Public Transportation
This class will focus on the modes of public transportation in the past. The class will learn about buses, trolleys/street cars, wagons and horses. The class will explore where these modes of transportation are stilled used in today’s society.
Materials needed:
• Modes of transportation picture and handout (Primary document)
• Pictures of trolleys/street cars
• Pictures of horse drawn carriages
• Winona map of street car system (Primary document)
• Winona transit company brochure (Primary document)
• Transportation objects from the past (Maps of different cities, pictures of old automobiles, buses, trolleys, trains, books, and ticket stubs.)
• Transportation objects from the present (Maps of the same cities from above, current pictures of automobiles, buses, trolleys, trains, books, and ticket stubs.) (All these items will be in the purple tub)
• Handout of instructions for comparing activity
Goal:
The students will understand the difference in public transportation from the past to the present.
Objectives:
The student will be able to list similarities of public transportation when comparing the past to the present.
The student will be able to list differences of public transportation when comparing the past to the present.
Procedures:
a. (5 minutes)
Discuss the public transportation that was discussed the day before and what the students learned about public transportation: (Pull the map down and point to the places where the following modes of transportation are used)
• Subway: it is an underground railway system that a lot of people in bigger cities use to get around. (New York City)
• The taxi: this is a form of public transportation that people use to get around and they are usually yellow and people have to pay money to ride in the taxi. (Winona, Minnesota)
• Train: People use the train to get to places around the United States. (Winona, Minnesota)
• The city bus: This is something that is used in many places around the United States. You also have to pay a small fee to ride the bus. (Winona, Minnesota)
b. (10 minutes)
1. Put up the picture entitled “Modes of Transportation.” Have the students come and look at the picture. Then have the students sit back in their seats.
Give the students the handout of the picture. (Modes of Transportation)
Have the students list the five modes of transportation that they see in the picture.
Have the students think-pair-share with the answers that they have come up with.
Then have an open discussion about the answers that they have come up with.
Modes of transportation include:
• Walking, bicycle, wagon and van, streetcar, and automobile.
Have a discussion with the students about how transportation was different back in 1905 when the photograph was taken. Some answers could include:
• You do not see horses on the street today on a regular basis
• You do not see wagons as a mode of transportation around town
• Our automobiles are different looking now then they looked in the photograph.
(5 minutes) 2. Show the picture of the trolley or streetcar. A streetcar is used as a mode of transportation of passengers. Streetcars are rail borne vehicles. Which means that they do not have tires like cars do, but they need a rail, like a train, to be able to go around the town. Ask the students if they have been able to go around in a trolley or streetcar. Explain that trolleys are still used today and one of places that use trolleys is San Diego, California. (Pull down the map and show the students where San Diego is)
Show the picture of the horse drawn wagon. This was also a mode of transportation when there were no automobiles around. Discuss with the students why this would be a good mode of transportation in the past.
• Some people had horses. Horses were strong animals and they were able to pull people around.
• People were hard working and wanted to get around more so they used their lumber and built a wagon.
Then discuss how people still today use horse drawn wagons, and some people that are from our region are called the Amish. Explain that they use this mode because they do not believe in using things that are powered by a motor.
(15 minutes) 3. Hand out many of the different items to the table groups from transportation from the past and present. (these items include photographs, maps, ticket stubs, and books) Let the students explore and look through all the items that they have on their table.
Instruct the students to choose two items that they noticed were different from one another.
Have the students draw a picture of each of the items and then underneath the items have the students list four things that are different and four things that are similar in the spaces that are labeled.
Give the students the handout for clarification of what is needed for them to do.
c. (5 minutes)
Ask the students about what they learned today.
Talk about the trolley activity that they will be doing in tomorrow’s class. (They will be looking at a map and trying to get to certain locations by taking the shortest route.)
Assessments:
Informal assessments will be given throughout the entire lesson. There will be discussion that takes place, and the students will be asked to list differences between two modes of transportation that they choose. Questioning will also be used throughout the lesson.
