Orphan trains
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.php?DocID=72
A lesson plan for grade 5 Social Studies
The purpose of this lesson is to examine social trade-offs in the context of the Orphan Trains and society’s treatment of children whose parents can longer care for them. Gaining an understanding of the concept of social trade-offs may be one of the most important components of a comprehensive education. If the habit of considering alternatives and their consequences is to be functional for students, they should exercise it in a rich variety of contexts.
In this lesson students will develop their ideas about social trade-offs by examining the history of the Orphan Trains and the New York Children’s Aid Society, created in 1853. The purpose of the society, a forerunner of modern foster care, was to provide thousands of street children with homes in rural communities in the American Midwest. For some poor urban children the trip west brought great opportunity, but for others it meant heartbreak and disappointment. The majority of the Internet resources about the Orphan Trains have resulted from genealogical research done by families of the children who were sent to the Midwest by the New York Children’s Aid Society. By considering what these children as individuals both gained and lost, as well the benefits and consequences to the larger society, students can explore the concept of social trade-offs into a compelling perspective.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Social Studies (2003)
Grade 5
- Goal 1: The learner will apply key geographic concepts to the United States and other countries of North America.
- Objective 1.07: Analyze the past movement of people, goods, and ideas within and among the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America and compare it to movement today.
