Marking History on the County Map

RULES: No shoes allowed on the map. Please have students remove shoes before walking on the map. Socks are required. No writing utensils on the map.

Grade Level: Grades 6-12

Time needed: One or more class periods.

Purpose: In order to explore the county through an economic, historic, geographic, and civic perspective,

students will identify and study various recognized sites and locations throughout the county.

Indiana Social Studies Standards Addressed:

3.1.4 Give examples of people, events and developments that brought important changes to your community

and the regions where your community is located.

3.1.5Create simple timelines that identify important events in various regions of the state.

3.1.6Use a variety of resources to gather information about your region’s communities; identify factors that make the region unique, including cultural diversity, industry, the arts and architecture.

3.3.1Use labels and symbols to locate and identify physical and political features on maps and globes.

3.3.10Construct maps and graphs that show aspects of human/environmental interaction in the community,

Indiana and communities within the region.

4.1.1Identify and compare the major early cultures that existed in the region that became Indiana prior to

contact with Europeans.

4.1.4Summarize and explain the significance of key documents in Indiana’s development from a United

States territory to statehood.

4.1.6Explain how key individuals and events influenced the early growth of and development of Indiana.

4.1.7Construct a brief narrative about an event in Indiana history using primary and secondary sources.

4.1.17Using primary and secondary sources and online source materials, construct a brief narrative about an

event in Indiana history.

4.1.18Research and describe the contributions of important Indiana artists and writers to the state’s cultural

landscape.

4.3.2Estimate distances between two places on a map when referring to relative location.

4.3.9Explain the importance of major transportation routes, including rivers, in the exploration, settlement

and growth of Indiana and in the state’s location as a crossroads of America.

4.3.13Read and interpret thematic texts (written, graphs, maps, timelines, etc.) to answer geographic questions about Indiana in the past and present.

5.1.1Identify and describe early cultures and settlements that existed in North America prior to contact with Europeans.

5.3.4Identify Native American Indian and colonial settlements on maps and explain the reasons for the locations of these places.

6.1.23Form research questions and use a variety of information resources to obtain, evaluate and present data on people, cultures and developments in Europe and the Americas

8.1.24Describe the abolitionist movement and identify figures and organizations involved in the debate over slavery, including leaders of the Underground Railroad.

8.3.1Read maps to interpret symbols and determine the land forms and human features that represent physical

and cultural characteristics of regions in the United States.

USH.9.3 Analyze multiple, unexpected, and complex causes and effects of events in the past.

USH.9.2 Locate and analyze primary sources and secondary sources related to an event or issue of the past;

Discover possible limitations in various kinds of historical evidence and differing secondary

opinions.

USH.9.5 Use technology in the process of conducting historical research and in the presentation of the

products of historical research and current events.

Materials:

  • Indiana Historical Bureau list of state historic markers:
  • Giant County Map and Timeline

Objectives:

  • Students will identify and describe sites in Indiana.
  • Students will use maps to identify significant places and events in Indiana’s past.
  • Students will use research skills to learn about the past.

Procedures:

Part One

  1. Ask the class to name some important National landmarks (Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, etc.) Discuss with the students why and how we commemorate these landmarks. Discuss why they are important to the economy.
  2. Ask the class to identify places in Indiana that might be considered landmarks and discuss why they might be considered important (think of economics, geography, sociology, psychology, and history).
  3. Have the students explore the Giant County Map to identify any important landmarks.
  4. Have the students use the Internet to identify locally recognized landmarks or places of interest. Create one-page informational brochures about the various sites.
  5. Place the informational brochures of a site onto the map … marking the location of the site.
  6. On the Giant County Map have the students calculate the distance it would take to travel from their school to each site. Using yarn or string mark the routes traveled on the map.
  7. Have students research (individually or in small groups) and report on one of the sites or historic markers. They might even make a Power Point presentation or other type of presentation to the class about their findings. Post the information in a prominent school hallway for the remainder of the students to view along with a map of Indiana indicating the places researched.

Part Two

  1. Use the list of Historic Markers in Indiana found at the Indiana Historical Bureau Website to learn about the state’s historical markers.
  2. Identify the sites by county and place the number of markers in each county on the Giant Map of Indiana.
  3. Identify any counties without markers. Research one of these counties and identify/create a marker for that county. The students should be able to explain their decision and report on their choice.
  4. Categorize the markers by person, event, and place. Create different types of graphs (bar, pie chart, etc.) to record this information.

Additional Activities:

  • Have students create a postage stamp commemorating a state historic site or marker.
  • Have students design and make a travel brochure about history in Indiana.
  • Select a site in your community that could be a state historic site. Create a site brochure and other materials to promote this site.
  • Work with IHB to actually create a new marker for the state of Indiana. Information on procedures can be found at their Website.
  • Take a field trip to a state historic site.
  • Have students make a diorama of one of the state historic sites.
  • Have student learn about Indiana’s state parks and identify them on the Giant Map of Indiana. Do the same for Indiana’s national landmarks and memorials.

Resources:

National Historic Landmarks in Indiana:

Indiana State Museum and state historic sites:

Angel Mounds State Historic Site:

Historic Corydon:

Gene Stratton Porter Memorial Society:

Levi Coffin House:

T.C. Steele State Historic Site:

Vincennes State Historic Site:

Use historical markers in the classroom:

Indiana Historical Marker Program (Indiana Historical Bureau)

Books:

Destination Indiana: Travels through Hoosier History- by Ray Boomhower and Darryl L. Jones

Journeys to the Past: A Traveler’s Guide to Indiana State Historical Markers- by Allan McPherson

My Indiana: 101 Places to See-by Earl L. Conn

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