LEARN NC

North Carolina History Digital Textbook Project

Interstate highways from the ground up

By Kristin Post

1.1 Lesson plan: Interstate highways

By Kristin Post

Provided by UNC Libraries / Documenting the American South

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • learn about the historic origins of the interstate highway system
  • consider the impact of highways in their lives and the lives of all Americans

Through the use of oral histories, students will evaluate the pros and cons of an interstate highway system.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 class period

Resources/Materials

Additional materials to print and/or hand out to students:

  • transcripts from the For Students section
  • student worksheet from the For Students section: Interstate Highways from the Ground Up
  • at least one highway map of North Carolina to display in the classroom
  • at least five photographs of I-26 corridor printed out from the following links:
  • at least five highway maps of North Carolina or other states or localities for the optional student activity
  • optional: Divided Highways, Tom Lewis (non-fiction) New York: Penguin Group, 1997
  • optional: websites in the Links section

Technology resources

  • internet connection
  • speakers
  • computer
  • headphones (preferred)
  • CD player (in lieu of the computer, speakers and internet connection, if you have burned your own CD)

Pre-activities

Teacher preparation

  1. Listen to the oral history excerpts. Read through the teacher’s guides and transcripts.
  2. Familiarize yourself with the I-26 construction project. The unofficial website offers a good overview.
  3. Familiarize yourself with the geography of the I-26 corridor. It is located in Madison County, North Carolina, and connects NC-213 near Mars Hill to US-23 in Tennessee. See maps from the websites linked above. Localities mentioned in the oral history are: Madison County, NC; Buncombe County, NC; Sam’s Gap, NC; Mars Hill, NC; Murray Mountain, NC; Columbus, OH; Charleston, SC; and Erwin, TN. Hang a highway map of North Carolina in the front of the classroom.
  4. Print out enough copies of the following for each student:
    • student worksheet
    • transcripts (or have students use them online in the For Students section)
    • at least five I-26 corridor maps one for each student group (It may be better to print these in color.)
  5. If you are doing the warm-up activity with students mentioned below, you should gather at least five road maps of the same or different states. On an index card, write the name of two cities that appear on the map and that are connected by at least one highway. Do this for each map.

Audio preparation

  1. If you are playing audio from a CD player, you will not require a computer or speakers. In this situation, you will want to download the oral histories ahead of time and burn them onto a CD.
  2. If you are playing the oral histories from a computer and speakers in your classroom, you can play it live from the website or download the audio to your computer and play it with a variety of audio players that may be installed on your computer.
  3. If you are going to use the computer lab, you do not have to download the oral histories. You and your students can simply listen to the audio excerpts included in this lesson plan.
  4. Before you use the computer lab, you should ensure every student will have a computer and headphones. Also, ensure that the volume on all of the computers is not muted, and is not too loud.

Consult UNC’s Resources for Teachers: Audio Toolkit if you wish to know more about downloading or playing audio files.

Activities

Warm-up: Considering highways

Two warm-up activities are listed below. In the first, student groups will plot a route between two cities using a state highway map that you provide. In the second activity, only one state map is required, and it will take less time. You may choose to do one or both.

Divide students into groups that they can remain in for the rest of the period. Tell them that today’s discussion is about the federal Interstate highway system, and that you will be discussing the benefits and drawbacks of this relatively recent technological development.

Warm-up activity 1

  1. Share the following information with students:
    • All highways have numbers, and two numbering systems for highways exist, the Federal Highway System adopted in 1924 (highways starting with “US”) and the Interstate Highway System, adopted in 1956 (highways starting with “I”).
    • Generally, in both systems, odd numbered highways run North-South while even numbered highways run East-West.
    • Major cross-country routes tend to end in “0” or “5.”
    • Three-digit road numbers beginning with an even number are either beltways that go around the city or freeways that go through a city.
  2. Provide a state highway map to each group of students, along with the index card with two locations from the map. Give students in the group enough time to plot the fastest route between the two locations. (This may vary depending on your grade level. An example of an easier option in North Carolina is to plot Raleigh to Greensboro, a greater challenge would be Laurinburg to New Bern.) It may be interesting to give each group of students a different map from different states. United States road maps are available at any AAA office.
  3. As students are plotting their routes, ask them to notice:
    • Are they using an interstate, United States or state highways?
    • What number does the highway have? Is it odd or even? Does it end in a 5 or 0?
    • How many lanes is each highway? (They might use the legend to answer this question.)
  4. Discuss these answers and the routes students chose.

