Buying and Borrowing at the Colonial Store

Using primary source material documenting purchases at a general store in Addison, Vermont, students will organize data in order to draw conclusions about Addison County's colonial economy.

Change Over Time: Industry on the Falls

Students identify different periods in history by comparing and contrasting two artworks representing the Otter Creek falls at Vergennes, Vermont, produced at different times for different purposes in different media. Students examine the significance of place and create a list of agents of change which have affected their local landscape.

Clearing the Land

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.

What is Waterpower?

Students are introduced waterpower as an historically important natural resource. By designing water wheels and studying the development of settlement communities in relation to waterpower, students make connections between the community and its natural resources and technological systems.

Buying and Borrowing at the Colonial Store

Using primary source material documenting purchases at a general store in Addison, Vermont, students will organize data in order to draw conclusions about Addison County's colonial economy.

Change Over Time: Vermont Wildlife

Students explore change over time in ecological terms by comparing Zadock Thompson's illustrated nineteenth century catalog of mammals in Vermont with present-day statistics.