Lesson Plans Topic Land Use in New Hampshire: Farming Focus Question   Boundaries   Technology and Science X Natural Environment and People   Nongovernmental Groups   Cultures, Races and Ethnic Groups   Material Wants and Needs   Politics   Self-Expression Era   Beginnings to 1623 Different Worlds Meet X 1623-1763 Colonization and Settlement X 1763-1820s Revolution and the New Nation X 1801-1861 Expansion and Reform   1850-1877 Civil War and Reconstruction   1870-1900 Development of the Industrial United States   1890-1930 Emergence of Modern America   1929-1945 Great Depression and World War II   1945-early 1970s Postwar United States   1968-present Contemporary United States Social Studies Standards Economics 5; Geography 11; History 16, 17 Grade Level   Elementary   High School   Middle/High School   Middle X Elementary/Middle   All What Students Learn Students discover ways the natural environment has affected how people live in New Hampshire - and in their own community. Procedures For the first day's activity, read page 15 of Marilyn Wyzga's Exploring the Land We Call New Hampshire and brainstorm problems farmers encountered as they prepared land for farming or raising livestock. Discuss why farming was the predominant economic activity in New Hampshire in colonial years and in the early years of statehood. Discuss how climate and physical geography in northern New England influenced this way of life. Write an essay on farming in New Hampshire in the 18th and 19th centuries based on the results of brainstorming and class discussion. For the second activity, visit a working farm in the school's local community. (Be sure to alert the farmer about the purpose of your visit so that he or she is prepared to discuss how long the property has been used for farming and how and why land use has changed on the property and on land around the farm.) Use the observation sheet as a starting point for inquiry. After follow-up discussion, students will compose a creative piece (e.g., a story, poem, song, illustration) based on information they learned from their observations and investigations at the farm. Materials Included in the Lesson Observation sheet for field trip to a local farm. Bibliography Most entries listed below, as well as other teacher resources, are available through the New Hampshire Historical Society's Tuck Library and its museum store. Wyzga, Marilyn. Exploring the Land We Call New Hampshire: An Activity Guide. Concord: New Hampshire Historical Society, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 1992. Assessment Tools and Techniques Essay and creative-writing assignment. Credit This is an adaptation of a lesson created by Patrice Brewer, a participant in the New Hampshire Historical Society's 1999 Summer Institute for Teachers. Introduction | Topics | Lessons | Curriculum | Teacher Exchange For more information, please contact the New Hampshire Historical Society (mfoynes@nhhistory.org) - Who Are We? - What's New? - Museum - Library - Publications - Membership - Museum Store - School Programs - Programs & Events - Questions & Feedback - Home - Copyright © 2007 New Hampshire Historical Society. Last Modified December 11, 2001.