Lesson Plan

Distribute copies (electronically or on paper) of Ralph Lee Barnard’s interview about how he made money as a young man.  Individually, or in pairs, students will read and note how Barnard made a living.

Answer should include:

• Hunting squirrels and selling them
• Trapping mink for their fur

Post images of the 7 sources around the classroom or have students use the Internet to visit each image electronically.  Distribute copies of the worksheet attached for students to record their observations. Individually, or in pairs, students will walk around viewing the images or visit the images online and while making their observations.  Students will answer reflection questions about the lack of transportation during the time period and how important the country store was to the economy and the school to the community.  

Have a group discussion about how the local economy operated.  Discussion should address the different options people had to make a living, both from local residents and from visitors to the region.  Compare and contrast the local economy during the first half of the 20th century and today. Discuss modes of transportation that existed and why the stores and schools were important to the community and people passing through as well as why some of the stores still exist.  

• People walked, rode horses, or used horse drawn wagons
• The stores still exist because they are located on main roads

Warm-up Activity

Based on your understanding of a local economy, what do you think life was like for people trying to make a living during the time period?  What challenges did they face? What opportunities did they have? Make sure to consider it from the perspective of someone living during the early 1900’s.  For example, how did people get from one place to another?  

Writing Prompt 

Students have examined examples of different businesses that existed and have discussed how they were essential to the local economy.  Individually, or in pairs, students will create their own business plan in order to create a new business that might have survived along the Appalachian Trail between 1930-1952.  Students should include the following: 

• Name for the business

• What the business will sell or the service it will provide
• What the business will contribute to the local economy both for the locals and people traveling through
• Students can use the map of the Lost Appalachian Trail to determine where their business will be located and explain their rationale for their location.

Each individual or pair will present their business plan to the class.

As a class, students can discuss which business they think would have been most successful.