Historic Trains & Garden Railroad

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1 Grades: primary Historic Trains & Garden Railroad Before your visit: *Brainstorm what children already know about trains. (Many young children will be familiar with Thomas the Train. Use this information to elicit vocabulary and information about trains.) *Show photographs of trains. (Many excellent photos are available online or use photographs from a book.) *Read several books about trains. *Introduce and define vocabulary: caboose, car, coal, commuter, conductor, couple, depot, engine, engineer, freight, passenger, steam, tracks, transcontinental, transportation, uncouple *Brainstorm facts about trains. You may want to include some of the following: In 1804, Richard Trevithick built the world s first steam engine tramway locomotive in England. It took two hours to travel nine miles. In the 1850 s, steam engines in the United States could travel miles per hour. Today, most trains in the United States travel miles per hour. Today, high speed trains in other countries often travel 186 miles per hour. The transcontinental railroad was completed on May 10, 1869 in Promontory Point, Utah. The joining of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad made the transportation of people and goods quicker and cheaper from coast to coast. A cross country trip that used to cost $1,000 now had a cost of $150. Trains are still important in America today. They transport produce, products, and people across our country. In some urban areas, many people commute to work on trains. Model trains are a popular hobby. The first miniature trains were made in Germany in the 1830 s. Today, thousands of people around the world participate in this hobby. The Garden Railroad at the Fairplex is the nation s largest and oldest operating public Garden Railroad. There are more than three miles of winding track in this exhibit. *Make a circle map to record information about trains. Then, transfer these facts to a tree map. *Place the following poem in a pocket chart. Read many times so that the children memorize it. The Freight Train Clickity, clackity, clickity clack! The train speeds over the railroad track. It rolls and rattles and screeches its song and pulls and jiggles its freight cars along. Clickity, clackity, clickity, clack! The engine in front is big and black. The cars are filled with lots of things like milk, or oil, or mattress spings. Clickity, clackity, clickity, clack!

2 The engineer waves and I wave back. I count the cars as the freight train goes and the whistle blows and blows...and blows! *Sing these classic train songs. (Lyrics are available on-line if you are unsure of the words.) 1. I ve been working on the railroad 2. Down by the Station 3. A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track *After reading Freight Train by Donald Crews, make a freight train art project. You will need light blue construction paper (6 x 24 inches), black, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple construction paper (3 x 3 inches), and a black crayon. paper. 1. Draw railroad tracks at the bottom of the horizontal blue construction 2. Provide children with a simple pattern of an engine. They will trace, cut, and glue it to the right edge of the train track. 3. Have children look in the book to see the approximate shape of the rest of the train cars. The students will then cut the remaining construction paper shapes to look like each train car. Glue them in the correct rainbow order. 4. Add wheels, connectors, and smoke with the black crayon. During your visit: *Visit the Historical Trains Exhibit. Go inside the steam engine. Be sure to blow the whistle! Look at the dining and sleeping cars. Would you like to travel on one of these trains? *Visit the Fairplex Garden Railroad. How many trains can you see? Notice the different geographical regions that are part of the display. How are the trains in the Fairplex Garden Railroad similar to the real trains you saw in the Historical Train Exhibit. How are they different? After your visit: * Discuss the real trains that you saw at the Historical Train Exhibit and the model trains that you saw at the Fairplex Garden Railroad. Add information to your circle maps and tree maps as needed. *Imagine that you could ride a train anywhere in the country. Write a paragraph to tell about your experience.

3 Books About Trains: All Aboard Trains by Mary Harding Big Book of Trains by DK Publishing The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet Curious George Takes A Train by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey Freight Train by Donald Crews The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper The Little Red Caboose by Marian Potter Locomotive by Brian Floca National Geographic Readers: Trains by Amy Shields The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg Steam, Smoke and Steel by Patrick O Brien Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Trains (Step Into Reading) by Susan E. Goodman Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown

4 Name Would you like to take a trip on a train? Where would you go? What would you see as you looked out of the train s windows? Would riding on a train be better than traveling by car? Remember to include a topic sentence, three detail sentences and a conclusion sentence. Illustrate your paragraph.

5 Trains Primary Circle Map Name trains

6 Trains Primary Tree Map Name trains can have are

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