Introduce students to the first and most significant settlement activity, clearing the land, by creating a sequence of events based around primary source material. This lesson provides students with good background for the study of deforestation.

3.9 Sustainability; 4.5 Continuity and Change; 4.6 Understanding Place; 6.4 Historical Connections; 7.15 The Universe, the Earth and the Environment: Theories, Systems and Forces; 7.16 Design and Technology: Natural Resources

• The Falls of Otter Creek, Lake Champlain, With a Sawmill, 1766 by Thomas Davies
• Clearing the Land Hand-out [DOC]

Begin by introducing students to the concept of 'clearing the land.' Ask students to imagine themselves as eighteenth century settlers arriving by the Crown Point Military Road in the forested landscape of Addison County. Use Thomas Davies' painting of the Vergennes Falls to set the scene. As an eighteenth century settler newly arrived from southern New England, carrying only a few basic provisions, what is your first order of business upon arriving in the forested landscape of northern New England? How do you suppose they go about clearing the land?

Now hand out at Rowland Robinson's illustration of settlers clearing the land. What is going on the scene depicted? Make a list of students' observations. Ask students to speculate what happened before and after the scene depicted in the illustration (before: all the trees were cut down, after: the land was planted and became a farm.) Add these items to the list of observations. Now ask student to put the items on the list in the sequence that they probably happened. Sequences might look like this:

1. Cut down trees
2. Hollow out stumps and drag them away
3. Burn brush
4. Build fences
5. Plow land
6. Plant land

Now students can create their own illustrations, showing what was happening either before or after the scene drawn by Rowland Robinson. Display the before and after drawings in the classroom.

Collect and assess the hand-outs for completion and accuray. Assess their illustrations for completion, accuracy, amount of detail and effort.