4th Grade: History of Lake Norman
How was Lake Norman created?
Standards:
4 G 1.1 Summarize changes that have occurred in NC since statehood.
4 G 1.2 Explain the impact that human activity has had on the availability of natural resources.
4 G 1.3 Exemplify interactions of various people, places, and cultures in terms of adaptation and modification of the environment.
Objectives: Research the history of Lake Norman using primary documents and create a postcard timeline of events from 1956 until current times from a different perspective. Describe how people have impacted the land around the Catawba River.
Essential Questions: How do you think people reacted to the creation of Lake Norman? Do you think the creation of Lake Norman was beneficial for the development of our area? How would this area be different if the dam was not built, and the power stations not created?
Teacher Presentation / Discussion: Be a storyteller: Present the primary documents describing the events that led up to the creation of Lake Norman. Use Currents Magazine timeline or articles from the Lake Norman Magazine:
August_2003_Lake_Norman_Magazine (Article and Photographs about how Lake Norman has changed)
March_2004_Lake_Norman_Magazine (Article and Photographs about the creation of the Cowan’s Ford Dam)
November_2004_Lake_Norman_Magazine (Article and Photographs about the land around Lake Norman)
Show images of different people and point out perspectives for
- Norman Cocke (Duke President in 1957, who retired before the completion of Lake Norman)
- A worker of the dam
- Workers at the mill
- A farm owner that is having their land flooded
Have students think about and give ideas of how these people may have reacted to the creation of Lake Norman. What differing thoughts and feelings could they have had?
Student activity: Create a timeline describing the creation of Lake Norman. For each date on the timeline, write a postcard from a different person’s perspective (Norman Cocke, a worker on the dam, a mill worker, or a family with a farm on/under Lake Norman) with a 2-3 sentence description of what is happening to the land during the creation of the lake. Be sure to include personal opinions and reactions to the changes that are occurring and the impact on natural resources.
Allow students to share their timeline postcards and then discuss the essential questions of how the creation of the lake changed our land, and how it helped develop the towns surrounding the lake.