Name: Turner, Lucia
E-mail: seacats@mynewroads.com
Topic: "Professional" Settlement of Arkansas
Grade: 8
Time: 1-2
Ark. Hist. Framework: 3.1.0, 3.1.13
Objective: Students will understand how the physical geography of Arkansas
played and instrumental role in the settlement of the state.
Set: Display a topographical map of Arkansas with the question "Where would
you choose to live and why?" Tell the students to take a couple of minutes
to consider this and answer to themselves.
Materials: topographical map of Arkansas--transparency regional map of Arkansas--transparency
list of professions of the 1800s
Key Terms: settlement, plateau, alluvial plain, coastal plain, river valley, delta,
highlands,lowlands
Key Facts: The Ozarks, Ouachitas and Arkansas River Valley are considered the
Uplands.
Fertile river valleys exist in the Ozark Plateau.
Mostly hardwood trees grow in the Ozark Plateau.
Softwood is grown in the uplands.
The Ouachita Mountains are rich inb underground mineral sources.
The Gulf Coastal Plain's soil is poor for farming.
The Arkansas River floods frequently.
The Delta is some of the best farmland in America.
Activities: 1. Review the six regions of Arkansas with a
transparency.
2. Ask students to name advantages and disadvantages of living in each
region.
3. Discuss how people with certain professions might view the
regions.
Closure: Put the transparency of the topographical map and question back
up. Tell the students to consider their first answer. Ask if it has
changed? Why? Have a few students tell their answers.
Assessment: Students will draw from a hat a piece of paper with an 1800s
profession written on it. Based on that profession, students will assume
the role of a person in the 1800s with that profession, and write a letter to
their family "back East" about what region they have chosen in Arkansas as their
new home, and why they chose that region over the other five.
Resources: An Arkansas History For Young People--Baker and Browning
Regional map of Arkansas
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