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PlayOwl

Geography · Grade 5

Migration, Trade and Transportation

People, goods and ideas are always on the move. Learners explain migration with push and pull factors, using the Great Migration of about six million African Americans from the South to Northern, Midwestern and Western cities as a central example. They find out why places specialize and trade, tell imports from exports, follow container ships through the Panama Canal (1914) and the St. Lawrence Seaway (1959), and trace a product's journey through ports, rail hubs and highways.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 90 minutes
  • Migration, trade and transportation check: 10 questions
  • Ways to answer: choose an answer, highlight a text, pin a map, match pairs, type a number and put in order
See plans Included with Family, Teacher and School plans. Open in PlayOwl

What learners will discover

  • Explain migration with push and pull factors, using examples from U.S. history and today, described factually and respectfully.
  • Explain why places specialize and trade, and tell imports from exports.
  • Describe how goods move around the world and explain why routes such as the Panama Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway matter.
  • Trace a product's journey through a transportation network and explain how geography shapes each step.

Lessons

  1. Why people move 8 steps3 practiceabout 24 min
  2. Specialize and trade 7 steps4 practiceabout 20 min
  3. Ships, canals and seaways 9 steps5 practiceabout 24 min
  4. A product's journey 8 steps5 practiceabout 22 min
  5. Migration, trade and transportation check 10 questions at the end

Keep exploring

Games to practice with

  • Globe ExplorerSpin a real 3D globe, flip to the flat map, and find continents, oceans and countries.
  • Pin the PlanetDrag the pin onto wonders, cities and exact latitude and longitude points.
  • Mapmaker QuestFollow directions to make a map, then read its legend, compass rose and scale.

More 5th grade geography

Guide for grown-ups