Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

STEM Lesson: The Underground Railroad and US Landforms.

Diana Rosado Jim´enez

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Affiliation not available

March 25, 2021

U.S Landforms and the Underground Railroad.

Suggested Time: 180 Minutes

N.G.S.S. Standards:

• MS-ESS2-1 Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that

drives the process.

• MS-ESS2-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed

Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

• MS-ESS2-3 Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and

seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions

NCSS Themes:

I. Time, Continuity and Change III. People, Places, and Environments IV. Individual Development and

Identity V. Individuals, Groups and Institutions VIII. Science, Technology, and Society IX. Global Connec-

N.Y. Social Studies Framework Standards:

7.7 REFORM MOVEMENTS: Social, political, and economic inequalities sparked various reform movements

and resistance efforts. Influenced by the Second Great Awakening, New York State played a key role in major

reform efforts. (Standards: 1, 5; Themes: SOC, CIV, GOV) 7.7a The Second Great Awakening, which had

a strong showing in New York State, inspired reform movements. 7.7b Enslaved African Americans resisted

slavery in various ways in the 19th century. The abolitionist movement also worked to raise awareness of and

generate resistance to the institution of slavery. ? Students will examine ways in which enslaved Africans

organized and resisted their conditions. ? Students will explore the efforts of William Lloyd Garrison,

Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman to abolish slavery. ? Students will investigate New York State and

its role in the abolition movement, including the locations of Underground Railroad stations.

3. Border States

4. Catastrophic

5. Citizen

6. Conductors

7. Convergent Boundary

8. Crops

9. Discrimination

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

10. Displace

11. Divergent Boundary

12. Elevation

13. Fault

14. Fault Block Mountains

21. Mountains

22. Plantation

23. Plate Tectonics

24. Property

25. Rivers

26. Slave

27. Slave Trade

28. Stations

29. Subduction

30. Transform Boundary

31. Transportation

32. Underground Railroad

33. Folded Mountains

• Identify the journey of fugitive slaves on the underground railroad.

• Identify the different landforms and the tectonic plate movements that made the continent of the

United States.

• Explore how the movement of plates forms mountain ranges and volcanoes and causes earthquakes.

• Construct explanations, develop and use a model created by them to identify patterns to understand

how plates move and interact.

• Determine the influence of the U.S. landform in the decision making of the routes.

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

• Discuss the dangers o the journey of the fugitives as they traveled on the Underground Railroad.

• Use google maps to create an escape route for slaves and make a 3D Model.

• iPad or tablet

• Colors

• Paper

• Glue

• Cardboard

• Worksheet: Lab Go Further: What tectonic processes are most responsible for shaping North Amer-

• Underground Railroad Videos: https://www.pbs.org/video/history-detectives-underground-

Optional Multimedia Resources

• https://sn2.scholastic.com/issues/2019-20/030220.html

1. Students will do a APK chart about Landform Formations and tectonic plates that shape earth.

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

2. Students before class will do a flipped classroom activity:

https://edpuzzle.com/media/605bddfca967d64274987cc7

The Lesson:

Part 1. The Underground Railroad (20 Minutes)

Introduction: Teachers and students discuss the flipped classroom video creating a virtual concept map of

the underground railroad in groups of 2- 3 students.

Part 2. North American Landforms (30 Minutes)

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

Students will explore the North America topographical map and complete the following worksheet of: What

tectonic processes are most responsible for shaping North America?

Worksheet Lab: What tectonic processes are most responsible for shaping North America?

Mountains are important structures of the North American landscape. By studying the types of mountains,

scientists can figure out what processes have shaped the continent over the last several hundred million years.

it all of its parts. Scientists research information so they can answer questions and draw conclusions about

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

* What tectonic plates form the boundary near your mountain range?

* What type(s) of mountains make up your mountain range?

* How did the mountains form?

* What other factors have affected the height or the shape of the mountains?

3. Create a visual PPT with images about the mountain ranges you researched. Include photographs or

4. Compare and Contrast How are the mountain ranges similar? How are they different?

5. Identify What forces have shaped North America?

Part 3. The Challenge (60 - 180 Minutes)

Students will create a model in groups of 2-3 students ( Same groups as Part 1) representing the Map of the

United States with its mountain ranges and landforms. They will label in their 3D model that can be done

in 3D program as well, the following:

• 4 main routes – loose system of routes 1. North along Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to north 2. South

to Florida and Bahamas; 3. West into Mexico along the Gulf; and 4. East along coast Canada

• 29 states including: Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New

West Virginia, Florida, Colorado

• Mexico, Canada, Caribbean

• Create a key

• Taking into account the routes previously taken trace in color blue a route you would have taken to

reach freedom that slaves at the time didn’t take. Use google earth to see any challenges you may have

You may try this alternate routes:

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

- Start in Richmond, Virginia; go through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stopping in Montreal, Quebec,

Canada.

Canada.

- Start in Jackson, Mississippi; go through Detroit, Michigan, stopping in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Homework and Lesson Assessment Wrap Up:

Write a 3 paragraph individual essay answering the following questions:

Did the shape and landforms of North America influence the decision of the Underground Railroad Conduc-

tors to use the routes they did to escape to freedom? Why or Why not? Explain your reasoning.

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Posted on Authorea 25 Mar 2021 — The copyright holder is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse without permission. — https://doi.org/10.22541/au.161670433.32615835/v1 — This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

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