Geographic Alliance of Iowa

Putting Iowa in its place

Transcontinental Railroad

This lesson was created by Tyler Balow (Decorah School District) for students from ninth to twelfth grade. As a result of this lesson plan, students will understand how the transcontinental railroad began and its construction.

Discipline/Subject

Human Geography

American History

Theme

Cartography/Maps

Cultural/Social

Historical

Region

United States

North America

Five Themes of Geography

Location

Place

Human-Environment Interaction

Movement

Region

Common Core Standards

Speaking and Listening Standards (SL)

National Geographic Standards

1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective

9. The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface

14. How human actions modify the physical environment

15. How physical systems affect human systems

17. How to apply geography to interpret the past

Iowa Core Social Studies Standards

GE 1. Understand the use of geographic tools to locate and analyze information about people, places, and environments

GE 5. Understand how human actions modify the environment and how the environment affects humans

GE 6. Understand how culture affects the interaction of human populations through time and space