Resources on the Mississippi River: Grade Three: Day One

1. General History of the Mississippi River
Students will create a timeline with significant dates of how the Mississippi river development and changed over time. They will expand on two dates of their choice; they will need to create a short presentation for the class the following day.
2. Materials needed:
-white board
-overhead
-time line worksheets
-pencils/markers
-photos from past and present (check out slides from WHS)
-Huckleberry Finn Novel
3. Goals for my lesson:
A. The student will recognize significant events that contributed the history of the Mississippi River.
B. Students will place events in chronological order and construct time lines.
4. Objectives
The students will know the basic history of the Mississippi River. They will be able to create a time line and place specific events in chronological order. The timeline will show when the river first started and how it has changed over time.
5. Procedures
A. Introductory Experiences:
1. On the white board, create a brief time line of my life. Starting with where and when I was born, placing dates when I graduated from elementary, middle and high school. On the time line adding in other dates that were important in my life. Explain to the student that you can show change over time on a time line, where the information is in chronological order. (7 minutes)
a. Definition of chronological order: Arranged in order of time of occurrence.
2. Using events that happened this week in class to create another timeline on the board. Have the students pick the events and where they would go on the timeline. (7 minutes)
B. Developmental Experiences:
3. Hand out the timeline paper. Inform the students that they will be filling in important dates that they feel shaped the Mississippi River when I go through the lecture. (2 minutes)
4. Lecture about important dates along the Mississippi River. With the overhead create a timeline that the students can follow along with and fill out their own. During lecture share pictures from early Mississippi days and how it has changed along with other photos showing where these events took place. Encourage students to take notes along with the dates presented. (30 minutes)
a. May 8, 1541- Hernando de Soto was the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River. He called it the “Rio de Espiritu Santo”, the River of the Holy Spirit.
b. 1682- Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salla and Henri de Tonty claimed the entire Mississippi River Valley for France.
c. 1718- New Orleans was established by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
d. 1795- Pinckney’s Treaty/ The Treaty of San Lorenzo
e. 1803- Louisiana Purchase
f. December 1811- First steamboat to travel the length of the Mississippi River from the Ohio River to New Orleans, the boat was called New Orleans
g. 1830- 1870- Steamboat races, these were published in the Harper’s Weekly in seven parts in 1875 including unfinished passages from Huckleberry Finn.
h. 1848- Illinois and Michigan Chanel were built to connect the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan via the Illinois River.
i.1852- Lumber business starts up in Winona, an assembly point for logs floating down the River, city becomes major logging center
j. 1900- Replaced the Illinois and Michigan Chanel, now called the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
k. June/July 1922- The sport of water skiing was invented in Lake Pepin, Lake City Minnesota
l. 1925- First water jump was created and preformed on Lake Pepin.
m. 1927- Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
n. October 20, 1976- MV George Prince was struck by a ship traveling upstream as the ferry attempted to cross from Destrehan, Louisiana to Luling, Louisiana.
o. 1993- Great Flood of 1993
p. 1997- American Heritage Rivers
q. 2002- Martin Strel swam the entire length of the river (after each point expand for less than 2 minutes)
C. Culminating Experiences:
5. Following lecture and creating the timeline students will choose two dates that are interesting to them. They will be assigned those two dates and required to research new information for both of those date either at home or in the library. The next class they will need to share their short presentation on the two dates they chose. Rather than just information about the dates they can find photos that go along with the date or event.
6. Assessments
A. If students have followed the lecture and created the timeline with correct information they understand the basic knowledge of the Mississippi River. The following day will be the assessment for this class, if they can correctly inform the class about two new pieces of information about the Mississippi River.

I. Photos from WHS (below)

Resources on the Mississippi River: Grade Three: Day Seven

1. Economics on the Mississippi River
Students will learn what economics is and how the Mississippi River is an economical resource for many different materials.
2. Materials needed:
-overhead
-news paper articles from Winona State library catalog
-library books (pre-selected by teacher)
3. Goals for my lesson:
A. The students will comprehend what economics by creating a “timeline” of a product of their choice.
B. The students will compare the price of certain materials over a number of years.
4. Objectives
The students will comprehend the meaning of economics and how the Mississippi River is an economical resource for many different materials. Understanding the many resources that use the river as transportation the students will research the price of material over a number of years.
5. Procedures
A. Introductory Experiences:
1. Using the list that was generated about what resources use the river for transportation at the end of class yesterday, collaborate and add a few more ideas to the list on the board. Possible ideas students might list:
-coal -flour -grain -gas
-people (dinner boats) -cars
(5 minutes)
B. Developmental Experiences: (number steps along with time for each step)
2. In table groups students brainstorm ideas how these material travel the river. Once the table group has their ideas have them write it on the board. From this list ask the students why they chose their form of transportation and explain. (5 minutes)
3. Define economics. (2 minutes)
-the science that deals with production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services (dictionary.com)
4. Brainstorm one product. With that product create a “timeline” of where it began and the steps it had to reach before it is the final product. Students should choose the product that is interesting to them and they use in their daily life. (5 minutes)
5. Explain the barge industry and barge industry on the Mississippi River (15 minutes)
-25,000 miles of navigable waterways in the United States
-Comparing 25,000 miles to something they would know, 24,901 is the circumference of the earth at the equator
-Mississippi River is 2,320 miles long
-30,000 barges at work on the river
-Barges transport $1 billion in products annually (bag of rice with around 1 billion to physically show what 1 billion would look like)
-One-half of all exports are grain (oats, barley…bread and cereal-blue)
-20% coal (pie chart to go along with numbers-purple)
-20% oil/petro chemicals (pie chart to go along with numbers-beige)
-Transport wood for paper products, cement and asphalt for bridges
-Read articles found on the Winona State library catalog.
-Average barge tow today consists of 15 barges (equally the carrying capacity of a three mile long freight train-make a reference to the distance in reference to your school, or a line of semi trucks 35 miles long)
6. Grain one of the largest exports. Create a “timeline” for grain on the board with the students filling in the events. (5 minutes)
C. Culminating Experiences:
7. Using the library or computer lab students will choose one resource and research the cost of that resource from the past decades. With the information they collect they will graph the costs and write a small presentation for the class. The students can work in partners when doing their research and presentation. (10 minutes-next day also)
6. Assessments
A. When the students create their “timeline” of a product, I am checking for understanding. They will explain why they placed the events in the certain area.
B. Following the students research, if they can show you written documents the prices differences.
7. Resources
http://www.orn.usace.army.mil/pao/kylock/Background/barge1.htm
dictionary.com