Social Studies Lesson Plan for Just Fine the Way They Are

Essential Question

  • How does transportation transform communities?

Big Ideas

  • Transportation transformed America.
  • Transportation is essential for expansion.
  • Forms of transportation change and evolve.
  • Communities are changed by transportation.

Materials and Resources


Conestoga wagons      contraptions          military vehicle           people:

stagecoach                    freight                     Stage Company           Lucius Stockton

locomotive                    Main Street            congress                       Peter Cooper

National Road              assembly line         taxes                             Tom Thumb

wheelmen                      Model T                                                         Henry Ford

Social Studies Lesson Plans

  1. Fact/Opinion
  2. Timeline
  3. Persuasion
  4. Class Project: Transportation Museum

Explicit Teaching

  • Build background by showing a map of the route of the National Road today.
  • Trace the Road from its conception in the early 1800’s to its conclusion in Illinois.
  • Define vocabulary words above.
  • Discuss the concept of “change.” What does change mean as it relates to transportation? What changes have the children seen in the world of transportation in their lifetimes?
  • Create a timeline of key historic events/eras as a backdrop for the evolving National Road. You may want to include dates for the following events: Oregon Trail, Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, etc.