The Pony Express

Kindra StraatmanEDEL 2200-001

Making maps and the

Social Studies CurriculumMain Curriculum Tie:Social Studies - 4th GradeStandard 1 Objective 2Analyze how physical geography affects human life in Utah

What was the Pony Express?The Pony Express was the first mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra.

Went from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.

Became the wests most direct means of east-west communication before the telegraph it ran from April 3, 1860 to October 1861.

Tied California closely with the Union just before the American Civil War.

The messages were carried by horseback riders in relays to stations across the Western United States.

It reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days!

The Pony express went through Utah and was organized in 2 months and involved

120 riders, 184 stations, 400 horses

On the Pony Express their path was marked, how is your path similar?Lets watch the Pony Express video from This Day in History http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pony-express-debuts

How do you get to school each day? Is it a well-known or marked path?

We need maps today, just like they did back then!We will be making maps to show the routes we take to travel home from school. We can do bus routes or walking, its your choice!Materials well need from our classroom bins:papercolored pencilspencilsrulers

Step #1Bring a small notebook and a pencil with you on your next walk or bus trip from home to school. Jot down the names of important streets along the way. Add landmarks such as parks, stores, and fire and police stations. Keep it simple, too much detail on your map will be confusing!Step #2Take out your notebooks from yesterday with your map information.Mark your route home to school with a bright red colored line. (Bring an example to show the class)

Step #3Add a compass rose to your map!A compass rose shows directions North, East, South, and West.Acronym to help you remember: Never Eat Soggy Waffles!

Step #4Draw a map key that shows what any symbols mean.You can draw a red brick building that = school, a gas pump=gas station, a swing=a park.Use your land marks that you jotted down in your notebook.

Step #5When your map is colored and complete we will split up into our table groups for a table share.Each person will take a turn describing out-loud to their table their route to school.For example: I go west when I leave my house, then I walk a block past a park, etc.

Step #6Were going to make one big-gigantic class map!Well combine all of our individual maps to create a large class map showing everyones route home from school.We will put a compass rose and map key just like your smaller maps.Lots of you will have similar symbols on your maps and we will use the most common ones to include on our class map.We will hang this map up in our classroom!ConclusionWhat was the pony express? Did they have a specific path that they followed?Do you follow a route home from school everyday?Give me an example of a landmark.What is a compass rose? Im going to write a cross on the board and I want you to tell me the four different directions.What was the acronym I taught you to remember?I need 3 people up on the board to help me draw 3 symbols in a map key! (Remember to put a box around your symbols)