocol for a more
indepth analysis of the primary documents.

Additional Projects:

Oregon Advertisement. Have students create a propaganda advertisement poster pretending
to be a publisher promoting Oregon as the next promised land.
86
Oregon Myth
Oregon Propaganda at Home and Abroad

Booklets were created advertising the benefits of the Oregon Territory and the Pacific Northwest.
These booklets inspired settlers not only from the eastern, southern and middle states . . . [but] they
also came from Norway, Sweden, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland and Switzerland
(Mooberry). The following is an excerpt from an 1862 booklet printed in New York:

In natural resources, the Pacific Northwest is richer than almost any other part of the
United States. But the industries in the region are comparatively undeveloped, and the
capacities for expansion and their capabilities of expansion are almost unknown. The
principal attractions which are offered to settlers are a bland and healthful climate, an
exceedingly fruitful soil, most valuable fisheries, great mineral wealth and an inexhaustible
supply of timber.
Under cultivation the soils are quick, light, and friable, yielding astonishing crops of
hay, hops, grain, fruits and vegetables for a series of years, without manure and with
indifferent ploughing.
Fruits of delicious aroma and flavor and remarkable size and beauty are abundant.
Their culture may eventually prove a source of great profit, as the market for preserved and
dried fruits is world-wide.
All that is now wanting is more brain, muscle and capital for the Pacific Northwest to
weave from the warp and woof of its destinies a great and wonderful future.

Directions: Pretend you are a farmer from Switzerland. You have never been to America,
but plan to immigrate. You have just read the above booklet. What do you imagine your life
will be like in Oregon? Draw and label pictures of what you might expect your life in Oregon
to be like.















Life in Oregon
87
The Pacific North-West Guide for Settlers and Travelers. New York, 1862. Found in Mooberry, Lester C. Guide Book Extolls
Oregon Country Merit. Hillsboro Argus. Archives in the Washington County Historical Museum.
Oregon Myth
George Riddle: The Story of a Teenager Immigrating to Oregon

George Riddle was born December 14, 1839 in Springfield, Illinois. His father was a blacksmith and
ran a farm with his mother. George and his brothers helped work the 160 acre farm until his family
moved to Oregon in 1851.

In the fall of 1850, Isaac Constant, a near neighbor, whose farm joined ours, returned
from Oregon. He had crossed the plains with ox teams in 1848 and returned with saddle and
pack horses. It is needless to say that Mr. Constant was the center of interest for the
neighborhood. The glowing accounts he gave of the beauty of the country, of the mildness of
the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the fact that a man and wife were entitled to a half
section of land to be selected by themselves in a new country where the hand of the white
man had not yet made his mark. Mr. Constant also brought some gold dust which I
remember was shown in a glass dish, which excited and fired the imagination. Mr. Constant
was a man that commanded the confidence of his neighbors. He was a well to do farmer,
was the owners of one of the finest farms in the best part of Illinois. His trip to Oregon was
to spy out land. But unlike the Israelites that were sent by Moses to spy out their promised
land and brought back a conflicted account of the country, one bunch of grapes, some
pomegranates and a few dried figs, Mr. Constant brought gold dust and a truthful account of
fertile valleys, clear running streams, the wonderful forests and mountains of Oregon.
It is needless to say that in our neighborhood there was great planning to come to
Oregon. Farms were offered for sale, but there were few buyers. My father alone succeeded
in selling his farm, and no doubt at a great sacrifice. As I remember, my father received
about $3000 for 160 acres of finest farming land and 40 acres of timber land in the
Sangamon river bottom.

1. Why does Riddle talk about the Israelites? What does he say is the difference between
them and Mr. Constant?



2. What do you think Riddle was feeling when he heard Mr. Constants story? What words
in his account make you think this?



3. Later in life, Riddle returned to his farm in Illinois and exclaimed, What was my father
thinking of to leave a farm like this and to brave the hardships and dangers of the plains
in search of a better! What was Riddles father thinking? What did he think he would
find in Oregon?





Riddle, George W. History of Early Days in Oregon. Riddle: The Riddle Enterprise, 1920, p. 4.
88

Oregon Myth
Ezra Meeker (1830-
1928), ca. 1880
Ezra Meeker: An Adults Rationale for Oregon Emigration

Ezra Meeker was born in Indiana and came across the Oregon Trail with his wife
and infant child in 1852. In his book, Personal Experiences on the Oregon Trail,
Meeker describes his familys desires for their own farm land and the harsh
reality of winter in Iowa.

Im going to be a farmer, the young man [Ezra Meeker] quite abruptly
said one day to the lass [Mrs. Meeker]. The lass said, yes, I want to be a farmer,
too, but I want to be a farmer on our own land, and two bargains were
confirmed then and there when the lad said, we will go West and not live on
paps farm.
Nor in the old cabin, nor any cabin unless its our own, came the
response, and so the resolution was made that they would go to Iowa, get some land and grow up in
the country.
My first introduction to an Iowa winter was the coldest within the memory of the oldest
inhabitant. On my trip back from the surveying party, I encountered one of those cold days long to
be remembered. A companion named Vance rested with me over night in a cabin, with scant food for
ourselves or the mare we led. It was thirty-five miles to the next cabin, we must reach that place or
lay out on the snow. So a very early start was made. The good lady of the cabin baked some biscuit
for a noon lunch, but they were frozen solid in our pockets before we had been out two hours. Vance
came near freezing to death, and would had I not succeeded in arousing him to anger and gotten him
off the mare.
I vowed then and there that I did not like the Iowa climate, and the Oregon fever was visibly
quickened. Besides, if I went to Oregon the government would give us 320 acres of land, while in
Iowa we should have to purchase it at a low price to be sure, but it must be bought and paid for on
the spot. There were no preemption or beneficent homestead laws in force then, and not until many
years later. The country [of Iowa] was a wide, open, rolling prairie a beautiful country indeed but
what about a market? No railroads, no wagon roads, no cities, no meeting houses, no schools the
prospect looked drear. How easy it is for one when his mind is once bent against a country to conjure
up all sorts of reasons to bolster his, perhaps hasty, conclusions; and so Iowa was condemned as
unsuited to our life abiding place.
But what about going to Oregon when springtime came? An interesting event was pending
that rendered a positive decision impossible for the moment, and not until the first week of April,
1852, when our first-born baby boy was a month old, could we say that we were going to Oregon in
1852.

1. What did Ezra Meeker and his wife want when they left Indiana?


2. Why did Ezra Meeker choose not to stay in Iowa?


3. What did Ezra Meeker think he would find in Oregon that he didnt find in Iowa?


89
Ezra Meeker (1830-1928), ca. 1880. Ventures and Adventures. 20 J une 2007. http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7742.
Meeker, Ezra. Personal Experiences on the Oregon Trail: Sixty Years Ago. Seattle, 1912, p.4-5.0, p. 4.
Oregon Myth
Symbols on the Oregon State Flag





















. Why do you think the designers of the Oregon Flag choose to put the plow, wheat,
pickax, ships, and beaver on the flag?
. How do the symbols on the Oregon Flag (front and back) support the Oregon Myth?
. The Oregon Flag was not adopted until 1925. How do the symbols show the enduring
qualities of the Oregon Myth?

1


2



3



Capital Information. Oregon State Legislature. Accessed 27 J une 2007. http://www.leg.state.or.us/capinfo/.

Front Side of Flag
Reverse Side of Flag: State Animal
90
LESSON #2: Destination Oregon!
escription: Students will use the Atlas of Oregon (or hardcopy maps) to learn about the
estward trails, particularly the Oregon Trail. Students will develop an understanding of the
onditions and challenges along the trail and about the human-environment interactions that
utcomes/Goals:
The learner will
identify the routes of westward migration and the physical features that they
traversed.

Objectives:
The learner will
be able to locate and describe the common stopping sites along the Oregon Trail.
appreciate and understand the physical challenges that travelers along the trail
encountered.
practice skills in team work, research, presentation, and note-taking.
practice using technology (if using the interactive CD) in interpretation of
information.

