Guilford, Vermont 6th
Graders: Mapping &
Exploring the Land & Streams
of Home
The story of our meandering journey to the source of Broad Brook.
Starting with a Simple Map of our Town of Guilford: Students
Choose Locations They Think They Ought to Know
Name:
Date:
Memory Map #1: Guilford Places
Label the following on your map, being
careful with spelling & punctuation.
Roads:
1. Green River Road
2. Sweet Pond Road
3. Weatherhead Hollow Road
4. Guilford Center Road
5. Bonnyvale Road
6. Route 5 (Coolidge Highway)
Water:
7. Sweet Pond
8. Weatherhead Hollow Pond
9. Broad Brook
10. Green River
Landmarks:
11. Guilford Country Store
12. Guilford Fair Grounds
13. Guilford Central School
14. Your House*
15. Guilford Center
A community volunteer, a former cartographer, shares
her map collection.
Guilford Mapping Project
Project Assignment
For this mapping project, you will become a cartographer, creating a map of
Guilford that shows special information (farm land, special places,
historical sites, etc.) about our town. Use the classroom resources and
the maps from the Town Office to help you decide what subject you will
choose. Here’s what you will need to include in your project:
ROUGH DRAFT:
•
In pencil, that shows the special areas you will be drawing in your final
map (This does not have to be super-detailed – it’s a sketch)
•
Have an adult check this over before you begin your final map
MAP:
•
Title
•
Major roads, hamlets & villages
•
Major bodies of water
•
Clearly defined special areas (a different color, a symbol, a number, etc.)
•
Key, including an explanation of symbols used
•
Distance scale
•
Compass rose
•
Drawings for the border of your map that illustrate the information shown
YOUR MAP SHOULD BE:
•
Colorful – use crayon and/or colored pencil w/ Sharpies to outline
•
Accurate & carefully drawn
•
Creative
HAVE FUN, BE CREATIVE & TRY YOUR BEST
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION
WRITE UP
(ASSESSMENT
RUBRIC WAS
ALSO
REVIEWED AT
THIS TIME)
Doing research using maps borrowed from the Town Clerk’s office
…Sarah and Hanna
choose to create a map
of Guilford farms.
Sarah’s family owns one
of Guilford’s few
remaining family
farms…
…Jeff & Solomon
choose Guilford’s
swimming holes …
Close-up of key’s descriptions
…Aaron & Caleb
choose the school
bus routes …
… and Wyatt &
Kyle map Guilford’s
sugar houses
Closeup of Map Key
Clay Mountains Become Contour Maps
NAME _________________________NUMBER ______DATE ______
LOOKING AT THE LAND & WATERS OF GUILFORD
Use the topographic map of a section of Guilford to do the following
activities:
1. Using an overhead pen, mark the following places on your map, using the
numbers indicated, that show the following:
#1
Guilford Central School
#2
Broad Brook
#3, #4, #5
Flat, open places that might be good for farming
#6, #7, #8
Very steep land – an area that would make a difficult hike
#9, #10
Two of the highest places you can find on the map
#11
Guilford Fair Ground
Now answer these questions:
1.
What is the contour interval of your topographic map?
2.
Follow Guilford Center Road from Guilford Center to Algiers. Does the
road, in general, follow the contour lines, or does it go against the contour
lines? Why do you think this is?
3.
What body of water does Guilford Center Road follow? Why do you think
the engineers who designed the road built it along this body of water?
4.
Name a road that would be very tricky to drive on during a snow storm.
What range of elevation does this road have?
5.
Using your contour map, explain why you think the land chosen for our
school was a good choice, or not:
6.
What is the elevation of our school?
7.
How does Guilford’s topography compare with the town’s topography in
our last worksheet?
Applying What We’ve
Learned to Our Study of
Guilford
“On summer evenings, the
boys liked to sit on their porch
watching the river and making
up stories about it. Where, they
wondered, did the river begin?”
Students learn river
vocabulary, look for
possible sources of the
Broad Brook…
…and trace its path from its
sources to the Connecticut
River, some 12 miles away.
