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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that the type of industries in Chicopee changed over time. They will compare a city map of 1846 to a present-day map of the same neighborhood and try to explain why industry came and went from the area in the last one hundred and fifty years.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Pre-activity: The teacher will introduce the online materials that the students will be referencing: “Plan for Chicopee Falls Village 1846 (attached to this activity), modern maps of Chicopee and the Chicopee River (see websites below), and websites containing the history of Chicopee (see below).
Step 2.
Students will work in small groups or partners to compare the modern street map (please see web links) to a copy of the “Plan for Chicopee Falls Village” (1846). The teacher should encourage the students to focus on the industry along the Chicopee River.
Step 3.
Groups/partners of students will generate a list of questions about the differences in the two maps. For example: What happened to the canals? What did the mills produce? What happened to those mills? What industry does Chicopee have today?
Step 4.
The teacher will compile a list of questions from all of the groups. The students will be asked to offer possible answers to their questions based on prior knowledge of this community’s history.
Step 5.
Assign a research activity. The students will attempt to find the answers to all of the questions on the compiled list.
Step 6.
Post-activity: the groups report their findings. Each group presents one question and answer verbally to the class.
Step 7.
This activity could also be used for a wall or hallway display. Post copies of both maps (enlarged) and questions with answers (in large print on colored paper) around the maps.
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