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Social & Economic Impacts of Grand River

Provided by: Grand Valley State University

Lesson Plans Grades 6-8, 9-12

Synopsis

In this lesson, students will use historical documents to understand the economic and cultural importance of Michigan's Grand River.
Students will read primary sources to understand the role of the Grand River over time, interpret artifacts from different eras, and create a timeline of the river's history.
Students will learn about the importance of the river to the Anishinabek people, Hopewell cultures, early settlers, the local furniture industry, and urban development.

Subjects: Social Studies, History

Authors: Groundswell Stewardship Initiative

Region: Southwest Michigan

Languages: English

Positives

Having students work in expert groups will give them a sense of responsibility for their research.
The resource includes a wealth of knowledge in the form of primary sources and artifacts for each era of the Grand River's history.

Prerequisites

Students should be familiar with timelines and should know how to interpret primary sources to hypothesize about the past.
Teachers may need to define some of the terms for students depending on which of the primary sources they are reading.
Many of the primary sources begin or end mid-sentence. With these teachers may want to ask studetns to either begin or end reading in the closest complete section.
If students have never worked with primary sources before, it may be appropriate to discuss the ideas and perceptions at play during the writing of these materials and to discuss how these perceptions negatively impacted populations.
Some of the materials in the 1901-2000 folder are not for student use. Teachers may want to create a separate folder for students to use.

Differentiation & Implementation

After creating the timeline, students can talk about the future of the Grand River using their knowledge of climate change and other human impacts.
Some students may benefit from printing artifacts and primary sources and having the option to use highlighters or sticky notes to annotate the materials.
Younger students may benefit from being in groups that allow each member to read only one primary source, artifact, or section, as the abundance of information may be overwhelming for students with low reading stamina.
Connect this resource to climate change topics by discussing the effects of climate change on freshwater resources, how fluctuations in river flows may affect communities, and how the ecological restoration efforts mentioned in the video can support climate mitigation as well.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

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Resource Type and Format