Time Needed: 2 block periods

Materials/Resources Needed:
Atlas of Oregon CD or hardcopy maps of the overland trails.
Atlas of Oregon CD Instructions and the Destination Oregon Activity Worksheet
Pioneers West Pathfinders Resource List
How Far Have We Traveled Handout
Access to a computer/internet and library resources for research.

Procedures:

Review: Discuss the push/pull factors that students identified in Lesson #1. Create a
T-chart using butcher paper and tape it up on the wall (this will be a reference for students as
they complete the unit). How did the Oregon Myth contribute as a pull factor for
migrants?

Opening class question/discussion: If you were going on a 6-9 month journey with your
family, overland by wagons drawn by oxen in a space no bigger than a station wagon, name
5 things that you would you take? Discuss. Write some ideas on the board.

Day 1 (in the computer lab)

D
w
c
shaped the western landscape.

O
gain an understanding of how people and the environment interacted.



1. Create 13 groups each group will be responsible for a stopping point along the Oregon
Trail (there are 13 points identified on the Atlas of Oregon CD). Ideally, students should
91
work in pairs although in larger classes some groups may have 3 students. For small
classes, eliminate some of the stopping points.
ts
he Atlas of Oregon is loaded on to the computers in your computer lab.
e the Atlas of Oregon CD (see instructions).
4. Han o t 15
minue

OTE: h
ir different communication and research styles.

wit
(lea
6. Onc s 30 minutes
of t c rary
(to e et
resources for the Oregon Trail check with your librarian so that appropriate
lable to students in the library).
ed to look for PRIMARY SOURCE documents (such as
more detailed or comprehensive

OTE: You will need to monitor the student groups progress during this time to make sure
ave divided the research tasks (perhaps one in the library and one on the
ternet) and that there are no conflicts.
odifications:
ook resources, a
ble with historic maps, library research.
sing Hardcopy Maps. This initial activity can also be accomplished using hardcopy maps
2. Student groups will choose, be assigned, or draw from a hat one of the 13 stopping poin
along the Oregon Trail.

Using the Atlas of Oregon CD

3. Make sure that t
Model how to us
d ut the Atlas of Oregon instructions to each group. Have the groups take abou
t s to complete the first side of the Destination Oregon: Activity Worksheet.
N T is is a prep time that student pairs should also be using to get used to each
other and the

5. Instruct students to concentrate in particular on how the travelers along the trail interacted
h the physical environment and list ways in which they impacted that environment
ving items, wagon ruts, buffalo hunts).
e tudents have completed the first page of the activity worksheet, about
he lass period should be devoted to further research on the internet or in the lib
dir ct their research give each students a copy of the recommended intern
resources can be made avai

Students should be instruct
diary or journal entries, newspaper clippings, photos, etc.)

This part can also be assigned as homework (with prepared reading or information
packets) if you want student pairs to construct a
narrative.
N
that the pairs h
in

7. Give students some class time to organize their notes in preparation for a short class
presentation.

M

Station Activities. If access to computers is difficult, this lesson can be organized as a
station activity; groups can rotate between computer stations, tables with b
ta

U
of the Overland Trails with narrative text, or by using a hardcopy of the Atlas of Oregon.
92
The of
the ible, try to find maps that contain detailed

ay Two (in the classroom)
Pioneer West Pathfinders resource list contains sites where you can download maps
Oregon Trail with descriptive narratives. If poss
physical features (mountains, rivers).
D
. Student groups will present their stopping point research in the order of travel from east
1. Upon completion of the presentations, have a class discussion about travel along the
g the trail?
2. How did those physical features affect the route of travel?
hallenges did the travelers face at different
12. Is it
f this lesson?

NO
Nar ory Experiences) from
the perspective of a traveler along the Oregon Trail who has stopped at the students
ass

Ass
Destination Oregon: Activity Worksheet
odifications:
n, emigration, migration, topology, prairie schooner, connestoga wagon,
pioneer, overland trail) so that students will have an understanding of unfamiliar
y may encounter in their research.
is
IMARY and SECONDARY source.


9
to west. Each group will be allowed 5 minutes total (each member of the group should
present on some aspect of their research).
10. Students in the audience should be taking notes, recording something from each
presentation that they think is particularly interesting.
1
Oregon Trail.
1. What physical features did the travelers encounter alon
3. What were some of the more interesting bits of information?
4. How far was it from Missouri to Oregon City?
5. What environmental, social, economic c
point along the trail?
6. What evidence still exists for the Oregon Trail today?
7. Are there commonalities between the stopping points?
Concluding Activity: What did the travelers along the Oregon Trail take with them?
very different from the choices that you made at the beginning o
TE: As an alternative or additional exercise, have students conduct a Place
rative exercise (Facts, Functions, Thoughts, Feelings, Sens
igned point along the trail.
essment:
Presentation of Student Research
Student Presentation Notes

M
Review basic vocabulary before beginning the lesson (e.g. Manifest Destiny,
immigratio
words the
Review research, note-taking and/or presentation skills with the class prior to th
activity. Model if necessary.
Review proper citation notation prepare a handout.
Review the difference between a PR
For ESL and struggling learners: have them complete only the first page of the
activity sheet. Rather than prepare a presentation, they can write out notes from their
research using a graphic organizer or draw a picture of their stopping point.
93
Additional Projects:

Field Trip: Take a field trip to the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City.
reate a scavenger hunt activity (can they locate and identify certain things especially in the
verland provisions).

Tra ).
Hav ournal entries to place on the mural along with
ures on
the ough mountain passes, stop at a
Cul onologue about
the
C
first exhibit room with all the o

Destination Oregon Mural. Create a wall mural with butcher paper on points along the Oregon
il (put it outside in the hallway if possible so that others can learn about travel along the trail
e each student group gather maps, pictures, j
their own short narrative description of their stopping point. Students can also draw pict
mural at what points did the migrants cross rivers, go thr
fort for rest?

a tur l & Gender Perspectives. Have students create and present a short m
pioneers on the Oregon Trail from a very different perspective than that of an Anglo-
Am ifferent experience and
view ght about the travelers as
they
trav
mig h h very rare, there are a few
inst e ame promise for them? See
co e Oregon
e
y
imately 2000 miles). How many miles per day do you think
ould be traveled by car (figuring in sleeping and eating time)? How long would it take to make
ourney by car today?
erican male. Women often followed their husbands, but had a very d
an have thou point about the journey. What might a Native Americ
approached them to trade and barter? For decades, areas in the west had already been
ersed and explored by fur traders, who often acted as guides for the wagon trains. What
ht t eir perspective of these migrants have been? Also, thoug
anc s where slaves were brought west. Did Oregon hold the s
the bibliography for resources on gender, race and the west.

nomics of the Journey. Have students look at the provisions list on the End of th E
Trail Interpretive Centers website (http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/outfit.html). What
would provisions for a trek from Missouri to Oregon cost in 1850? Given that the US
Department of Labor states that a dollar in 1850 is worth at least $20 today, how much would th
provisions for such a trip cost in todays market? The migrants averaged about 15 miles per da
(on a trail that extended for approx
c
the westward j
94
Stopping Points along the Oregon Trail



1. Independence Landing
2. Alcove Spring
3. Fort Kearney
4. Courthouse Rock
5. Fort Laramie
6. South Pass
7. Fort Bridger
8. Fort Hall
Optional: Immigrant Hill
12. The Dalles
13. Oregon City
Optional: Barlow Road

9. Snake River
10. Meek Cutoff
11. Fort Walla Walla/Whitman Mission
95
HOW FAR HAVE WE TRAVELED?
Source: End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
96
Pioneers West Pathfinder

The following is a list of places to begin your research. There is a
combination of books and websites. This will help prevent wasting time
sorting through thousands of websites from Google!

Books:

Parkman, Francis. 1910. The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-
Mountain Life. Available online at
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/OREGON/oregon.html (a transcription of the
Parkmans 1846 journey on the Oregon Trail).

Schlissel, Lillian. Womens Diaries of the Westward Journey. New York: Schocken
Books, 1982.

Ewart, Shirley, J ane and J ohn Anderson, ed. A Long and Wearisome Journey: The
Eakin Family Diaries 1866. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, Inc., 1991.

