To Grandmother's House We Go, again

Do you remember that song?  My students just look at me like I’m crazy if I start singing it.  I was thinking about the world of the song’s creator vs. today’s world.  What elements of geography can we examine through the poem?  Where did the grandparents of this folks song live? 

In case you have no idea what song I’m referring to, here’s a couple of links to jog your memory.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_the_River_and_through_the_Woods

Folk Song: http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/overtheriverandthroughthewoods.htm

So let’s think… ( I know, alert the media!)

The poem was written in 1844.  What did the US look like at the time? 

Here's a map of the United States and lands from 1845 at the David Rumsey Map Collection online: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/s/qg19fj  You can play with the map here also.

This writer was passionate about ending slavery.  What did slavery look like at that time?  Here’s what Mark Twain’s world looked like. This is an informative, interactive map. http://atlas.lib.niu.edu/Website/twain/viewer.htm

The Virginia Experiment GIS Projects are excellent if you’d like to explore various history related topics:

http://www.virginiaexperiment.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=94&Itemid=51

You could create your own GIS map to look at agriculture, precipitation, forests and rivers!  You can use a full GIS program like ArcGIS or a virtual globe such as ArcGIS Explorer.  (These maps are available online at www.barbareeduke.com/downloads/downloads.htm)  

So based on your explorations, where was grandmother’s house?  Where is your grandmother’s house and how do you get there?  What would your song lyrics be?
Think about Thanksgiving from a new perspective!