Teacher Guide This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble. Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at BingInTheClassroom@Microsoft.com. You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site. Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools. Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names. This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading: Informational Text CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? © Marc Muench/Tandem Still + Motion Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? The origins of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail began many centuries ago. Long before Europeans arrived in North America, the trail was used by several Native American tribes as a highway. It once stretched roughly 500 miles, mostly through what is now Mississippi, and also through parts of modern-day Tennessee and Alabama. Today, the trail is maintained by the National Park Service and is open to hikers and horses. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile paved highway that parallels the Scenic Trail, allowing modern-day travelers to journey by car or bike between Nashville and Natchez. Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 1 Web Search How did the Natchez Trace trail originally form? How did animals play a role in creating it? 2 Map Search Find the trail on a map. What do you notice about the surrounding area? Why might a trail have been a good way of traveling in this location? 3 Historically, who were the Native American tribes who used the trail and what were they using it for? 4 When and why did trade on the Natchez trail begin to decrease? 5 What do people use the Natchez Trace trail for today? There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 5 Minutes You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 1 Web Search How did the Natchez Trace trail originally form? How did animals play a role in creating it? 2 Map Search Find the trail on a map. What do you notice about the surrounding area? Why might a trail have been a good way of traveling in this location? 3 Historically, who were the Native American tribes who used the trail and what were they using it for? 4 When and why did trade on the Natchez trail begin to decrease? 5 What do people use the Natchez Trace trail for today? You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 1 Web Search How did the Natchez Trace trail originally form? How did animals play a role in creating it? (Possible queries: “history of Natchez Trace Trail”, “formation of Natchez trail”, “origin of Natchez trail”). From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_lick: Largely following a geologic ridgeline, prehistoric animals followed the dry ground between the salt licks of central Tennessee to grazing lands southward and the Mississippi River. Native Americans used many early footpaths created by the foraging of bison, deer, and other large game that could break paths through the dense undergrowth. (A salt lick is a natural mineral deposit where animals in nutrient-poor ecosystems can obtain essential mineral nutrients).
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 2 Map Search Find the trail on a map. What do you notice about the surrounding area? Why might a trail have been a good way of traveling in this location? (Possible queries: “Bing/Maps: Natchez Trace Trail”, “Bing/Maps: Mississippi”, “Bing/Maps: Tennessee”, “Bing/Maps; Alabama”). Students should look at the Natchez Trace trail on a map, such as the one found here: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?q=natchez+trace+trail&mkt=en&FORM=HDRSC4 and zoom out until they can see its surrounding states (Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama). They should think critically about the transfer of goods in this part of the world. They may note that Mississippi and Alabama border the Gulf of Mexico where things might have arrived by ship. The trail would be a way to transfer some of these goods to more northern states like Tennessee. They should also note that Tennessee is a landlocked state, so there would need to be a way to get goods to people there without using boats coming in off the coast.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 3 Web Search Historically, who were the Native American tribes who used the trail and what were they using it for? (Possible queries: “Native American Tribes, Natchez Trace Trail”, “history, Native Americans and Natchez Trace Trail”, “Natchez Tribe Native American trade”). Fromhttp://www.legendsofamerica.com/ms-natcheztracelegends.html: The trail was utilized by the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez tribes who called the region home and traveled upon the trail on hunting and trading expeditions.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 4 Web Search When and why did trade on the Natchez trail begin to decrease? (Possible queries: “history Natchez trail”, “trade decrease on Natchez Trace Trail”). From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace: By 1816, the continued development of both Memphis, with its access to the Mississippi River, and Nashville, which with Jackson’s Military Road had a direct line to New Orleans, Louisiana began shifting trade both east and west away from the Trace. With the rise of steamboat culture on the Mississippi, the Trace lost its importance as a national road, as goods could be moved more quickly and cheaply, in greater quantity, on the river. Although many authors have written that the Trace disappeared back into the woods, much of it continued to be used by people living in its vicinity. With large sections of the Trace in Tennessee converted to county roads for operation, it continues to be used.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? 5 Web Search What do people use the Natchez Trace trail for today? (Possible queries: “Natchez Trace trail today”, “visiting the Natchez Trace trail”). From http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm: Today, visitors can enjoy not only a scenic drive but also hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping.
How has the purpose of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail changed over time? This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question. Students should be able to explain how the Trail has served different purposes over time, starting with animals forging the trail through the forest following salt licks from Tennessee to the Mississippi River. Native Americans, such as the Natchez, Choctaw, Chickasaw used the footpaths that were created for trade and hunting expeditions. Eventually, Europeans who settled in America also used the trail for trade. The trail began to be used less in the 1800s with the development of the steamboat which could move goods more cheaply and quickly. Today, the trail still exists as a place for people to visit for hiking, biking, horseback riding and camping.