Myres, Sandra L., Westering Women and the Frontier Experience 1800-1915.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1982.

Cazneau, J ane. Eagle Pass, or Life on the Border. Privately printed 1852, n.d. The
New York Public Library.

Goltra, Elizabeth J ulia Ellison. Journal of Travel Across the Plains, 1853. Eugene:
Lane County Historical Society, 1970.

Peterson del Mar, David. 2003. Oregons Promise: An Interpretive History.
Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.

Snyder, Eugene E. 1989. We Claimed This Land: Portlands Pioneer Settlers.
Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing.


****Have the librarian suggest other resources that are available in your library.****

97
Internet Sites:
rego
http://

Th
http://www.is
ttp://www.isu
The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/road2oregon/sa26diaries.html
ttp://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/biomenu.html
The
http
http
http://www.emigrantroad.com/contents.html
http
ttp://www.oregonpioneers.com/constant.htm
Ore
ttp://www.geocities.com/janp_us/diaries.html



O n Blue Book
bluebook.state.or.us/cultural/history/history13.htm
e Oregon Trail
u.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html
.edu/~trinmich/00.n.dairies.html h

h

Over-Land Trail
://www.over-land.com/diaries.html
://www.over-land.com/trore.html

Emigrant Road: An Oregon Trail Adventure

Oregon Pioneers
://www.oregonpioneers.com/ortrail.htm
h

gon Trail Diaries
h



98
DESTINATION OREGON!
ivity: The Oregon Trail

regon CD
egon Atlas CD. You will
settlers traveled
ons on your Destination Oregon:
Act
The Atlas of O

In this activity you will learn how to open the Or
explore this CD to learn more about the Oregon Trail and how
to Oregon in the mid-1800s. Answer the questi
Activity Worksheet.

STEP ONE:

Put the Atlas of Oregon CD into the CD-
ROM drive on your computer or double-
click on the Atlas of Oregon icon (as
cher). When the start
OTE: If the CD doesnt start automatically, ask your
eacher for assistance.



STEP TWO:

On the next screen, notice that there are
three tabs at the bottom (Human
Geography, The Economy, and Physical
Geography). Click on the tab for Human
Geography to open it. On the long list that
is displayed, click on OREGON TRAIL.



instructed by your tea
screen comes up, press BEGIN.






N
t
99
STEP THRE

There are lots of formation
about the Oregon ns on your
worksheet.


to learn more about the Oregon Trail
rk
E:
TOOLS on this page that you can use to find out all sorts of in
Trail. This is the page that you will use to answer the questio



Practice using the tools on this page
then answer the questions on your wo
Click on the numbers to
see more information.
Turn these trails on and off by clicking
the checkbox.
You can use this tool to zoom in and out of the
m let you see more detail on
th
ap. Zooming in will
e map.
sheet.
100
Team Names _________________________________________________

ACTIVITY WO

__

What activities might be taking place at p (are you getting supplies,
esting up before a difficult leg of the journey, entering a pass or crossing a
iver)? ________________________________________
________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
DESTINATION OREGON!
RKSHEET
Using the OREGON ATLAS CD, click on your assigned number along the
OREGON TRAIL. Read more about this stop along the trail and answer the
questions below:

Number: ____ Name of the Stop: _______________________

Describe your Stop: ________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________

Use the zoom tool to look at your stop up close. Describe the physical features
(elevation, water sources, nearby physical or manmade features):
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________

How far are you along the trail (use the How Far Have We Traveled handout)?
____________________ ______________________
our sto y
r
r
____________________________________________
____________________________
101
Find two other PRIMARY sources (using the internet or in your library) that
describe your stop along the Oregon Trail (physical features, cultural features).
Create a complete cit age numbers).
Record your notes belo

ation for your source (include URL or p
w.
CITATION AND NOTES FOR SOURCE #1:
















CITATION AND NOTES FOR SOURCE #2:
102
LESSON #3: The Donation Land Act of 1850 and the PLSS

Description: Students will learn about the Donation Land Act of 1850 and the Public L
Survey System (PLSS) and how they contributed to the partitioning of the west. Stude
will then analyze the 1860 Wil
and
nts
lamette Valley Cadastral Map (optional tools include a map
oster or prepared projects using GoogleEarth or ArcExplorer GIS) to apply their knowledge
ettlement in the upper Willamette
alley.
utcomes/Goals:
The learner will
understand the progression of land laws affecting settlement patterns in the
Pacific Northwest.
understand the function of the Surveyor General and the purpose of creating the
Public Land Survey System.
assess the effects of the Donation Land Act and the PLSS on settlement in the
Upper Willamette Valley.
appreciate differing views of land ownership (Native American and European
settlers).
bjectives:
The learner will
analyze and answer questions about documents and images depicting different
ways of viewing ownership.
complete a timeline linking key political events with land legislation in the
Oregon territory.
appreciation of how large donation
land claims were.
demonstrate skills in map interpretation and use.
demonstrate skills in using GIS technology (GoogleEarth or ArcExplorer).

Time Needed: 1-2 block periods

Materials/Resources Needed:
Donation Land Laws Powerpoint (download)
Handout: Who Owns the Land? (attached)
Handout: Donation Land Act Timeline (attached)
Optional: Text of the Donation Land Act of 1850
Poster of the 1860 Upper Willamette Valley Cadastral Map (download)
Optional: GIS projects for the 1860 Upper Willamette Valley Cadastral Map with
OR Settlement Tutorial (download)
Access to computers: Acrobat Reader, GoogleEarth and/or ArcExplorer

NOTE: The powerpoint presentation, cadastral poster, and GIS projects for this lesson can
be downloaded from the Teaching American History Project website (a link to the website can
be found at http://www.pdx.edu/ims/comgeo.html). Click on the Quick Navigation <document
p
and gain an understanding of the spatial patterns of s
V

O

O

measure townships and sections to gain an
103
resources> or <map resources> menu item (depending on whether you are lo
ocuments such as the Donation Land Act or map resources such as the cad
oking for
astral poster or d
GIS projects). In the topic selections, click on <Boundaries of the Nation >. The lists contain
downloadable files of the resources cited here.

Procedures:

Day One (classroom with an infocus machine)

Guided Discussion/Review: Review the activity of the previous lessons (the Oregon Myth
il). Go back to the Push/Pull T-Chart and see if students want to add or
change anything based on their research about travel along the Oregon Trail. Discuss the
pull f to sk
students why they think people had the expectation that land was free for the taking (after all,
you hav to
settlement

Manifest D rdinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of
1787 an h
public land to speculators and settlers (when Ohio was the wild west). If you did not cover
ese ordinances in previous units, you may want to take some time here to look more closely
set the policy and legal framework for how the US government managed the
acquired during the expansionist period, laid down the rules for the
public l d
through a be purchased at a really low price, or acquired for
free, as n ns of
this policy estern settlement. NOTE: this could be included in a study
of the J f

Materia o hio Land Speculation can be
found o th
uide a class discussion, asking students to define what is
any other types of land ownership
id the U.S. government (the public)
2. e the scaffolding questions for the

Ext s
docume Land Exercise using the Analysis Worksheets
or y
and the Oregon Tra
ac r of free land and the Oregon Myth that fueled the migration westward. A
e pay a hefty price for land these days!). Was the land that was being offered for
vacant?
estiny: Review the Land O
d ow these documents set a precedence for the governments policy of donating
th
at them. They
vast land holdings it
an survey system, and encouraged white settlement of the public land holdings
donation system (land could
lo g as a settler resided on, improved, and cultivated the claim). The implicatio
greatly impacted w
ef ersonian Vision (the yeoman farmer concept).
ls n the Land Ordinance, Northwest Ordinance and O
n e Teaching American History website (see note and citation above).

Who Owns the Land?

1. Public and Private Land: G
public land and what is private land. Are there
w d (communal)? Who determines ownership? Ho
get ownership of the land?
What Determines Ownership? Have students complet
Who Owns the Land Exercise.
en ion: You can also have the students complete a more indepth analysis of the
nts and images in the Who Owns the
oucan compile the documents and images into a DBQ Essay Exercise.



