These classroom activities on major U.S. waterways are appropriate for a history, social studies, and/or geography lesson. They can be used as a self-contained learning experience or as preparation for a lesson on how important bodies of water influenced U.S. history. Because it is built around small group activity, it is also a lesson plan template that can be applied to virtually any similar subject matter. In addition to the geography content, the lesson also reinforces students' group decision making skills.
Waterways Learning Objectives Encompass Geography, Social Studies, and Learning Processes
At the end of these activities, students will be able to:
- Name four major types of bodies of water.
- Name eleven* major bodies of water that shaped American history (See Note at end of article.)
- Label on a blank map where each body of water is located.
- Explain the value of working in groups.
- Explain the benefits of a division of labor within groups.
This lesson is appropriate for upper elementary and middle school grades.
Waterways Lesson Uses Simple, Inexpensive Classroom Materials
Materials for this lesson consist simply of:
- two black and white outline maps of North America ,without labels, for each class group (available at the World Atlas website)
- one map of North America with the bodies of waters labeled for each student
- atlases, encyclopedias, or computers (optional)
This lesson uses minimal technology. Teachers whose classrooms are well equipped with technology will easily be able to modify the lesson accordingly.
The approximate time for this lesson is forty minutes, excluding follow-up discussion.
Teacher's Introduction Links Waterways Lesson to Broader Context
In introducing the waterways lesson, the teacher can mention several related topics. In this way students will be better able to link the knowledge they will gain about bodies of water with other concepts.
Introduce the topic with this question: "Does any one know how much of the Earth's surface is covered by water?" (Answer 71%) That is why the Earth is called a "water planet." Ask, "What is a waterway?" (Answers will vary, but the Webster definition this lesson uses is "a navigable body of water.") You might have to define "navigable" and explain that the bodies of water in this lesson are major ones. Then without going into depth, solicit from students ideas about how large bodies of water relate to:
- transportation
- trade
- human health
- war
- exploration
- other human or natural factors?
Explain that in the United States eleven major bodies of water have played important roles in the nation’s history and have influenced all these areas.
Establish Prior Knowledge: What do Students Already Know About Major Waterways?
After introducing the lesson topic and its relevance, ask the class, “What are some different types of large bodies of water?” Students may answer: lake, ocean, river, sea, stream, canal, gulf, or others. Explain that this lesson will concentrate on four types of large bodies of water near or in the U.S.: oceans, lakes, gulfs, and rivers.
Waterways Lesson Group Learning: On the Exploration Trail for Bodies of Water
Tell the class: “Today you will be explorers. Your mission is to find and locate on a map the eleven most important bodies of water that shaped American history.” Divide the class into small groups, preferably no more than five students per group. Each group is to elect an Exploration Team Leader, a Scribe, and a Scout. The job of the Exploration Team Leader is to keep the group on task. The job of the Scribe is to label maps. The Scout’s job is to search for new knowledge.
Provide each group with one simple map showing North America with countries outlined but with no other labels. The groups have ten minutes to label any major body of water they can identify from their own knowledge. Each group must achieve consensus before the Scribe is allowed to label each body of water.
After ten minutes, call time and announce that the Scout and the Scribe from each group will have an additional five minutes to scout out any information available in the classroom. They may look for maps in atlases, on computers, or any other place. After five minutes for research Scouts and Scribes return to their respective groups. The groups then have a final ten minutes to complete the labeling of their maps.
After the final ten minutes, call time and ask for the Exploration Team Lead from any group that believes it has all eleven bodies of water correctly labeled to report to the class. If none, the group with the next highest number can report. (Optionally, an award can be given the group with the highest number of identified bodies of water.)
As the culminating activity, reveal a map and identify the eleven bodies of water.*
*The suggested answers below are taken from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s History and Social Science Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework:
- Great Lakes (students need not name them individually)
- Gulf of Mexico
- Oceans: Atlantic and Pacific
- Rivers: Columbia, Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Rio Grande, and St. Lawrence
Reflection: Prompt Students to Think About What They Learned in the Waterways Activity
Factual Learning: Ask, “What did we learn today?” (Answers: four types of bodies of water, names and locations of the eleven most important bodies of water in U.S. history or some variation thereof.)
Process Learning: Ask, “What did we learn about the way we arrived at our new information?” (Answer: By working in groups and sharing information, we learned more, more quickly than if each of us had been alone. By sharing tasks, group work got done faster, etc.)
Follow Up Activities Reinforce Learning from Waterways Lesson
Distribute to each student a copy of the map with the eleven bodies of water properly labeled. Tell students they are to bring in a newspaper, magazine, or news article whose main topic is one of the eleven major bodies of water. Students are to identify the body of water and summarize in three to five sentences the major facts of the story. Students with computers may research news articles on the Internet. However, they must report the URL where the story can be found as well as summarize its content.
Brief Quiz Assesses Amount of Learning from Waterways Lesson
At the class following the homework review, distribute to students a blank map of North America similar to the one used in the original activity. Ask students to draw and label the eleven most important bodies of water on that map.
Note: For purposes of illustration this lesson identifies eleven important bodies of water taken from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s History and Social Science Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework. Teachers are encouraged to use those identified by their own state or district frameworks.
Sources/References:
National Council for the Social Studies (accessed September 28, 2010).
Commonwealth of Virginia’s History and Social Science Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework (accessed September 27, 2010).
Discovery Channel’s Online Help Service, "Major U.S. Bodies of Water and Rivers." (accessed September 29, 2010).
Richard Methia - RICHARD A. METHIA Dick is an author, educator, trainer, and professional speaker with a career spanning more than forty years. In his ...
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