The Field Trip: Armed with clipboards, pencils & field note
forms (and waterproof shoes) we set off…
NAME:
STREAM STUDY
Site #_________________
Observations:________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Site #1: The Source - still & calm
Site #2: Upper Brook – the source filters through fallen
leaves, moving quickly downhill – erosion…
Site #3: Middle Brook – observing meanders &
sediment buildup on the inside of curves
Having a
chance to
play in the
cold water
of the
brook.
Site #4: On the nature trail near school – culverts, tributaries &
large rocks
Site #5: The Rapids – carving through slate
Site #6: Lower River – slow-moving, a small delta, silt…
Site #7: The Mouth - Meeting up with the Connecticut River
Betsy creates a model stream accordion book to provide
an image of the final product.
The finished books are shared with the rest of the school – and
you…
The Broad Brook Books are assessed according to criteria
laid out in a rubric…
4
3
2
1
Content
The student took
every opportunity
to display his or
her knowledge
about the subject
and used at least
one vocabulary
word per page.
The student
displayed his
knowledge about
the subject well
and used some
river vocabulary
throughout the
book.
The student
displayed some
knowledge about
the subject.
The student
displayed little
knowledge about
the subject.
Accuracy
All of the
information in the
writing and
pictures is correct
Most of the
information in the
writing and
pictures is correct.
Some of the
information in the
writing and
pictures is correct.
Many of the
vocabulary words
are used
incorrectly.
Creativity
The student
displayed
exceptional
creativity with
language and
artwork
The student was
creative in his/her
use of language
and artwork.
The student could
have been more
creative in his/her
use of language
and artwork.
Little effort seems
to have been done
to produce a book
that is individual
and interesting.
Work Ethic
The student used
his/her time
exceptionally well
and worked hard
consistently.
The student used
his/her time well
and worked hard
most of the time.
The student could
have used his/her
time better and
could have worked
harder.
The student did
not use his/her
time well and had
to be reminded
often to stay on
task.
Final
Score
Score
Name ___________________
Date ___________
River Quiz
alluvium
load
oxbow lake
silt
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
delta
lower river
rapids
tributary
drainage basin
meander
river valley
upper river
erosion
middle river
sediment
source
Fill in the blank with the best word from the list above. Each word should
be used only once.
A ____________ is a natural curve or bend in the river.
When rivers flood, fine silt and clay called ____________ is deposited on
the land, making it extremely fertile for farming.
The Broad Brook is a _______________ of the Connecticut River.
The _____________________ is usually the steepest and fastest part of a
river.
The total area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries is called
a ________________________________.
_________________________ is the wearing away of the land by water,
wind and ice.
On the inside of the curve of a meander, you will most likely find
____________________.
We live in the Connecticut ____________________________.
The _____________________ is characterized by water slowing down
and cutting the land side to side. You will not likely find many
___________ in this part of the river.
An ________________________ is a meander that has been cut off from
the river to form a horseshoe-like lake.
The _____________________ is the slowest section of the river, right
before the mouth.
Very fine grains of sediment are called ___________________.
The ______________ of a river is where it begins.
A _____________________ is an area of flat land near the sea that is
made up of sediment deposited by the river.
The ___________________ is the sediment carried by a river.
…and a final quiz is
given.
An Even Better Assessment: Nelly does her
own exploring
A Summary of my
River Hike
I started my hike at
the mouth of the little
river that flows into the
Green River in back of
my house. As Jeff and
I skidded along beside
it, we noticed meanders
and a sediment island.
As we entered the woods, we began to have to
meander ourselves because of the dense fallen trees, leaves,
sticks, cliffs and landslides. We were at the middle course!
It was steep uphill climbing
at some places, and at other
places it was pretty flat. The
river rushed over small
waterfalls and eroded places,
where it had cut away the slate
in what looked like a slanted set
of stairs. We kept saying,
“We’re getting closer!” meaning
we thought that the source was
getting near; but no such thing
happened, or not so soon!
The river had been
three feet wide at the
mouth, but it was now about
one foot wide. As the
upper course of the river
approached, our feet got
sunken in the mud and wet
from tripping over the
dense underbrush into the
small stream. Suddenly, up
ahead, there was no more
river! A small mud flat was
all that was left of the
little river down by my
house!
4.6 Understanding Place: a. Demonstrate knowledge and history of local
environment (e.g. soils, forests, watersheds) and how their community relies
on its environment to meet its needs (e.g. nutritional, recreational, economic,
emotional well-being)