104
Donation Land Act of 1850:

3. Download the Donation Land Claim powerpoint presentation from the Teaching
American History website (see notation above). Use this presentation to guide a class
about the major political events and land laws affecting Oregon settlement and
te a Donation Land Act Timeline (attached).
line as instructed in the directions. You may

extent might this uncertainty about recognizing land claims have
prompted the American settlers to organize and align themselves with the US
o

quired through treaty.
f
lyze the
ctual document, highlighting key phrases. Have the students write a 2-3 page essay
ns in the document, how it embodied the political idea of manifest
estiny, and how it created an incentive for settlement of the west. Excerpts of this

Day
discussion
leading up to the Donation Land Act of 1850.
4. During the discussion, have students comple
Students should make notations on the time
want to white-out the dates before copying the handout if you want your students to
identify key dates themselves.

As you progress through the presentation make sure that you highlight the following:
Major travel on the Oregon Trail began in 1843, the US did not hold exclusive
jurisdiction over the Oregon country at that time.
To what
government (by establishing the provisional government) in direct opposition t
the British interests of the Hudsons Bay Company?
Boundaries of the Oregon Country were established by treaty with Great Britain
in 1846 (at the northern border of Washington State today)at this point there
was still a joint occupancy agreement.
US claimed the Oregon Country in 1848 and an official territorial government
was established.
The Donation Land Act quickly following in 1850. Statehood in 1859.
Key phrasing in the Donation Land Act assumed the cession of Native
American lands in the Upper Willamette Valley because they no longer occupied
the area (why?). Most other native lands were ac

Extension: The presentation goes through a general description of the Donation Land Act o
1850. For more advanced students, or for extra credit, you can have students ana
a
identifying key provisio
d
document are also good to include in a DBQ (document-based question) assignment.
Two (using an infocus-machine or in the computer lab)


he Donation Land Act created the mechanism by which European settlers were able to

SS survey grid
an be seen on the landscape (for example, roads often follow section lines and, as early
wns were platted, they were required to set aside specific sections for schools). The PLSS
The Public Land Survey System (PLSS):
T
obtain land. But, it was the public land survey system (PLSS), referred to in the land
ordinances, that greatly influenced the boundaries of those claims and how the western
territories were partitioned and doled out. Even today, evidence of the PL
c
to
105
is also the mechanism by which the government today identifies and records property
oldings. In the next section, students will learn about the PLSS.
ry
VERY LARGE POSTER (3x4 feet; 10mg
neral is and what his task was. Use the poster map to
locate the township and range lines. Explain how the PLSS survey system works.

he
cad
3.
bou
clai
whe s (you may need to pan

Modificati t this cadastral poster individually or in
groups c e
poster (3x4ft). Have students get up clos
analysi o nd
specula o
READY O

4. Explain to the students th
s
ns. Students can visit
all park just
h

1. Download the <1860 OR Cadastral Poster.pdf>from the Teaching American Histo
website (see notation above). Using Acrobat Reader, project the pdf onto a screen for
the students to look at. NOTE: THIS IS A
download). You will need to zoom in to a recognizable area for students to be able to
see details of the donation land claims. You can also use the pan tool (the hand) to
move around the poster.
2. Review who the surveyor-ge
NOTE: Download and print out the PLSS tutorial and/or the poster to illustrate the
grid pattern of the PLSS system and how it relates to the survey grid evidences on t
astral map.
Have a brief discussion about the features on the map. There are distinct claim
ndaries (with the names of claimholders). These are the original donation land
ms (1860) for the Portland Oregon region. Have students point out those cases
re claim boundaries correspond to the PLSS grid line
around to find clear examples).
on: You can also have the students look a
at omputer stations. If you are lucky and able, make hardcopy plots of the full-siz
e and personal with the map and use a map
s w rksheet and their map interpretation skills to identify the map elements a
te n its purpose before going on. HAVE A FEW MAGNIFYING GLASSES
S STUDENTS CAN LOOK AT DETAILS (they love this!).
at they are looking at a cadastral map a map that shows
property boundaries (have a student look up this word in a dictionary and recite to
the class). The grid system is a survey method that partitions the land so that these
property lines can be accurately described numerically and recorded (some
geographic method has to be used to avoid people claiming the same piece of
property!). It is called the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and it is still used
today.

Fun Tidbits: The Willamette Stone mark
the origin point for the cadastral survey west
of the Cascade mountai
it in person (it is located in a sm
off Skyline Blvd., 4 miles west of downtown
Portland). Students can also view pictures of
the Willamette Stone at
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_246.php.

On the east side of the Willamette River, Stark Street forms the
Baseline and was, in the past called Baseline Road.
106
Optional GIS Activity: The 1860 Upper Willamette Valley Cadastral Map

Extend the Donation Land Act and PLSS lessons by having the students practice technology
skil
Upper

1. Dow
ls with the <Oregon Settlement>Google Earth or ArcExplorer project using the 1860
Willamette Valley Cadastral Map.
nload the <OR_Settlement>GoogleEarth or ArcExplorer GIS projects from the
ching American History website (noted above).
ke sure you also downloa
Tea
2. Ma d the OR Settlement Tutorial (either the GoogleEarth or
Set
3. You o
the
(either the Google Earth version or the ArcExplorer version) onto the computers for
4. In t
, perimeter).


Extens

LSS T Download the PLSS tutorial from the Teaching Am
round robin appro you (or another student)
n blackboard. Start with an
origin point and kee quarter sections and
quarter-quarter secti

The Atlas of Orego the Donation Land Act and
the PLSS. Have the phy menu and look at the
werful graph that shows just how
ties (including railroad companies and
ttlers). Also, have them explore the Land Claims: Survey section. There is a map that
ate of Oregon and how it was,
st can be found in the The Economy
the ArcExplorer version). Give each student a copy of the tutorial and the Oregon
tlement Activity Worksheet (if computers are limited you can pair students).
will need access to a computer lab that has Google Earth or ArcExplorer loaded ont
computers. The lab attendant will also need to load the <OR_Settlement>project
students to access. The tutorial includes an installation guide.
he Oregon Settlement Activity the students will:
Learn how to navigate (ZOOM IN/OUT and PAN) the map view.
Turn geographic data layers on and off and make them active and inactive.
Measure PLSS sections (area
Use the ID tools to find out more information about a map feature.
Use the FIND tool to locate a donation land claim.
Make observations about the spatial patterns of donation land claims in the
Portland area.

Assessment:
Who Owns the Land Exercise
Donation Land Act Timeline
1860 Upper Willamette Valley Cadastral GIS Project with Activity Sheet
Optional quiz to assess content knowledge (Push/Pull Factors, Donation Land Act &
PLSS)
ions:
utorial: P
a
erican History website. Use
ach and have each student read a paragraph as
ecessary to construct a PLSS description on the
p drilling down through township/range, section,
ons.
n CD also has interesting sections that reinforce
m explore Land Grants in the Human Geogra
graph of the Disposition of the Public Domain. This is a po
much land the government donated to various enti
complete the steps
se
students can use to see the progression of the PLSS survey in the St
indeed, partitioned into a grid. Another section of intere
107
menu. Have students look at the Public Lands maps and zoom in to an area in the central
illamette Valley. They will notice a checkerboard pattern in many of the large public holdings.
aths of publicly-held land. Construction of these
ilroads or wagon roads were financed by the sale of these holdings, resulting in a checkerboard
n

W
This is a direct result of the PLSS grid system. The government issued Land Grants to
transportation and railroad companies that consisted of each odd-numbered section along a
transportation route that cut through large sw
ra
pattern of private and public ownership.

Just having fun looking at the Atlas of Oregon CD as a class can be a great way to
rei force and conclude this skill- and data-intensive lesson.
108
Who Owns the Land?

Using the following documents and images, think about what determines
ownership of the land as you answ er the questions.
I Muttaak and my chief men and my children and my people, these are our lands. Forever
we own them, and our posterity forever shall own them. I Muttaak and we the chief men and
with our children and all our people, have agreed that no one sell land.

1. Explain Muttaaks belief about land ownership.


2. Who owns the land in this scenario?


3. What might Muttaak mean when he says no one sell land?




Document B: Francheres account of the first Canadian fur traders in the Oregon Country.

