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Teacher's Packet |
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Instructions THEME: The history of the railroad is an interesting one. These are many important people who organized the railroad, and many obstacles they and their employees (the railroad workers) had to overcome. SUBJECTS: Social Studies, Art, Spelling, Language Arts, Geography, Physical Education. OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to name some of the railroad officials and list some construction feats of each railroad. METHOD: The students will accomplish the learning objectives by first discussing the background information with the teacher. Then the students can get some exercise by doing the activity outlined below, the worksheet, or any combination you wish to use. BACKGROUND: This linked page can also be given to the student to help complete the worksheet. PROCEDURE: Either read the background linked page to the class or make copies of it and hand it out. It contains the information needed for the worksheet that accompany this activity. If you wish to do an active activity, you must convey some information about the hardships of construction to the students. First, explian that for the Chinese of the Central Pacific the hardest consturction was found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They had to build fifteen tunnels through solid granite, causing them to toil in the mountians for two years, constructing only 39 miles of track. The Union Pacific had problems too, in the plains of Nebraska. They had to cross many streams and rivers, and in the spring when there were a lot of floods, the track kept getting washed away. So they had to back and reconstruct. They also had to reconstruct the track that the Native Americans (American Indians) tore up. While trying to protect their land from encrochment. Once the student understand this information, split the class into two teams and explian the rules of this game: - The teams start on two different ends of the field and race toward each other. -The Central Pacific team must make human bridges all the way to the finish in the center (see illustration at top of page). The first kids grasp hands in the air. The next kids go under the bridge and do the same, making the tunnel longer. They follow this process until all the kids are a part of the tunnel. Then, the kids who are at the back go through the tunnel to the front, and then grasp hands and add to the tunnel. They continue this process until the tunnel reaches the finish line. -The team of the Union Pacific forms a train by standing in a single column line with each person putting their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. The leader guides the train in first taking five steps forward and then two steps back. They continue this until the leader reaches the finish line. Hopefully the Union Pacific team will win. This will demonstrate to the class why the Union Pacific was able to build more miles of track than the Central Pacific, because the Central Pacific toiled in the mountians for so long. Explain this to the class after the game is completed. EXTENSION: *Use any combination of worksheet and game. *For upper grades, an essay or oral report can be assigned. Have the students each choose one of the subjects underlined on the following information page ("The First Transcontinental or Pacific Railroad") that intrests them. The essay should be 1 to 5 pages long (you determine the length) and should describe the importance of the chosen topic to the construction of the transcontinental railroad. EVALUATION: The students can be evaluated on the completion of the worksheets, and on their understanding of why the Union Pacific built more track than the Central Pacific. Grades: 1-7 Duration: one to two class periods Group size: any Setting: classroom for discussion and worksheet, outside or in gym for game |
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