School: West Iron County Elementary School-85 Students
Teachers: Joe Serbentes, Jan Harrison, Michelle Thompson
Theme for the Lesson Week: "The Logging Era in Michigan-Focus on the Upper Peninsula"
Big Culture Lesson Description: The goal of this lesson is to provide creative and meaningful instruction related to the cultural history of Iron County, specifically the loggers and miners who settled in this region of the Upper Peninsula. The focus will be the lumber era when Michigan emerged as the number one lumber-producing state in the Union. Students will be made aware that not only is logging still going on in Michigan, but it is the primary industry in Iron County today.
Essential Questions:
What impact did such extensive logging during the lumber era have on the environment and economy?
Why has logging continued to be a primary industry in the Upper Peninsula?
Why are employment numbers down in spite of logging being a primary industry?
What is the enviromental impact of logging today?
Initiating Activities: The Friday before the BIG Culture Lesson Week, students will view and discuss the video, "Lumberjack Life: U.P. Days of Yore" produced by WNMU-TV.

Student Activities: Days 1, 2, 3: Utilize hypermedia (PowerPoint) presentation. "The Logging Era in Michigan: Focus on the U.P.," by J. Harrison which includes a history of logging in Michigan and lessons in language arts, mathematics, and art/design related to the history of logging. Original photographs from the archives of the Iron County Museum were scanned for the history section of the presentation. The language arts lesson has five optional activities, all related to the jargon of the logger, which will give insight into the lifestyle and cultural history of the logger. The mathematics lesson shows the importance of mathematics in the logging operation and includes a worksheet to do for fun. The art/design lesson explains the "log marks" used by loggers to brand their logs and links to a simple design activity.

Day 4: Examine newspapers (e.g. Iron County Reporter) to find information on logging.

Day 5: Visit the Iron County Museum and rotate through sectionals: Sharrard Logging Camp-camp tour and stories told by a local logger; wood carvings and woodcut prints; life in a mining location-models, houses, schools, work; and ethnic heritage-eight large murals on the beams of Heritage Hall in the Museum.

In Art Class students creatively designed and painted a creative picture of a logging/mining town using shades of brown to give an old photograph look.

Culminating Activities: Complete the "Timber Tales Today" interview worksheet. (one week to complete) The worksheet lists four tasks: 1) interview a person who has a job in logging, a lumber mill, forest management, conservation, or buying/selling trees or lumber. 2) In the interview, be sure to ask and record who, what, where, when, why and how. 3) Using the notes from your interview, write a news story about the person you interviewed. Story must be three paragraphs long with each paragraph having at least three sentences. 4) Take a photograph or sketch a picture of the person you interviewed to accompany your news story.

Student paintings of a logging/mining town were displayed in the WIC Student Art Show.
Assessment: "Timber Tales Today" interview/news story. "Sharrard Logging Camp" worksheet on loggers' vocabulary. "The Lumber Era in Michigan" crossword puzzle. Any of the language arts activities included in the hypermedia presentation.
Criteria for evaluating student projects/performances: Teachers will develop a rubric to assess student performance including any or all of the above listed assessment materials to meet classroom or grade-level goals and objectives.
Community Resource Contact Information: Contact Person:
Audrey Ridolphi, Project Director
1001 Seldon Road Apartment #E
Iron River, MI 49935
906-265-2707 audreyr@up.net
Recommended Resources :
"Lumberjack Life: U.P. Days of Yore" (video produced by WNMU-TV)
Lumberjack: Inside an Era in the U.P. of Michigan by Wm. S. Crowe
Between the Iron and the Pine by Lewis C. Reimann available in e-book format
Possible contacts for interviews: U.S. Forest Service, MSU Extension, Conner Sports Flooring; logging business; independent loggers.
Connection to Social Studies Content Strands:
Strand I, Content standard 1, benchmark 2
Strand I, Content standard 2, benchmark 1
Strand I, Content standard 3, benchmarks 1,4
Strand I, Content standard 4, benchmark 1
Strand II, Content standard 1, benchmark 1
Strand II, Content standard 2, benchmarks 3,4
Strand II, Content standard 5, benchmark 3
Strand IV, Content standard 1, benchmarks 1,2
Strand IV, Content standard 2, benchmarks 2,4
Strand IV, Content standard 4, benchmarks 1,2,3
Strand V, Content standard 1, benchmarks 1,3
Strand V, Content standard 2, benchmarks 1,2,3,4
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