David Thompson stopped and planted a pole with a note on it: Know hereby that this
country is claimed by Great Britain as part of its territories and that the N.W. Company of
Merchants from Canada do hereby intend to erect a factory. The party reached the mouth of
the Columbia on J uly 15, 1811, three months after the arrival of the Tonquin.

1. What was Thompsons purpose for planting the pole with the note on it?



2. What do you think claimed means in this passage?



3. What does Thompson want to do with the land?


Document A: Muttaaks Opinion on Land Ownership, 1681

109
Document C: Imag


es of People and Land
110

1. How does each of the pictures depict the landscape?




2. What are the people doing in each of these pictures?




3. Who do you think owns the land in each of the pictures?




Document D: Section 7 of the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850

And be it further enacted, That within twelve months after the surveys have been made
each person claiming a donation right under this act shall prove to the satisfaction of the
surveyor-generalthe fact of continued residence and cultivation required by the fourth
section of this act; and upon such proof being made, the surveyor-general, or other officer
appointed by law for that purpose, shall issue certificates under such rules and regulations as
may be prescribed by the commissioner of the general land officeAnd the said surveyor-
general shall return the proof so taken to the office of the commissioner of the general land
office, and if the said commissioner shall find no valid objections thereto, patents shall issue
for the land according to the certificates aforesaid.

1. What does a person claiming land under this Donation Land Claim Act need to do
to get ownership of his claim?




2. What is the role of the Surveyor-General?




3. What items prove that you have ownership of the land?


111
Document E: Map of Indian Land Cessions from 1750 through 1890




1. What does cession mean? Under what circumstances would Indians need to
cede land?



2. Who gained ownership of the ceded land?
. What do you think the Lands not ceded (the orange areas) represent on the map?



4
112

113
114
115
Name_______________________________

1860 Upper Willamette Valley Cadastral Survey
GIS Activity Worksheet


OPEN the Oregon Settlement Project and TURN ON the 1860 Cadastral Survey Data Layer:

How would you describe the distribution of the donation land claims in the Upper Willamette
Valley?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

NAVIGATE the Map View: Pan around the map view until you find a donation land claim
that is square or rectangle in a location that interests you. Zoom in to the claim and answer
the following questions:

What is the name of the claim holder? ____________________________________________

Describe the region immediately surrounding your selected claim (are there other claims
nearby? Might nearby claims be a relative of your claimholder? Is there any defining
characteristics of where your claim is located, perhaps next to a river?).

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________


Using the DISTANCE TOOL: Select the distance tool and measure the perimeter and
calculate the area of your claim (dont forget to include the units of measurement).


Perimeter: _______________________ Area (length x height): _____________________


Then and Now. Make the cadastral layer ACTIVE and use the FADE TOOL (in Google
E
to

___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
arth) to make the layer see-through. What does the area your claim is located on look like
day? About how many people live on the claim (is it dense or not)?
_
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______

116
LESSON #4: The Reality of the Myth Pioneer Family Stories
rch to create a
arrative about a selected pioneer family. In doing so students will use maps and data to
gain an appreciation of the myth vs. the reality of life for early Oregon Settlers.
develop an understanding of the diversity of the people who moved westward to
settle in Oregon.
practice skills of historical interpretation by assessing, interpreting, and
integrating historical data from a variety of sources.

Objectives:
The learner will
read and understand primary and secondary source documents which provide
information about the families that settled in Oregon.
assess the demographic characteristics of a pioneer family using the 1860 Oregon
census, gaining skills in using and analyzing spreadsheets.
create a place narrative using the ca.1860 Upper Willamette Valley Survey that
demonstrates an understanding of the environmental and cultural characteristics
of life in Oregon in the mid-19
th
century.

Time Needed: 4-5 block periods including research and writing time.

Materials/Resources Needed:
Digital copy of the 1860 Oregon Census for the Upper Willamette Valley Donation
Land Claims
Family Matrix Handout (2 for each student) HAVE EXTRA COPIES
AVAILABLE
PDF Poster (or hardcopy) of the ca.1860 Upper Willamette Valley Survey
Optional: Map Analysis Worksheet
Reconstructing a Past Place Organizer
Pioneer Family Narrative Instructions
Access to a computer lab for census exercise and research.


NOTE: The 1860 Census spreadsheet and the ca.1860 Upper Willamette Valley Survey Map
Poster can be downloaded from the Teaching American History Project website (a link to the
website can be found at http://www.pdx.edu/ims/comgeo.html). Click on the Quick Navigation
<map resources> menu selection. In the topic selections, click on <Boundaries of the
Nation>. These lists contain downloadable files of the resources cited here.

Description: Students will use the 1860 U.S. Manuscript Census for Oregon, the ca.1860
Upper Willamette Valley Survey Map, and independent historical resea
n
understand the demographic characteristics of pioneer families and the environmental and
cultural features of settlement in the upper Willamette Valley.

Outcomes/Goals:
The learner will
understand what life was like for early Oregon settlers from various age and
gender perspectives.
117
Procedures:

Day One (in the computer lab)

The 1860 Oregon Manuscript Census

1. Download the 1860 Oregon Census spreadsheet for the Upper Willamette Valley
Donation Land Claims from the Teaching American History website and have it loaded
rs in your lab for student access. NOTE: Make sure that you keep the
where and use only a copy of the file for this exercise (a spreadsheet
can eas

Note: u
Teachi A
document carefully to get familiar w
Manus ip

. Begin w preadsheet on a screen.
at a census is and that Oregons first official census was taken in 1860 (after
). This spreadsheet represents a list of people that lived in the Upper
nd
clai e
spr d
(you w

3. Pri r
primary
transcri ou might want to download a
e students what

e
ies that lived
in the Portland region in 1860 (break down demo and graphic and ask students to
). But,
these people.

5. o the Multnomah County records Find the
e same ID#(the first
column) - #596 in this case is part of one family (you can highlight all the lines with
onto the compute
original file some
ily get scrambled!).
Yo should also download the Oregon Land Claims Metadata PDF from the
ng merican History website (see notation above). You should read this
ith the data that is included in the 1860 Oregon
cr t Census so that you can assist your students.
ith a class demonstration project the 1860 census s 2
Explain wh
statehood in 1859
Wil m la ette Valley in 1860 (it represents the families that lived on all those donation la
msthat the students looked at in the previous lesson). NOTE: Make sure that th
ea sheet is sorted first by county then by ID. DO NOT sort by last name only
ill separate family units that may have different last names).
ma y vs. Secondary: Ask students whether they think that this spreadsheet is a
or a secondary source? Its actually a secondary source because it was
bed from the original documents. Note: Y
scanned image of a sheet from the original 1860 census to show th
the primary source really looked like!

4. Explain to the students what the spreadsheet field (e.g. column) headings mean - use the
Metadata document to decode the field headings. Explain what the records (e.g. lines)
they represe ar nt each person that the census taker recorded. The spreadsheet,
therefore, gives us a whole lot of demographic information about the famil
come up with a definition of the word descriptions about a human population
theres a whole lot we dont know about
Scroll down the spreadsheet until you get t
Coffin Family (which starts on line 1590). Every record with th
ID#596 to make it easier to see them on the screen).
How many people are in this family? (Ans=9)
Do they have the same last name? (No =Coffin and Hill)
118
Look at the birthplaces. Can students make any guesses about who is related to
whom? It looks like there is a young couple living with the Coffins (S.V. and
know if they are related; Clara and Frank Hills relationships
are uncertain because the ages dont fit with being the children of S.V. and Chas.
you can see what genealogical information is
available for this family (usually available only for the head of household).
6.
ands living with them.

on
ey could get their own claims),
was somewhere
gon
the
e
laces).
n
for

7.
ey
out the family (whos related to
who ?


