Visit Theme: Colonial New England

This lesson shows how the competitors for land in present day New England saw and mapped the landscape and its resources. This visit theme includes a Resources of New England game in which students collect the resources that native peoples and early settlers used to survive and prosper.

  • Grade Levels: 3-12
  • Time Allotment: 50 to 60 minutes for classroom visits; 75 to 90 minutes for field trips
  • ME Social Studies Standards
    • C1: Economic Knowledge, Concepts, Themes, and Patterns
    • C2: Individual, Cultural, Internation, and Global Connections in Economics
    • D1: Geographic Knowledge, Concepts, Themes, and Patterns
    • E1: Historical Knowledge, Concepts, Themes, and Patterns
    • E2: Individual, Cultural, Internation, and Global Connections in History

Preteaching

Intended to be completed in the classroom before the scheduled field trip or class visit, the pre-teaching activity will give students some familiarity with the terms, ideas, and visuals, that they will see during the actual visit.

Guided Inquiry Exercise

During this portion of the visit, students will be asked to look closely at twelve to twenty maps that fit within the curriculum theme. Each student will need to find:

  1. something they recognize from previous class lessons or from the pre-teaching activity
  2. something they find interesting and want to point out to their classmates
  3. something they would like to know more about

Examples of Maps Used:
(sets of maps will vary)

Interactive

OML visit themes have recommended hands-on activities or group-games that can be done in conjunction with the Guided Inquiry exercise.

Interested?

Schedule a Field Trip or Class Visit

*For large groups or groups with a flexible time frame, take a peek at our related partnership program,
New England & Portland in the Colonial Era with the Tate House Museum.