Group+A+6-B-1+Workspace

= Home > Learning Activity 6-B-1: WWII Maps > Group A 6-B-1 Workspace=

SEA Record
Record your observations below for each stage of your primary source analysis.

Scan
//This is a WWII U.S. Army "field situation" map, from the Normandy campaign. U.S., British and enemy forces are shown, spread over a battle line extending for over 30 miles. There are lots of details about the troops, initially inscrutable without a legend. 7 am Tues.// //bjf// Map was from two days after D-Day (invasion of Normandy), June 8th at midnight (2400), shows movement of Allied troops into Germany from the beaches to establishing a front line "well off" the beaches 4:45 pm Wed. Kris

Examine
//12th Army position details on June 8, 1944, near the beginning of the march towards Germany. One of 416 maps and 115 reports from D-day through mid 1945. Formerly "secret" classification. Each sheet has a declassified G-3 report with troop details. Did not find a legend to explain the details on the map. 7 am Tues. bjf// Was classified map that was "declassified" on June 18, 1944 (10 days after the use of the map), was released to the Library of Congress on November 1, 1944. Also shows known German tank locations -- middle "T concentration" and "PZ Lehr division" 4:45 Wed. Kris

Analyze
//D-day,June 6, 1944, was the largest invasion force in human history; details at http://www.paperlessarchives.com/d-day_documents.html.// //12th Army was the majority of American forces on the Western Front, commanded by Gen. Omar Bradley; they were the right flank during the Battle of Normandy. 7 am Tues. bjf// D-Day (also known as Operation Overlord) was Allied invasion of Normandy to free Europe from Nazi Germany. Use of maps was key to Allied victory and many were updated on a daily basis to gain a better understanding of the position of both their army and the enemy. The location of the tanks on the map was important because the Allies were always worried about the German Panzer Divisions because of their superior firepower. 7 pm Wed. Kris

Discussion Area
Discuss and answer the following questions about the series of maps.

// For a world history classroom, these maps (with the available essays) are invaluable primary resources. Students could review the maps and relate them to parallel documents that describe these significant battles in greater detail. The maps could be used as introductory "props" when discussing any particular phase of historical interest. 7 am Tues. bjf //
 * //How can this series of maps be used in the classroom?//**

Maps could be used to help understand troop movements and what the goals of the Allied forces were (locations they wanted to "free", areas they were avoiding or concentrating on), also could analyze the speed at which the armies were moving and analyze the logistics behind moving such a large force and what resources were needed to keep the armies moving forward at the speed that was necessary to accomplish their daily and overall goals. 7 pm Wed. Kris

//**What prior information would be necessary for students to use these maps effectively?**// //The “about this collection” essay is quite helpful, especially the paragraph that states “Although the most important and easily recognized information depicted on the map is the black overprint of the unit locations, there is other significant information including operational area boundaries between U.S., British, Canadian, and Free French forces, boxes showing Axis units believed to be in transit to Northern France, boxes listing “unlocated units,” and the addition of a red overprint showing the German states and pre-war national boundaries that was added after the armistice. Also after the armistice, a stop line between the Western Allies and the Soviet forces was added. Interestingly, the stop line was not static after the armistice and minor adjustments were made in the line between U.S. and Soviet forces in the Austrian area.” In other words, students would need to have some knowledge of map reading as well as some specific information about events occurring during the war. 7 am Tues. bjf//

Being an analytical guy, I found the series of maps quite interesting and spent a lot more time looking at them than I probably should have and the essay was also a good addition and for someone with little to no history background or didn't understand or like maps, it seemed like it might be quite helpful, like Bernie pointed out above. I assume that these maps would be used during a WWII unit so students would have some prior knowledge about the war (why it was being fought, countries involved and what sides they were fighting on and why, what the situation was at the point the map/s were made, why the Allies decided to attack at Normandy and not somewhere else....) that these maps would be able to enhance. 7 pm Wed. Kris