Chas Hill); we dont
Scroll to the far right so that

Choose a few more examples to illustrate the different family compositions here are a
few suggestions:
ID#602 the Clinton Kelly family (of Kelly Butte fame) they have a large
claim and many farmh
ID#607 the Stevens family note the birthplaces of the children, it illustrates the
westward journey.
ID#644 the Powell family note the birthplaces of the farmhands, it was comm
for young foreign single men to be farmhands (perhaps waiting for their
citizenship applications to be processed so that th
note that Nancy also married J ackson in Oregon the same year he filed for his
donation land claim (getting the max. 320 acres in 1852), note too how many
other Powells there are in the vicinity (did they travel together across the
Oregon Trail?).
ID#678 the Zimmerman family they have an interesting route to Oregon, based
on their birthplaces.
ID#701 the Hamilton family notice who was born on the plain.
ID#714 the Foster family how much you wanna bet their claim
near Foster road?
ID#731 the Sullivan family here we have an Irish couple who came to Ore
via Australia (do you think they came by the Oregon Trail or perhaps across
Pacific Ocean?)
ID#846 the Bybee family (of Bybee Lake fame) again a good example of th
march westward (based on the childrens birthp

Do t spend too much time with examples (just choose a few) in order to have enough time
the students to explore the spreadsheet themselves.
Organize the students into groups of 3-4 (there should be no more than 10 groups) and
show them how to access the spreadsheet on their computers. If the students are
unfamiliar with Excel spreadsheets, model how to use the scroll bars to navigate around
the spreadsheet.

8. Give each student group a copy of the Family Matrix handout. Student groups will be
given 15 minutes to select a family from the spreadsheet (this is a practice session so th
can pick any family), look at all the information recorded about that family, discuss
amo ngthemselves and perhaps fill in some blanks ab
m).
119
9. You h
a few m
discuss
WARN

10. After 1
introducing their family to the class, concentrating on what they found interesting about

11. End i at
settled ily compositions.

Modific ti

This is a a
into the nex
family desc
out and dis

It is possible to do this activity with hardcopi
has ma f
this opt ,
to fit (i n

Day Tw (
s ould go around the room and make sure that groups have selected a family within
inutes so that the rest of the time they can be recording the information and
ing among themselves. After about 13 minutes, give student groups a 2-minute
ING!
5 minutes or so, have one representative from each group spend 2-3 minutes
them.
ths first session by facilitating a class discussion about the diversity of people th
in the Willamette Valley and the variety of fam
a ons:
n ctivity that has proven to really engage students. You may want to extend this
t day to allow for adequate discussion time. You will get more diversity of
riptions if you create more than 10 student groups, but it takes more time to share
cuss.
es of the spreadsheet (although the spreadsheet
ny ields so it is difficult to print it onto an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper). If you choose
ion you may want to edit the spreadsheet and eliminate some of the columns to get it
n la dscape print mode).
o in the computer lab)

1. Giv a
Instruc
Ore n
rd which will be noted

the 1860 survey map).

o : You can provide a list of families from the census spreadsheet for the
udents to choose from, rather than allow them to select their own, then have them work off
e e ch student another copy of the Family Matrix Handout and the Pioneer Narrative
tions. Allow time for individual students to choose a family from the 1860
go Census for their narrative. This time they need to limit their selection to:
Only families that lived in Multnomah County.
Cannot choose a family that has No 1860 Census Reco
in the REMARKS column on the spreadsheet.
Must have a Donation Land Claim (look for a number in the CLAIMS column for
the Head of Household).

2. When a student has selected a family, they must have it okayed by the teacher who
must verify compliance with the instructions above (it is important that these
instructions are followed so that the student has chosen a family that they will be
able to locate on

3. Provide about 20 minutes or so for the students to fill out another Family Matrix Handout
from information on the census spreadsheet. You may need to give them more time if
students are sharing computer terminals.
dification M
st
120
of a hardcopy spreadsheet. The culminating activity in this lesson is a narrative, so its okay
ome students are researching the same family. if s

The ca.1860 Upper Willamette Valley Survey Map
he
ltural features that existed on their familys donation land claim.
AV
ter lab, have students reopen the <OR Settlement>GIS project (either the
GoogleEarth or the ArcExplorer project). Have them use the tutorial to review how to do
e a cluster of points) and make it ACTIVE.
er to their donation land claim and TURN ON the <1860
Donation Land Claim Image>Layer (the image). Did they choose the correct claim?
checking the name on the claim.

Wil d Act language). On this map are
man p
and pat

10. Students should observe all the features within and surrounding their familys donation
land claim. They can use the Reconstructing a Past Place Organizer to help them

Not ey
rep s that have been digitized from the survey map
oads, paths, streams, lakes, wetlands). Turning them on may help the student to locate



4. To supplement the census demographics about the pioneer family, students will use t
ca.1860 Land Survey Map of the Upper Willamette Valley to get an idea of the physical
and cu

FOR THIS NEXT SECTION HAVE THE OR SETTLEMENT TUTORIAL
AILABLE TO REVIEW HOW TO OPERATE THE GIS PROJ ECT.

5. In the compu
this.

6. When the project opens, have them TURN ON the <1860 Donation Land Claims>data
layer (it will b

7. Students should then use the FIND Tool to locate their selected pioneer familys
donation land claim. Have students review the instructions in the tutorial.

8. Have students ZOOM IN clos
They should confirm this by

9. Have the student TURN OFF the <1860 Donation Land Claim Image>Layer and TURN
ON the <ca.1860 Survey Map Image>. This map is also a PRIMARY SOURCE
document as it is an image of the actual 1860 Topographical Land Survey for the
lamette Valley (also referenced in the Donation Lan
y hysical and cultural notations (e.g. location of buildings, cultivated fields, roads
hs, hills, lakes, streams, wetlands, and other miscellaneous notations).
record the information.
e: There are also several other historic data layers that the student can TURN ON. Th
resent various physical and cultural feature
(r
these features if they are difficult to discern from the image.



121
Day Three (in the computer lab, library or classroom)

Students should use this day to complete their research on their pioneer family. Have they
ey gather all the information from the
and Survey?
Stu
of t ere is a book
alled We Claimed This Land: Portlands Pioneer Settlers (by Eugene Snyder) that may
an also try
founding
milies of Portland, it is likely that there are historical accounts on the internet.
Day
recorded all the census information available? Did th
L

dents should also be encouraged to conduct further research (on the internet or using some
he resources listed on their Pioneer West Pathfinders resource list). Th
c
provide further information about the students family. More advanced students c
accessing some genealogical data on the internet. If they chose one of the
fa

Four (in the classroom)

tudents should use this day to write their narratives. Or, as an option, you can assign it as
nar
Reconstructing a Past Place Organizer
d
Per ut
fam amily
mig
whe
tu rage
udents to get a basic time frame of the migration. Create a large display map of the world
and
S
homework. Ideally, students should turn in a draft, have it reviewed, then turn in a final
rative.

Assessment:
Family Matrix Handout
Optional: Map Analysis Worksheet (for the ca.1860 Willamette Valley Survey)
Written Pioneer Narrative (this can also go in the students language arts portfolio)

Ad itional Projects:

sonal Migration/Immigration Stories: After spending so much time learning abo
ilies that migrated to Oregon, students might be interested in exploring their own f
rations. As a homework assignment, have students describe where they came from,
re a parent or guardian came from, where a grandparent or grandguardian came from.
dents can go further back the family tree if the information is available. Encou S
st
with the United States in the center. Provide a different colored string for each generation
lots of push pins and map the students family migrations.
122

123
124
Name ____________________

The 1860 Willamette Valley Land Survey
Reconstructing Past Places

Use the following questions to help you to gather information from
the 1860 Land Survey about your pioneer familys land claim. Use as
many descriptive words (adjectives) as you can to describe all the
features.


What physical features are located on or near your familys land claim?

Rivers or Streams __________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Lakes or Wetlands __________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Hills or Gulches ____________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

What kinds of manmade features are there? Look for the notations on
the map as well (are these features labeled)?

Roads and Paths ___________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Are there buildings drawn on the map? Or, maybe areas where the land
has been cultivated?
_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________
125
Page 2

Are
veg
____________ __________
STANCE TOOL to find out how far your claim is to the
earest road or path. What about to the nearest city (probably either
there notations on the map near your claim that describe the soil or
etation conditions?
___________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________


se the DI U
n
Portland or Oregon City you will probably need to ZOOM OUT to see
he nearest road or city)? t
_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________


ow close are you to other claims?_____________________________ H

________________________________________________________ _

________________________________________________________ _


Is there anything else that you notice about the features on the map?

