Economics and Geography Lessons

The Ice Horse

MCPS Status of Book as of 4/4/96:
Approved as Library Book for Grades 1-6

Title: The Ice Horse by Candace Christiansen with illustrations by Thomas Locker (Dial Books, New York, NY, 1993)

Lesson Developed by Barbara S. Yingling

Literature Annotation: This story takes the reader to a past era when ice blocks were harvested from the Hudson River. The boy, Jack, participates for the first time by plowing the snow off the ice, sawing blocks of ice, and paddling a boat through a channel to keep a pathway open to the icehouse where the ice is stored. Later his uncle lets him help to sell the ice in the warmer months.

Grade Level: 3-4

Duration: 45-60 minutes

Economic Concepts: Production, Resources, Supply and Demand

Geography Themes: Place, Relationships: Humans and Environments

MSPAP Outcomes and Indicators:

Economic Outcome: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the historical development and current status of economic principles, institutions, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers in society.

Indicators:

• Describe the relationship between available resources and the production of goods and services.
• Describe the relationship of supply and demand to the production and consumption of goods and services.

Geography Outcome: Students will develop an understanding of geographic concepts and processes as needed to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activity.

Indicators:

• Explain the relationship between the physical setting of a community and its ability to satisfy the wants and needs of its people.
• Examine people's adaptation to and modification of the environment as a result of changes in technology.
• Demonstrate a sense of personal responsibility for environmental decisions made at the state and national levels.

Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Identify the natural, capital, and human resources used in harvesting ice from a river.
• Explain why there was a demand for the available supply of ice.
• Explain the role of technology in the decline of the river-ice harvesting industry.
• Discuss environmental issues related to the industrial use of the Hudson River.

Vocabulary: harvest, sawmills, steamboat, channel, conveyor belt, icehouses, planks, head waters, river mouth, estuary

Materials:

• Book: The Ice Horse
• Drinking glass filled with ice cubes
• "Resources Used to Produce Block Ice" worksheet, 1 copy for each student
• "The Hudson River" information worksheet, 1 copy for each student
• "New York" map transparency
• On-line Resources
  • The Hudson RIver
  • Hudson River Valley
  • Color map of New York state

Teacher Background:
From Albany, NY, the Hudson River, once described as one of the most beautiful rivers in the world, flows almost due south to the sea. Starting as a small stream in the Adirondack Mountains, the Hudson grows into a might river that combines scenic beauty with its usefulness to mankind. The Hudson is not a true river, but an estuary that stretches like a long arm from the sea. It is what is known as a "drowned valley", the land having sunk millions of years ago, thus permitting the sea to back up into the land. Tides reach up the Hudson more than 150 miles. It is a very straight river with very little in the way of obstructions. These physical qualities of the river have made it rich with opportunity for commercial use. The down side of the industrial growth has been the pollution that plagues the health of the river. One of the early industries along the river was the harvesting of ice blocks when the river froze. Sleights pulled by horses brought thousands of men to the frozen river to make a living sawing ice.

Lesson Development:

Review/Motivation:
Hold up the glass with the ice cubes. Ask:

"Where do you think I got this ice? (Cafeteria freezer.) "Why is ice important to people? (It keeps us cool; for refrigeration of foods; if you get injured you need to put ice on the injury.) "Where did people get ice before there were freezers? (Allow the students to offer suggestions.) Then tell them that you will be reading a book to them about the days when ice came from rivers and lakes.

Activities:

1. Read the author's note (following the title page) to the students. Have the students make predictions about the way the ice was harvested from the river. Ask them to see if their predictions are correct as you read the story.

2. Read the book, The Ice Horse to the students.

3. Distribute the worksheet, "Resources Used to Produce Block Ice." Have the students use information from the story to list the natural, capital and human resources used in the production of block ice. (Examples:)

   Natural Resources	Capital Resources	Human Resources
   river water	plows	Uncle Joe
   lake water	ice saws	mountain farmers who became the ice cutters
   horses	sawdust	ice sellers
   freezing cold air	spiked horseshoes	channel boat rowers
   	special marker tool
   	conveyor belt
   	boat and oars
   	ice wagon
   	ice hooks

4. Remind the students that the ice business made money as long as there was a market for ice. Ask:

   • Why would people want blocks of ice in the summertime? (The people would want the ice to put in an "ice box" which was the early form of a refrigerator.)
   • Was there an unlimited supply of ice? (The story didn't say, but the ice would melt quickly on a hot summer day so there were probably a lot of people wanting to buy ice. The supply was limited to the amount of ice that was harvested and stored the previous winter.)
   • If consumers wanted more ice than suppliers had, what would happen to the price of ice? (When the quantity of a product that consumers want is greater than the amount available, the price will rise.)

5. Tell the students that they will read to find out more information about the Hudson River. Hand out "The Hudson River" information worksheet. Have the students read Part I silently.
   Ask:

   • How is the Hudson River different from a "true" river? (The Hudson is an estuary so there are salty water and tides up stream. A "true" river has fresh water.)

6. Show the transparency of New York State. Have a student locate the Hudson River, the Adirondack Mountains near the head waters of the river, and New York City at the mouth of the river.
   Ask:

   • Think back to what the information sheet told you about the saltiness of the Hudson River water. Which part of the river, near the head waters or the mouth, were the ice harvesters probably using to make the ice? Why? (They were probably harvesting the fresh water closer to the head waters because that part of the river would not be as salty.)
   • Would people on other rivers in the United States be able to use their rivers to make ice blocks? (The only rivers that would work would be rivers that are frozen to at least 2 feet deep for a good part of the winter.)
   • What information would you need toknow if a river would be suitable for harvesting ice blocks? (Whether the water is fresh or salty, whether the river is polluted, the average winter temperatures of the area around the river to know if the water in the river would freeze.)

7. Have the students work in Think/Pair/Share groups to discuss this questions:
   • Why aren't workers harvesting ice on the Hudson River any more? (Nowadays ice is made by freezers that use electricity; maybe it is cheaper to make it by electricity than it is to make it from the river water; maybe the water is polluted and it can't be used for ice.)

8. Have the students read to the end of the information sheet about the Hudson River.
   Discuss:

   • How does the pollution in the Hudson River affect the people who depend on the river? (The pollution made the river "sick" so that it could not support fish and other creatures. The water could no longer be used for drinking water if the pollution level was too high.)
   • Is it fair for a state or national government to make rules about the way the people who live and work near the Hudson River can use the river? Why or why not?

   Allow time for discussion of the issues.

Conclusion/Closure:
Ask the students if they would have liked working in the ice cutting business. Why or why not?

Thoughtful Application:
Have the students do research to find information about these questions:

• Would the Chesapeake Bay be a good source of ice? Why or why not?
• What are the pollution problems in the Chesapeake Bay? How are the problems being solved?
• How are the people of Maryland affected by the Chesapeake Bay's health?

Return to the Economics and Geography Lessons introduction page .

Return to the Social Studies Overview .

Last updated on March 10, 1997
Maintained by John L. Day

<jday@umd5.umd.edu>