Warm-up activity 2

  1. Share the following information with students:
    • All highways have numbers, and two numbering systems for highways exist, the Federal Highway System adopted in 1924 (highways starting with “US”) and the Interstate Highway System, adopted in 1956 (highways starting with “I”).
    • Generally, in both systems, odd numbered highways run North-South while even numbered highways run East-West.
    • Major cross-country routes tend to end in “0” or “5.”
    • Three-digit road numbers beginning with an even number are either beltways that go around the city or freeways that go through a city.
  2. Using the North Carolina map at the front of the classroom, rotate through each group, and ask a representative from the group to stand and point out at least one of the following:
    • an even or odd numbered highway
    • a highway ending in 0 or 5
    • a highway with three digits
    • a highway that goes through Asheville
    • a four-lane highway (students must use the legend.)

After either Activity One and Activity Two, leave students in their groups as they discuss the importance of highways in our personal lives:

  • We’ve seen what highways do (connect cities), but when we’re driving, how do we know we’re on a highway rather than a road or street? Brainstorm with your group about the distinguishing characteristics of a highway. (e.g. high and consistent speeds, overpasses and underpasses, no traffic lights or stop signs, a grassy median, green exit signs, etc.) Write these down.
  • Create two columns on a sheet of paper, and label one “positive” and one “negative.” With the group, write down some positives and negatives of highways in our lives. Think about when you drive or ride on highways, what difference it would make if they weren’t there, and the environmental and social impact of building highways. (This will be discussed in detail later, so if they can’t think of much, that’s okay. This is a sign that they take highways for granted, which is part of the point of the lesson.)

After giving the groups a few minutes to write down their answers, share responses.

Activity 1: Divided highways

  1. Read aloud to the class the following excerpt from the Tom Lewis’s Divided Highways (New York: Penguin Group, 1997; Introduction, p. ix–xi). Ask students to consider how the author’s description matches some of their viewpoints.

    This is the story of the creation and consequences of the greatest and the longest engineered structure ever built, the Interstate Highway System. […]

    The system connects American cities and people in a vast web of roads that carry the life of the nation; yet to build it, tens of thousands of Americans were dispossessed of their land and saw their homes and neighborhoods destroyed. It gave Americans almost complete mobility and yet endless congestion. It ranks as the greatest public works project in the history of the nation, though its plan was set in motion by a Republican president who disliked the excessive authority of big government. It was first conceived of by highway planners in the thirties when Americans considered the automobile one of the blessings of the modern age; in the eighties, when it was nearly complete, many considered the automobile a blight.

    For the most part we take the Interstates for granted. […] Yet we depend on Interstates daily, as roadways, of course, but also as a mainstay of American commerce and middle-class life. These are the highways that bring grapes to Maine in the middle of winter, and relief workers to Florida in the aftermath of a hurricane. They allow many of us to live where we want and to go where we wish. For all of their virtues and despite their faults, the Interstates bind us together.

  2. Discuss the answers to the questions:
    • What did you learn in that excerpt that you did not know, or think about, before?
    • What is the general point the author is making? Do you agree with his point?
    • The Republican president mentioned is Dwight D. Eisenhower. After what major historical event was Eisenhower elected?

Activity 2: Eisenhower and the highway

  1. Using your Eisenhower and the Highway teacher’s guide, read the Introduction aloud to the class.
  2. Play the Eisenhower and the Highway oral history excerpt. Running time: 1 minute 16 seconds.
  3. Using your Eisenhower and the Highway teacher’s guide, discuss the answers to the follow-up questions.

Activity 3: I-26 from the ground up

  1. The following activities will require the student worksheet. Pass out one to each student. Students will remain in their groups to discuss their answers.
  2. Also pass out an I-26 corridor map.
  3. Using your History and Safety teacher’s guide, read the introduction aloud to the class.
  4. Play the History and Safety oral history excerpt. Running time: 2 minutes 38 seconds.
  5. Using your History and Safety teacher’s guide, discuss the answers to the follow-up questions.
  6. Discuss students’ answers to the History and Safety questions on the worksheet.
  7. Play the Impact on People and Places oral history excerpt. Running time: 3 minutes 30 seconds.
  8. Using your Impact on People and Places teacher’s guide, discuss the answers to the follow-up questions.
  9. Discuss students’ answers to the Impact on People and Places questions on the worksheet.
  10. Play the Personal Impact oral history excerpt. Running time: 1 minute 11 seconds.
  11. Using your Personal Impact teacher’s guide, discuss the answers to the follow-up questions.
  12. Discuss students’ answers to the Personal Impact questions on the worksheet.

Assessment

Students will complete the worksheet in class and answer oral history discussion questions. At the end of class, ask each student to write down a “muddy issue” question: one question about a topic that they did not fully understand in class. Collect and read through these. Discuss answers the following class period.

Alternative assessment

In his oral history excerpt, Stan Hyatt mentions “life is full of choices. ” In class today, you discussed some of the positives and negatives of the highway system and its impact on our lives. In an argumentative essay, choose a stance on whether or not the interstate highway system has had an overall positive or negative impact on your life. Offer supporting reasons. Argue against any opposing reasons.