Writer Tom Poland Gets His Kicks on Highway 76
In a way, the journey was done for many fine two-lane highways June 29, 1956. That’s when President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, the Interstate Act. Eisenhower, a general to the end, envisioned highways, his “broad ribbons,” laden with tanks and troops, and South Carolina got its share.
Lesson Created By: Lisa Ray
Grade(s):
- 3
Subject(s):
Recommended Technology:
Other Instructional Materials or Notes:
Lesson Progression
Scenario:
Jim Anderson, a traveling salesman, has been found dead in his car near the South Carolina/Georgia border. Jim was obviously not a man who minded clutter because his car looked like the inside of an 8th grader’s locker!
Strewn everywhere were receipts, brochures, fast food wrappers and odd memorabilia that might explain his actions and activities prior to his death. Included in this weird assortment of evidence was a laptop, a video camera, a torn out article from a Sandlapper magazine, a dictionary turned to the letter M, and a series of cancelled checks. As the main detective on this case, you must establish a timeline that includes dates, Jim’s route (including land regions), places/cities Jim visited, and logical connections between the cancelled checks and his various destinations. Last but not least, you must determine a theory of what happened to Jim. Can you deduce Jim’s intentions and the why and how of Jim’s death from the evidence found in his car?
A worksheet to help you organize your information and a South Carolina road map has been provided. Good luck detective!
Standards
- 3-1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of places and regions in South Carolina and the role of human systems in the state.
- People utilize, adapt to, and modify the physical environment to meet their needs. They also identify regions based on geographic and human characteristics to help them interpret Earth’s complexity. To understand how people interact with the phy...
- 3-1.1 Categorize the six landform regions of South Carolina—the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont, the Sand Hills, the Inner Coastal Plain, the Outer Coastal Plain, and the Coastal Zone— according to their climate, physical features, and natural res...
- 3-1.2 Describe the location and characteristics of significant features of South Carolina, including landforms; river systems such as the Pee Dee River Basin, the Santee River Basin, the Edisto River Basin, and the Savannah River Basin; major cities; a...
- 3-1.3 Explain interactions between the people and the physical landscape of South Carolina over time, including the effects on population distribution, patterns of migration, access to natural resources, and economic development.
- People utilize, adapt to, and modify the physical environment to meet their needs. They also identify regions based on geographic and human characteristics to help them interpret Earth’s complexity. To understand how people interact with the phy...
- I Inquiry-Based Literacy Standards
- I.3 Construct knowledge, applying disciplinary concepts and tools, to build deeper understanding of the world through exploration, collaboration, and analysis.
- I.4 Synthesize information to share learning and/or take action.
- I.5 Reflect throughout the inquiry process to assess metacognition, broaden understanding, and guide actions, both individually and collaboratively.