Marking History on the County Map
RULES: No shoes allowed on the map. Please have students remove shoes before walking on the map. Socks
are required. No writing utensils on the map.
Grade Level: Grades 6-12
Time needed: One or more class periods.
Purpose: In order to explore the county through an economic, historic, geographic, and civic perspective,
students will identify and study various recognized sites and locations throughout the county.
Indiana Social Studies Standards Addressed:
3.1.4 Give examples of people, events and developments that brought important changes to your community
and the regions where your community is located.
3.1.5 Create simple timelines that identify important events in various regions of the state.
3.1.6 Use a variety of resources to gather information about your region’s communities; identify factors that
make the region unique, including cultural diversity, industry, the arts and architecture.
3.3.1 Use labels and symbols to locate and identify physical and political features on maps and globes.
3.3.10 Construct maps and graphs that show aspects of human/environmental interaction in the community,
Indiana and communities within the region.
4.1.1 Identify and compare the major early cultures that existed in the region that became Indiana prior to
contact with Europeans.
4.1.4 Summarize and explain the significance of key documents in Indiana’s development from a United
States territory to statehood.
4.1.6 Explain how key individuals and events influenced the early growth of and development of Indiana.
4.1.7 Construct a brief narrative about an event in Indiana history using primary and secondary sources.
4.1.17 Using primary and secondary sources and online source materials, construct a brief narrative about an
event in Indiana history.
4.1.18 Research and describe the contributions of important Indiana artists and writers to the state’s cultural
landscape.
4.3.2 Estimate distances between two places on a map when referring to relative location.
4.3.9 Explain the importance of major transportation routes, including rivers, in the exploration, settlement
and growth of Indiana and in the state’s location as a crossroads of America.
4.3.13 Read and interpret thematic texts (written, graphs, maps, timelines, etc.) to answer geographic questions
about Indiana in the past and present.
5.1.1 Identify and describe early cultures and settlements that existed in North America prior to contact with
Europeans.
5.3.4 Identify Native American Indian and colonial settlements on maps and explain the reasons for the
locations of these places.
6.1.23 Form research questions and use a variety of information resources to obtain, evaluate and present data on
people, cultures and developments in Europe and the Americas
8.1.24 Describe the abolitionist movement and identify figures and organizations involved in the debate over
slavery, including leaders of the Underground Railroad.
8.3.1 Read maps to interpret symbols and determine the land forms and human features that represent physical
and cultural characteristics of regions in the United States.
USH.9.3 Analyze multiple, unexpected, and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
USH.9.2 Locate and analyze primary sources and secondary sources related to an event or issue of the past;
Discover possible limitations in various kinds of historical evidence and differing secondary
opinions.
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USH.9.5 Use technology in the process of conducting historical research and in the presentation of the
products of historical research and current events.
Materials:
 Indiana Historical Bureau list of state historic markers:
http://www.in.gov/history/files/markerlocations.pdf
 Giant County Map and Timeline
Objectives:
 Students will identify and describe sites in Indiana.
 Students will use maps to identify significant places and events in Indiana’s past.
 Students will use research skills to learn about the past.
Procedures:
Part One
1. Ask the class to name some important National landmarks (Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument,
etc.) Discuss with the students why and how we commemorate these landmarks. Discuss why they are
important to the economy.
2. Ask the class to identify places in Indiana that might be considered landmarks and discuss why they
might be considered important (think of economics, geography, sociology, psychology, and history).
3. Have the students explore the Giant County Map to identify any important landmarks.
4. Have the students use the Internet to identify locally recognized landmarks or places of interest. Create
one-page informational brochures about the various sites.
5. Place the informational brochures of a site onto the map … marking the location of the site.
6. On the Giant County Map have the students calculate the distance it would take to travel from their school
to each site. Using yarn or string mark the routes traveled on the map.
7. Have students research (individually or in small groups) and report on one of the sites or historic markers.
They might even make a Power Point presentation or other type of presentation to the class about their
findings. Post the information in a prominent school hallway for the remainder of the students to view
along with a map of Indiana indicating the places researched.
Part Two
1. Use the list of Historic Markers in Indiana found at the Indiana Historical Bureau Website to learn about
the state’s historical markers.
2. Identify the sites by county and place the number of markers in each county on the Giant Map of Indiana.
3. Identify any counties without markers. Research one of these counties and identify/create a marker for
that county. The students should be able to explain their decision and report on their choice.
4. Categorize the markers by person, event, and place. Create different types of graphs (bar, pie chart, etc.)
to record this information.
Additional Activities:
 Have students create a postage stamp commemorating a state historic site or marker.
 Have students design and make a travel brochure about history in Indiana.
 Select a site in your community that could be a state historic site. Create a site brochure and other
materials to promote this site.
 Work with IHB to actually create a new marker for the state of Indiana. Information on procedures can
be found at their Website.
 Take a field trip to a state historic site.
 Have students make a diorama of one of the state historic sites.
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
Have student learn about Indiana’s state parks and identify them on the Giant Map of Indiana. Do the
same for Indiana’s national landmarks and memorials.
Resources:
 National Historic Landmarks in Indiana:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Historic_Landmarks_in_Indiana
 Indiana State Museum and state historic sites:
http://www.indianamuseum.org/sites/
 Angel Mounds State Historic Site:
http://www.angelmounds.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
 Historic Corydon:
http://www.thisisindiana.org/content.asp
 Gene Stratton Porter Memorial Society:
http://www.genestratton-porter.com/
 Levi Coffin House:
http://www.waynet.org/levicoffin/default.htm
 T.C. Steele State Historic Site:
http://www.tcsteele.org/
 Vincennes State Historic Site:
http://www.spiritofvincennes.org/rendezvous/historic/
 Use historical markers in the classroom:
http://www.in.gov/history/4015.htm
 Indiana Historical Marker Program (Indiana Historical Bureau)
http://www.in.gov/history/3924.htm
Books:
 Destination Indiana: Travels through Hoosier History- by Ray Boomhower and Darryl L. Jones
 Journeys to the Past: A Traveler’s Guide to Indiana State Historical Markers- by Allan McPherson
 My Indiana: 101 Places to See-by Earl L. Conn
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