The United States Geo History Diagram HistoryGeography Project

The United States Geo. History Diagram History-Geography Project Michigan Geographic Alliance New York Geographic Alliance

The United States Geo. Histo. Gram A graphic device that takes advantage of the human brain’s natural tendency to organize information in a space/time framework

Rationale for the GHG The more engaging we make our “educational experiences” – websites, games, field trips, songs, videos, plays, etc. (it’s, like, life-changing!!) the more crucial it is to help students put information into context. .

This is the basic form of the Geo. Histo. Gram – a big box.

Space goes across thethe box, diagram, from west on the left from the west onright the le. to east on the.

Time goes up the side, from the distant past on the bottom totothe thepresentatatthe thetop top. . like rock layers in geology, or artifacts in archaeology.

The scale has more “space” between recent decades. GEEK NOTE The scale is logarithmic to match what research says about how the brain processes space, time, and quantity.

The top bar is divided Into five major regions GEEK NOTE As before, the design is based on recent research in cognitive neuroscience.

The top bar is divided Into five major regions An optional map tells you what states are in each region

A basic graphic uses color to show roughly how “important” each region was at various times in the past. “Importance” is defined as a combination of population, wealth, and political clout.

You could debate whether the widths are drawn correctly. It’s just a framework for adding other information. GEEK NOTE The brain encodes new information in two ways: - general (“absolute”) within the box, - relative to other features.

For example, The brain encodes that “fact” you could note - in the bottom right corner that Jamestowne - near the tip of a purple blob was the first European settlement It is dual encoding, in the “South” in parallel, at the same time, using different brain networks with individual differences (!)

These words show where some nations already existed across the continent.

The symbols and names now show when and where “settlement” happened in each major region.

Santa Fe is. . - the second one (relative) - in the lower left corner (“absolute”) - about the same time as Jamestown (Aha!) Removing names can turn the diagram into an assessment at any time.

Oil embargo Dust Bowl A few major events had significant impact on regional wealth and political influence. Civil War Gold Rush Louisiana Purchase The NW Ordinance opened the lake states.

At any time, students can add almost any kind of information. For example, “dollar diplomacy” ------A policy supported by Eastern banks and Midwestern farms and factories.

At any time, students can add almost any kind of information. Henry Ford Barb wire Cotton gin Al Capone Frederick Douglass

Here is an example of a student activity using the Geo. Histo. Gram: noting the time and place of some important books. What else was happening in other places at the same time (or later in that place)?

Other activity topics: Inventions Explorers Migrations Strikes and protests Environmental “incidents” Presidential homes Symbolic buildings Documents Etc. etc.

For example, a blank Geo. Histo. Gram can be a good basis for an examination of immigration through time.

Northern Europe

Spain Northern Europe

Spain Northern Europe Africa

Ireland Spain Northern Europe Africa

China Ireland Spain Northern Europe Africa

China Scandinavia Germany Ireland Spain Northern Europe Africa

China Eastern Europe Scandinavia Germany Ireland Spain Northern Europe Africa

Russia China Eastern Europe Scandinavia Germany Ireland Spain Northern Europe Africa

Mexico Russia China Eastern Europe Scandinavia Germany Ireland Spain Northern Europe Africa

In a world history class, students can investigate what was happening in those world regions at those times.

In American History, students can investigate the influence of specific acts of Congress. Homest ead Act

Students can also put key events in their own family history on the diagram. My grandmother

Iraqi Lebanese They can add specific facts that are important in the local community – these fit Detroit.

Or you can remove the names and make it into a review quiz.

It swept across the South in the early 1900 s. Here, its time and place are marked on the Geo. Histo. Gram The same diagram can also be used to look at internal migration. This is a boll weevil

About the same time, Ford started building cars. Here is that time and place on the Geo. Histo. Gram. That triggered a mass migration – from the South, but also from Europe. Students could mark it with some arrows.

That helped set the stage for the Great Depression. Students could mark it with a big dark bar. World War I ended. Soldiers came home. Companies hired the returning vets - - and fired the people who had just moved from eastern Europe and the South.

That triggered another great migration – to the West Coast, and rural to urban everywhere. The Depression was especially severe on the Great Plains, because it happened at the same time as the Dust Bowl.

Putting these events on the Geo. Histo. Gram gives a clear visual image of how they fit together in time and place. It’s not the only tool, or even the main one. It’s just an aid to support the text, documents, videos, photos, maps, etc. you already use.

One last example – here is the first group of Presidents

and the second group of Presidents

and the third

It’s another way to show the westward trend.

You could, of course, have chosen to show party affiliation as you placed the symbols.

You could, of course, have chosen to show party affiliation as you placed the symbols. You can show just about anything as long as it happened in a specific place at a specific time. That’s, like, the whole point !

SUMMARY A geo-history diagram like this is a brain-friendly way to organize knowledge. It can serve as the basis for some hands-on student activities. It is valuable to use it briefly in other lessons, to help put them in context. Another good use is as a method of reviewing (e. g. , “test-prep”).

Remember the Rationale: The more engaging/memorable the website, field trip, video, song, simulation, play, etc. is, the more important it is to help students put new information into context.

The Geo-History Diagram will be available in 8 -1/2 x 11 color pages, 11 x 17 color desk mats, bulletin-board posters, reproducible masters, and an interactive electronic “laboratory” suitable for projection. Please contact the Michigan Geographical Alliance for more information.