________________________________________________________ _

________________________________________________________ _

________________________________________________________ _

_________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________ _


126
1860 PIONEER FAMILY
sing the information that youve recorded about your pioneer family
ap, write a 2-3 page narrative that describes your family and the place
formation, construct your narrative and capture the readers attention:

lose your eyes and think about your character. Try to get in their
oing? Why is your character doing it?
ight be doing this particular thing).
n.
Describe some of the interesting or important features of that place (a
cabin).
NARRATIVE

U
from the 1860 Oregon census and the 1860 Willamette Valley Survey
m
that they lived. The following instructions will help you to organize your
in

Step One:

Choose one family member as the voice for your narrative. Write your
narrative from that perspective (you can use I in your story as if you
ere speaking with that voice). w

ou can pick anybody (it doesnt have to be someone your same age) Y
c
shoes as you tell their story.

Step Two:

Start your narrative with some sort of action. What is your character
d

Try to capture the readers attention (make them guess why your character
m

Step Three:

Describe the PLACE that forms the stage that your character is acting
o

field of ripening wheat, a winter stream raging with meltwater, a mountain in the
distance, a muddy street in a small town busy with new settlers, a small settlers
127
Page 2

How is your character e (are they working hard
or playing, are they doing oughing a field and the
stones keep getting in the way?).
certain things?).
tep Four:

ive based on your data from the 1860 census).
em?
your story rather than simply list their names.
onclude with some thoughts about your life in 1860 Oregon.
an draw some pictures to include with your narrative
interacting with that plac
something to the land like pl

What are some of the thoughts that may be running through your
characters head about the place (are they having fun, is it a scary place?).

Describe some of the sensory experiences your character might be
experiencing (what kind of noises are around, can they see, hear or smell

S

Describe the PEOPLE that are a part of your characters life (incorporate
other family members into your narrat

What are their relationships to you?

How are you interacting with th

Weave them into

Step Five:

C


Optional: You c
if you like.
128
OPTIONAL CULMINATING LESSON: Where Would I Settle?
Upp y
this site using a prepared ArcView GIS project and
verlay analysis. Students will then compare that site to its physical and human

ot
n
GIS

odification: You can do this exercise using the ca.1860 Upper Willamette Valley Poster.
paratory activity then use the poster to visually locate potential claim
ite is located, they can use Google Earth to zoom in to the
pproximate location and see the aerial view of the site today.
ills from Lessons 1-4.
challenges of staking a claim under the
uncertain circumstances existing in early Oregon settlement history.
alyze historical data.
at makes a good land claim (based on environmental and cultural
r to locate a desirable claim site.
ime Needed: 3 block periods
ttlement Tutorial
Access to a computer lab.

NOTE: The ArcView GIS project and tutorial can be downloaded from the Teaching American
History Project website (a link to the website can be found at
http://www.pdx.edu/ims/comgeo.html). Click on the Quick Navigation <map resources> menu
selection. In the topic selections, click on <Boundaries of the Nation>. These lists contain
downloadable files of the resources cited here.




Description: Students will develop criteria for determining a desirable place to settle in the
er Willamette Valley based on physical and human characteristics. Students will appl
criteria to select a donation land claim
o
characteristics today.
e: This culminating lesson should be reserved for more advanced students. Also, it N
would help if these students have proceeded incrementally through Lessons 1-4 as these
co tain skill-based activities that will help the students tackle the more complicated ArcView
desktop software.
M
Students can do the pre
sites. Once a general s
a

Outcomes/Goals:
The learner will
synthesize and apply content and sk
demonstrate an understanding of the
demonstrate skill in using GIS to an

Objectives:
The learner will
decide wh
criteria).
conduct an overlay analysis in orde
create a map layout showing the claim site.

T

Materials/Resources Needed:
<OR Settlement>ArcView Project (download)
OR Se
129
Procedures:

Preparation: Refer to a large map or atlas. Have students imagine that they have just
crossed the Snake River after traveling six months out of Missouri. They are more than
ready to settle down, and prefer to do it just once. Where will you go and why?

Tape up 5 sheets of poster paper around the room, each with one of the following headings
opography, Natural Resources, Transportation, Community/Family, Other in a T-chart T
format with desirable on one side and undesirable on the other.

Ask students for recommendations about desirable and undesirable traits of a place to live in
circa 1850 Oregon. Have them draw upon all the research they have done in the previous 4
ssons about what actual pioneer families were looking for in a donation land claim. As
sters and write a short
escription of their most desirable type of land claim.
OR Settlement ArcView GIS Project

Make s
ArcView P

ake a cop
here Would I Settle Activity. The activity provides
opti
bufferi ining
their de a , students
will sel
sirable Land Claim Site

le
suggestions are made, have students choose which category the suggestion belongs in and
have them write the suggestion on the appropriate sheets of poster paper.

Instruct students to select one desirable trait from each of the po
d

urethat ArcView 3.3 is loaded on the computers in your lab. The <OR Settlement
roject>will also need to be downloaded and accessible on the lab computers.
M y of the OR Settlement ArcView Tutorial for each student.

Have students go through the W
ons r fo students to use various tools to isolate their desirable claim traits (such as
ng and select by theme). Students then conduct an overlay analysis, comb
sir ble traits, to identify possible locations. Based on a visual inspection
ect a final claim and create a simple map layout.

Assessment:
Class Participation
Description of Most De
Map Layout of their Donation Land Claim Site
130






Additional Resources

APPENDIX D

Geography Education

131
132
133















































A

U
N
I
Q
U
E

P
O
I
N
T

O
F

V
I
E
W
U
P

I
S

D
O
W
N

A
N
D

D
O
W
N

I
S

U
P
!

134
135
The Great Map Controversy
Adapted from, Where Am I? The Story of Maps and Navigation
By A.G. Smith

It all started in the 16
th
century in the country of Belgium, in Europe. Europeans needed a
new map. Gerhardus Mercator, born in Flanders in 1512, studied philosophy, mathematics,
and astronomy at the University of Louvain, and also learned the arts of engraving and
instrument making. His first important work was a very detailed map of Flanders.
Mercators work was of such high quality that Emperor Charles V commissioned him to
make a terrestrial globe, which he completed in 1541.

Later he moved to Duisberg, Germany, where he became cartographer to the Duke of Cleves.
He also began publishing maps and produced the first modern maps of Europe and Britain.
Mercator soon realized that what the world needed was a really good chart for navigation.

Early navigators found it difficult to lay out their courses on a chart because charts made no
allowances for the roundness of the Earth. The meridians of longitude converge at the poles
like the slices of an orange. How could a segment be laid out flat so that a sailor could plot
his compass course with a straight line?

Gerhardus Mercator found the answer. His solution was to lay out the segments on a flat
surface and, treating them as if they were elastic, stretch the tops of the segments until they
met. The segments nearest the poles stretched the most. Greenland became huge. The
sections between the tropics, where most of the navigation was done, stretched the least.
Each segment became a rectangle and was laid out beside the others to form a large world
map. Parallel lines of latitude crossed the meridians of longitude to form a grid. A navigator
could then draw his compass course in a straight line on a flat chart. In 1569, Mercator
published his history-making world map. Today most deep-sea navigation is still done on
charts that use the Mercator projection.

