Sample Pages - Unit 2

Sample Pages: Unit 2
Frameworks for America's Past

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Tips for completing the map on page 29, shown above:

Have students color the area of the Great Plains with a yellow color pencil, shading lightly and neatly. The states are already labeled on the page. Point out that the Great Plains also extends into Canada. Next, have students print the notes about the Great Plains in the box. Explain that they should print neatly in a size that will display well in the space provided, similar to the map above.

On the map below, the Transcontinental Railroad is the part between Omaha, Nebraska, and Sacramento, California. Railroad lines already existed reaching from the eastern states to Omaha when work on the Transcontinental Railroad began in 1863. The line was completed in 1869, finally linking the East and the West by rail.

Tips for completing the map on page 33, shown above:

Have students color the rivers first, following the dotted guide lines, using a blue color pencil. Then they should shade the Great Lakes and the Great Salt Lake, using a light blue pencil. The river labels and the Great Salt Lake label are already on the page. Remind students to always shade areas on maps, such as large bodies of water or areas of land, very lightly!

Next, have students color the railroad lines, following the dotted guide lines, using a red color pencil. Make them fairly heavy red lines, so they show well. Remind students that many more railroad lines were built in the West (and in the East as well) during this time period.

Tell students to use green color pencils to show the cattle trails and the original range of the Texas Longhorn. There are dotted guide lines on the page. The trails should be shown with fairly heavy green lines, but the land area in southern Texas should be colored a bit lighter. The cattle trail labels are already on the map. Point out that the cattle trails all end at towns along one of the railroad lines. There were other cattle trails as well, but these are three of the most famous.

Finally, remind students to complete the colors in the map's key, and to finish the job by coloring the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico very lightly and neatly with a light blue pencil.

Copyright 2009, 2022 by David Burns. All rights reserved. As a guide to the Virginia Standards of Learning, some pages necessarily include phrases or sentences from that document, which is available online from the Virginia Department of Education. The author's copyright extends to the original text and graphics, unique design and layout, and related material.