//**Would you use these maps in your classroom? Why or why not?**// //In general, probably not. If a social studies teacher wanted to use these maps and was interested in the logistics of battle planning, I (scientist guy) could assist with map reading skills (most students don’t know how to read a map scale or legend). I could probably also assist with analysis of the battle sequences and inconsistencies in the collection of intelligence data, using a modified forensic science approach to critique the battle planning and results. 7 am Tues bjf//

Being a Social Studies guy, I found these maps really interesting, but would probably not use them in the classroom. They are very detailed and to use the map and the series that goes along with it, I believe it would just take too much time to explain everything (of which we don't have enough of because of PSSA's, other standardized testing and all sorts of other disruptions) and get the students to be able to use them in a manner which would really benefit them. I would many use them as a brief wrap up after discussing the battles and troop movements, but only if I was ahead of schedule and had some extra time. 7 pm Wed. Kris

==Map Uses Brainstorming==

> //o [|National Defense University Library,] with much application for social studies and some environmental imagery as well. // > //o [|Map collections] at the Library of Congress. // > //o [|National Geographic] provides a bit more of the science applications, in addition to their topical explorer maps. // //Fyi, Kris, I'm posting these initial thoughts super-early, since this week is full of meetings. I'll be able to check in most days; time will be limited to respond, so my iniital thoughts are above to jump-start us. 7 am Tues. bjf// Bernie, first of all, I'm jealous I love studying maps (war maps most, but really almost anything), especially old versus current to see how things have changed and it seems like you have quite a collection. I've found some other resources too along the way, some of my favorites: Maps of World War II -- [] -- If you can get past the onslaught of ads, they have a great selection of maps illustrating the Fronts (Western/Eastern), Normandy and Pacific Theater. They are very easy to read and interesting. Holocaust History: Animated Maps -- [] -- maps could be used for almost any subject and the ability to interact with them adds to their use The National Archives -- World War II -- [] -- provides a large amount of maps along with other resources that could be used by students in the classroom or for projects. -- 7 pm Wed. Kris
 * // I’ll start this part with a simple discloser. Having degrees in geology and having worked as a geologist/hydrologist for a long time, my office used to have thousands of maps for use on most projects. My current home space still has hundreds of maps for a variety of purposes. // // From teaching basic map-reading skills through using maps in earth/environmental courses, the list is boundless. Population distributions, ecosystem boundaries, resource supply occurrences, pollution events, and finding our way around the planet are just a few applications. Here are a few resources that I found on some basic searches: //
 * //Friday 10 am. Too many meetings this week, so I'll just add a couple of comments here. Your detailed additions above are excellent, Kris, ranging from info about when and why and how these maps are released to historical insights into what the maps summarize about the war effort. I feel somewhat lost, both in not knowing how to obtain that data (at least fairly easily from the source materials) or in having a solid historical context to explain it as you did. This definitely makes me relate more to a student struggling with a science research assignment for which they have little or no prior experience. How do I figure out the best ways to use the primary source materials?//

//Fyi, I'll find some time tonight and Saturday morning to look through the links you added above and, hopefully, to add a few more to our list. Am hoping to wrap this wiki activity up with my self assessment later on Sunday. Hope that fits your plans and schedule reasonably well. Bernie// Of all the maps, I like the one showing the change of "ownership" the most and think this could be er useful in a class, espeically when talking about the differences/changes that each new group brings. I am a fan of the "270 to win" website and use that every once in a while, but I prefer [] because it has historial data for most of the past presidential elections which can be very useful not only for Political Science classes, but Math, Geography, Contempory Issues as well. Sun. 2 pm. Kris
 * //Sat 8 pm. I skipped the WWI links here and on the other groups' wikis; not much else to add. I seem to be saturated with info on the Great War. Out of curiosity, I decided to learn a bit more about the geography of Afghanistan and how that impacts our long and uninvited stay over there. Here is a basic overview from the waronterrornews. This one only goes to 2001, showing the changing "ownership" of the landscape. Finally, this one goes through 2009, showing the human toll in terms of numbers of casualties. For another topic, I'm talking with a social studies teacher about doing some map-reading this fall, teaming up on the general election. Here is a starter electoral college map. Here's a more general site about using maps in lots of different ways. And, this is a wrap for me on this wiki. Bernie//
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