Desert Views - First Impression:Travelers on the Gila Trail

Carol Carney Warren

Arizona Geographic Alliance

Grades 4 and 5

1 - 2 class periods

StandardsNational GeographyELEMENT ONE: THE WORLD INSPATIAL TERMS1. How to use maps and other

geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

ELEMENT TWO: PLACES ANDREGIONS6. How culture and experience influence

people's perceptions of places and regions.

ELEMENT SIX: THE USES OFGEOGRAPHY17. How to apply geography to interpret

the past.

ArizonaGeographyConcept 2: Places and RegionsGrade 4 PO 1. Describe how the Southwest has

distinct physical and cultural characteristics.

Grade 5PO 1. Describe how the following

regions exemplify the concept of region as an area with unifying human or natural factors: b. West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest

Concept 6: Geographic ApplicationsGrade 4PO 1. Describe the impact of

geographic features on migration and the location of human activities.

Grade 5 PO 1. Describe how geographic

features influenced events in the past in the Original Thirteen Colonies, the Great Plains, the Pacific Northwest and the West.

StandardsSocial Studies Strand 1: American HistoryConcept 1: Research Skills for History Grades 4 and 5PO 1. Use the following to interpret historical data:

a. timelines – B.C.E. and B.C.; C.E. and A.D.b. graphs, tables, charts, and maps

PO 2. Describe the difference between primary and secondary sources.PO 3. Locate information using both primary and secondary sources.

Concept 5: Westward Expansion Grade 4PO 2. Describe the influence of American explorers and trappers on the

development of the Southwest.Grade 5PO 1. Describe the following events of 19th century presidencies of:

e. James Polk – Mexican-American War; discovery of gold in CaliforniaPO 2. Describe the different perspectives (e.g., Native Americans, settlers,

Spanish, the U.S. government, prospectors) of Manifest Destiny.PO 3. Identify major westward migration routes of the 19th Century.

StandardsELA Common Core StandardsReadingInformational TextKey Ideas and Details4.RI.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the

text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.Craft and Structure4.RI.4 and 5.RI.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and

domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 or 5 topic or subject area.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas4.RI.8 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support

particular points in a text.5.RI.8 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support

particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).

StandardsWriting

Production and Distribution of Writing

AZ.4.W.4 Produce clear and coherent functional writing (e.g., friendly and formal letters, recipes, experiments, notes/messages, labels, graphs/tables, procedures, invitations, envelopes) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

AZ5.W.4 Produce clear and coherent functional writing (e.g., formal letters, recipes, experiments, notes/messages, labels, timelines, graphs/tables, procedures, invitations, envelopes) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

4.W.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

5.W.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting,or trying a new approach.

StandardsLanguageConventions of Standard EnglishAZ.4.L.1 h. Write and organize one or more paragraphs about a topic.AZ.5.L.1 f. Construct one or more paragraphs that contain:

• a topic sentence,• supporting details,• relevant information, and concluding sentences.

4.L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.a. Use correct capitalization.b. Use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text.c. Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence.d. Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

Standards5.L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English

capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

a. Use punctuation to separate items in a series.

b. Use a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence.

c. Use a comma to set off the words yes and no, to set off a tag question from the rest of the sentence, and to indicate direct address.

d. Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

Knowledge of Language

4.L.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

a. Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely.

Overview

Many early travelers to the

Southwest wrote about the new

environment they encountered.

Students can read about

familiar desert plants and animals as described by 19th century travelers crossing the American Southwest.

Purpose

In this lesson students are introduced to primary source material by reading descriptions written by overland travelers on the Gila Trail. They will understand the ways in which early travelers viewed aspects of the desert environment.

Materials• Southwestern United States Topography and Rivers

map• The Gila Trail map• Drawing Paper• Colored pencils or crayons• Primary source material• Photos of desert plants and animals (selected by

teacher)

Objectives

The student will be able to: • Identify a source as a primary source. • Locate the Gila Trail on a map.• Visualize and draw plants and animals

described by the primary source writers.

• Write a letter describing a plant or animal in Arizona.

Procedures1. Show the map of the Gila Trail and the

Southwest and discuss how travelers used this route to come into and through Arizona in the 1800s.

Procedures2. Define/review the term “primary source” and

introduce the primary source writers. You can use one or more of the sources as time permits.

3. Discuss the type of land they traversed and conditions under which they traveled (heat, dust, little food/water, and exhaustion) and that they were experiencing a new environment (the Sonoran Desert).