Hundreds of years later, in 1974, another map projection was announced. This map, called
the Peters projection, was created as a critique of the Mercator projection map. The German
historian and professor Arno Peters made the map because he felt the distortion of the
Mercator projection discriminated against the peoples of the Southern hemisphere. He
pointed out that the Mercator projection makes Europe, Greenland, Northern Asia, and North
America appear bigger than South America, Africa, and Australia. In actuality, Africa is
bigger in size than both Europe and North America. He claimed that his map was fair to all
peoples of the world because it represented the relative size of the continents accurately in
relationship to each other (although the shapes of the continents was severely distorted as a
result). That is why the Peters projection is considered an equal-area projection. Many
agreed with him and called for the use of the new map in offices, classrooms, and libraries
around the country.
But many cartographers ed it. For one, there
had been a map in existe to the Peters map,
called Ga m credit
for a map projection that was already in existence
what really bothered cartographers wa self. Of the four things that maps
show -- size, shape, direction, and distance -- t ap only showed one of them well:
.
ve decided that the

disliked both the map and the man who creat
nce since 1885 that was identical in projection
lls projection. Cartographers were upset that Arno Peters would try to clai
when he said that he alone created it. But
s the Peters map it
he Peters m
size. The other four attributes were inaccurate and often severely distorted on a Peters map
J ust look at the shape of the continents in the Southern hemisphere, they are stretched too
long from top to bottom while landmasses in the North looked smashed down from above.
Others took offense to what they believed was Peters political agenda.

People still disagree about which projection is best, especially for schoolrooms. Many
hool districts and mapmakers, like the National Geographic Society, ha sc
Robinson projection is better for students to view the world, since both the Mercator and
Peters are both so distorted. The Robinson projection has minimal distortions, nothing like
those of the Mercator and Peters. But whatever map projection people choose to look at, they
eed to remember the purpose for the map. Mercators map was originally meant for ocean n
navigators, not school children. And if you want to actually see which continent is the
biggest size-wise on a map, the Peters map is a good choice. People need to remember that
every map is a compromise, since it involves a projection from the round globeto a flat
surface.

136

A

m
o
d
e
r
n

P
e
t
e
r
s

P
r
o
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

w
o
r
l
d

m
a
p
.
137


A

m
o
d
e
r
n

M
e
r
c
a
t
o
r

P
r
o
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

w
o
r
l
d

m
a
p
.
138


A

m
o
d
e
r
n

R
o
b
i
n
s
o
n

P
r
o
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

w
o
r
l
d

m
a
p
.
139

B
e
h
a
i
m

s

1
4
9
2

G
l
o
b
e

(
s
u
p
e
r
i
m
p
o
s
e
d

o
n

a

f
l
a
t

m
a
p
)

A
v
a
i
l
a
b
l
e

a
t

h
t
t
p
:
/
/
w
w
w
.
h
e
n
r
y
-
d
a
v
i
s
.
c
o
m
/
M
A
P
S
/
L
M
w
e
b
p
a
g
e
s
/
2
5
8
E
.
h
t
m
l

140
141
142
143
144
145
Map Analysis Worksheet
1. TYPE OF MAP (Check one):
____ Raised relief map
____ Topographic map
____ Political map
____ Contour-line map
____ Natural resource map
____ Military map
____ Bird's-eye view
____ Artifact map
____ Satellite photograph/mosaic
____ Pictograph
____ Weather map
____ Other ( )

2.

UNIQUE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF THE MAP (Check one or more, include description):
____ Compass
____ Handwritten
____ Date
____ Notations
____ Scale
____ Name of mapmaker
____ Title
____ Legend (key)
____ Other

3.

DATE OF MAP:
___________________________________________________________________________

4.

CREATOR OF THE MAP:
___________________________________________________________________________

5.

WHERE WAS THE MAP PRODUCED?
___________________________________________________________________________

6.

MAP INFORMATION

A. List three things in this map that you think are important:
1. _____________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________

B. Why do you think this
______________________
__________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
ade?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
historical accounts of this event?
__________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
information in this map support or contradict information that you have read
_________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
. Write a question to the mapmaker that is left unanswered by this map.
___________________________________________________

map was made?
____________________________ _________________________
_________________________
____________________
____________________
____________________

C. What evidence in the map suggests why it was m
__________________
__________________
____________________________
____________________________
________________

D. What information does the map add to other
_
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________
________________
__________

E. Does the
about this event? Explain.
__________
________________
__________
_
________________

F
________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________ _
Designed and developed by the
Education Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408.
146
Written Document Analysis Worksheet
1. TYPE OF DOCUMENT (Check one):

___ Newspaper
___ Letter

___ Patent
___ Memorandum
___ Map
___ Telegram
___ Press release
___ Report
___ Advertisement
___ Congressional record
___ Census report
___ Other

2. UNIQUE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF THE DOCUMENT (Check one or more):
___ Interesting letterhead
___ Handwritten
___ Typed
___ Seals
___ Notations
___ "RECEIVED" stamp
___ Other


.

DATE(S) OF DOCUMENT: _______________________________________________ 3
4. AUTHOR (OR CREATOR) OF THE DOCUMENT: ____________________________
___________________________________________________
5
6 er A-E.)
_______________________________________________________________________
B. Why do you think this document was written?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

WHERE WAS THE DOCUMENT PRODUCED? ______________________________


POSITION (TITLE): ___

.

FOR WHAT AUDIENCE WAS THE DOCUMENT WRITTEN?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

. DOCUMENT INFORMATION (There are many possible ways to answ

A. List three things the author said that you think are important:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
147

you know why it was written? Quote from the
_ _____ ______________________
_ _ __________________
______ __________________
_______________________
____________________________
_______ ____________________________
____________ ________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
. Write a question to the author that is left unanswered by the document:
_________________
.
C. What evidence in the document helps
document.
______________
______________
__________
________________
__
__
________
____________
_______________
_______________
__
__
_________________
_____________________
______________________
_________________
D. List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it was
written:
_____________________
_______________
__________
________
______________________
_____________________
_________
_
E. Does this document refer to a place? If so, describe that place?
_______________________________________________________________________
_
_______________________________________________________________________
_
F
______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Designed and developed by the
Education Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408

148
Photo/Image Analysis Worksheet
Step
A.
B. Does this photograph/image depict a place? If so, where is it?

C.
People
1. Observation
Study the photograph/image for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the
photograph or image and then examine individual items. What is your impression?

Next, divide the photo/image into quadrants and study each section. Do you see new
details? If so, what are they?



What kind of a place does the photo/image depict? What are the feelings associated
with it?

Use the chart below to list people, objects, and activities in the photograph/image.
Objects Activities











149
150
Step 2. Inference
Based on what from this
age.
__
Step 3. Questions
A. What questions does this photograph raise in your mind?
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________
B. Where could you find answers to them?
_______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Designed and developed by the
Education Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408.
you have observed above, list three things you might infer
photograph or im

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________


_______
SOAPS + Claim
Questions to Ask Response Sentence Frames
Subject
What is this document,
artifact, map, artwork all
about?

The subject of this document or artifact

is,,,
Occasion
What is special about the
time and place this
document, artifact, map or
artwork was created?

The occasion for creating thi c n i

He/she creating this his s fi e se

He/she created this ere t di c

s do ume t/art
peci c tim be
hey d be aus
ifact s
cau
e
at t
wh
Audience
Who is the author/creators
main audience?

The intended audien is pr l

The creator of this d m e or read t is.

ce
ocu
obaby
ent/artifact wants ____________________ to us h
Purpose
Why did the author/creator
produce this document or
artifact? What does he/she
want to tell or convince you
of or what does he/she want
to persuade you to do?

The author/creators s o vi _ _ __ _

The author/creator w his a en o a

The author/creator w o u his/h u

I th m b

purpo
ants
ants t
Im not sure what the author/creators purpose is
e is t con nce
/her udi ce t
pers ade
___ ___ ____
o kn w th t
er a dience to do
but think
___ __ to _______________.
this
at it ight e
Speaker
Who is the author/creator?
What are his/her credentials?
Why should you take
seriously what he/she has
written or produced?

The author/creator i _ _ __ an h hi ec e it de toward
_______________ beca e

I find/dont find the author/cr r

The author/creator p

I dont know a lot about the or ator c nd out more here

s ____
us
rob
____ ___

eato cred
ably believes
auth /cre
d I t ink t s aff
ible because
but I an fi
ts th ir att u
Claim
What is the author/creator
intending to prove or
establish?

The author/creator c s th ( xam

The author/creator see s to nt how exampl

The author/creator may be trying to claim that (for example

Im not sure what the author is claiming but I think it might be

at for e
wa to s
ple)
that (for e)
)
laim
m







APPENDIX E

Slideshow: Map Projections

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