Map Activities

Native Americans and Fur Traders

Whitman Mission

Oregon Trail

Maps

Maps are a great teaching aid to introduce and reinforce information. The following are a number of possible activities in which maps could be utilized in the classroom:

1. Have students plot geographic locations of these tribes onto their own maps. Afterwards, have students research the tribes looking for cultural differences among various tribes. Compare and discuss.
   
   Maps showing the location of different Indian tribes can be found at: Maps: Cayuse and Neighboring Tribes.
   
   
2. A copy of a Fort Vancouver map is provided below.
   
   A Fort Vancouver worksheet can be used in conjunction with this map.
   
   

1. Research the type of animals found at the Mission site. Some examples might be: coyote, bullsnake, cottontail rabbit, ducks, Canada goose, garter snake, gopher, Columbian ground squirrel, eastern grey squirrel, meadowlark, robin, magpie, crow, deer, and red-winged blackbird. Draw maps of the mission site or surrounding area Use various symbols to note the locations of animal sightings and habitat areas onto the map.
   
   A map to base the surrounding area upon may be found by Clicking Here.
   
   An expansion to this activity might be to include the development of land around the mission site, such as nearby neighborhoods, roadways, and malls. Related questions dealing with current development, possible community controls, possible further growth, further planned development problems could lead to continued discussions about land use and planning for further growth.
   
   
2. Design and construct a relief map of the general area and show the site of the Mission.
   
   

1. Obtain or create a map of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. As you read from an Oregon Trail diary each day, have students plot the daily travels directly onto the map. By the end of the school year the complete Oregon Trail should be drawn onto the map. Also, have individual maps for students to plot the route. These individual maps could be filed inside their own Oregon Trail folders.
   
   
2. Research various types of animals that lived along the Oregon Trail. Draw maps of a given location, using various symbols note the locations of animal sightings onto the map. Also, habitat locations could be noted.
   
   
3. Study vegetation and rainfall maps of states along the Oregon Trail. Have students transfer the data onto blank state maps. Compare existing vegetation to the existing rainfall and determine whether or not any relationships or patterns in vegetation and precipitation emerge. With regard to precipitation and available vegetation, what states and regions might have been the most difficult to travel through? The easiest? Why?

Privacy & Disclaimer
Webmaster: Renee Rusler
Last modified on: March 6, 2004