Procedures 4. Using route information

about the travelers (provided in the additional files), have students draw the traveler's route on the map of the Southwestern United States. If you are using more than one traveler, have students make a key using a different color for each traveler.

Procedures5. Read aloud the travelers’ descriptions of desert plants and

animals. You can use one or more of the writings. Students may need help understanding the unusual words and manner of writing. Remind them of the writers’ situations at the time they wrote these descriptions and discuss why they wrote them.

Procedures6. Have students draw and color pictures of the

desert flora and fauna as descriptions are read.

The teacher should read the entire description through one time and then repeat it sentence by sentence as students draw.

Remind students they are not trying to guess what the plant or animal is, but drawing what is described in the paragraph.

William W. Hunter, “Diary-Journal, 1849,” page 107

“Two of our men killed and presented to me a singular looking animal of the lizard genus. Its color on the back is a rusty black, variegated with irregular lines and figures of pale yellow. Its belly of the same colors the white or pale yellow predominating and tinged with a shade of pink. Its tail, short and thick, is marked with patches and irregular rings. The lips are jet-black, as well as the throat and lower extremities of the legs. These have each five toes armed with talons. The mouth is enormously large armed with transparent teeth formed like fangs, through which I thought I could distinguish a line of light, denoting them to be tubes, and a thick tongue forked at the point. Its eyes were black. The skin is thick and looks as though it were beaded, the beads touching and raised to half their height.”

William W. Hunter, “Diary-Journal, 1849,” page 107

“Two of our men killed and presented to me a singular looking animal of the lizard genus. Its color on the back is a rusty black, variegated with irregular lines and figures of pale yellow. Its belly of the same colors the white or pale yellow predominating and tinged with a shade of pink. Its tail, short and thick, is marked with patches and irregular rings. The lips are jet-black, as well as the throat and lower extremities of the legs. These have each five toes armed with talons. The mouth is enormously large armed with transparent teeth formed like fangs, through which I thought I could distinguish a line of light, denoting them to be tubes, and a thick tongue forked at the point. Its eyes were black. The skin is thick and looks as though it were beaded, the beads touching and raised to half their height.”

Procedures7. After drawings are finished, identify the plants or animals

described.8. Compare drawings to pictures of the plants and animals. 9. Reread the primary source description again while

viewing the photo and discuss the traveler’s description.

NPS photo

How was the description?Forked tongue? Black lips and legs?

NPS photos

Procedures10. Review that one type of primary source that

historians use is letters written in the past. Many overland travelers on the Gila Trail wrote letters home as they journeyed west.

11. Have students pretend to be a traveler on a wagon train on the Gila Trail in Arizona and write a letter home to a family member (parent, brother, or sister), describing a plant or animal as if they were seeing it for the first time. Use correct personal letter format.

Assessment• Student letter can be assessed for writing

using the 6-trait rubric for ideas, word choice, and conventions. Mastery will be considered 4 or higher.

• The geography concept can be assessed by Ideas from the 6-trait rubric and the correct route drawn on the map.

• To assess reading, have students write one or two sentences explaining the primary source writer’s purpose for writing the description.

Extensions

• Apply this idea to other regions of the country, or overland trail being studied. A children’s book that tells of a strange animal encountered by Lewis and Clark is: Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President.

• Discuss how letters were sent home before there was mail service. For a description of how a letter written in Tucson in 1849 was delivered to Texas, see the article "Special Delivery" in Arizona Highways, January, 2001, pages 36-37.

Extensions

• Identify the difference between a published and an unpublished primary source.

• Have students write a description of a familiar plant or animal they have seen near where they live.

Sources• Harris, B. B. (1960). The Gila Trail: The Texas Argonauts and

the California Gold Rush. Edited by Richard H. Dillon. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

• Hunter, W. W. “Diary-Journal, 1849 of Events, Etc. on a Journey from Missouri to California in 1849.” University of Arizona Special Collections Library, Tucson, Arizona.

• Lang, W. B. (1940). First Overland Mail. Washington, D.C.: Walter B. Lang.

• Marvin, B. (January, 2001). "Special Delivery,“ Arizona Highways, pp. 36-37.

• Robards, J. L. Papers. “Journal of a Journey to California,” Joint Collection. University of Missouri Western Historical Manuscript Collection- Columbia and State Historical Society of Missouri Manuscripts. Columbia, Missouri.

• Gila Monster photos from National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/imagebase.html