Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame
4th Grade Lesson Plans – Alabama History
Lesson Title: Oscar Underwood
Haley Nall (hlgunter@samford.edu) and Jill Vaughan (jgvaughn@samford.edu)
Katie Copper – Student Editor (kcopper@samford.edu)
Dr. David C. Little – Program Director (dclittle@samford.edu)
Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education
Department of Curriculum and Instruction/Graduate Studies
Samford University
Lesson Title: Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame: Oscar Underwood
Curriculum Area: Social Studies
Estimated Time: 50 minutes
Grade Level: 4
Standards
SS 4.6) Identify cultural, economic, and political aspects of the lifestyles of early
nineteenth‐century farmers, plantation owners, slaves, and townspeople.
Learning Objectives
Fourth grade students will explore what crops grow in Alabama and where their food
comes from, both inside and outside the United States. Students will differentiate
between imports and exports and learn when and why tariffs are charged. Students will
examine the impact of the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913, spearheaded by Oscar
Underwood.
Evaluation of Learning Objectives
Students’ participation in discussions about crops, imports, exports, and tariffs will be
used to evaluate understanding. In addition, students will work in pairs to make a salad
recipe and identify the salad ingredients’ countries of origin. The teacher may also
evaluate learning objectives by giving a homework assignment that asks students to
locate items around their house and find out where they were manufactured.
Engagement
The teacher will ask students …
What do farmers grow in Alabama? (cotton, peaches, livestock, etc.).
Does Alabama grow all the produce we need? (no)
Where do we get the produce we cannot grow in our state? (for example,
oranges, bananas, pineapple, avocado)
We grow tomatoes in the south, but only in the summer. Where do we get
tomatoes in the winter?
Learning Design
1. Teaching
The teacher will explain the differences in imports and exports:
o Imports are goods (like fruits and vegetables) that we buy from another
country. For examples, we import bananas from South America because
they have the climate and soil to grow bananas year‐round. The teacher
will project the following map of produce from South America:
http://discoveryorganics.ca/sites/all/files/imagecache/585_full_width/Fa
ir%20Trade%20Produce%20Map_0.jpg
(You must copy & paste this link into your web browser. It will not
work as a direct hyperlink.)
o Exports are goods (like fruits and vegetables) that are grown in the
United States and sold to other countries. We export oranges and other
citrus fruit from Florida and California to other countries.
o Students can remember the difference in imports and exports by
remembering …
When we bring something IN, it’s an IMport.
When something EXITS our country, ii is an EXport.
A tariff is a tax on products (food and other items) that are imported or exported
from the country. Tariffs raise money for the government. The teacher asks:
o Would a tariff be charged on grapefruit from Florida? (No, because
Florida is in the United States.)
o Would a tariff be charged on avocados from Ecuador? (Yes, because
Ecuador is in South America – not the United States.)
The teacher will discuss the history of tariffs. She will introduce Oscar
Underwood and the impact of the Underwood Tariff Act on imports, exports and
the cost of living:
o Tariff first began in the United States in 1828 and increased over time. By
the 1890s, tariffs on imports had increased by 57%. This increased the
cost of living too high for most Americans.
o The teacher will instruct students to look at items around the room
(clothing items, backpacks, snacks, school supplies) and find out if they
are made in the U.S. or outside the U.S. If items are imports, students
will guess the cost, then add 57%.
o In 1912, Woodrow Wilson was elected president. He supported changes
to tariffs through the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913. Representative
Oscar Underwood of Birmingham, Alabama sponsored this act, which cut
tariffs to 25%.
2. Opportunity for Practice
The students will work in pairs to complete an activity on imports and exports.
The student pairs will make a salad recipe that includes five different fruits and
three different vegetables. The students will determine where the fruits and
vegetables are grown and identify the area on a map. The following world map
may be copied for students pairs:
http://www.smartdraw.com/examples/view/world+map+‐+black+%26+white/
The students will label each item on the map and indicate whether or not the
produce is an import.
Closure
As homework, the teacher may have students look at items at home and identify
if they were made in the United States or if they are imports from another
country.
Assessment
Student pairs will turn in their maps and produce lists for assessment. Teachers
may also use the optional homework assignment (see “closure” section) for
assessment.
Content and Resources
Dole Worldwide:
http://www.dole.com/Company%20Info/Dole%20Worldwide
Produce from South America:
http://discoveryorganics.ca/sites/all/files/imagecache/585_full_width/Fair%20Trade%2
0Produce%20Map_0.jpg
Revenue Act of 1913:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue_Act_of_1913
Underwood Tariff Act:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2‐3406400975.html
World map:
http://www.smartdraw.com/examples/view/world+map+‐+black+%26+white/
Produce from South America
Fruit Salad Rubric
Required Component Score
Included 5 fruits (5 pts.
each)
/25
Included 3 vegetables (5
pts. each) /15
Correctly identified and
labeled each fruit or
vegetable’s country of
origin on the map (5 pts.
each)
/30
Total: /60