Trains, Planes & Automobiles (Modes of Transportation) Unit

We spent most of our time on trains and then decided to expand the unit into a modes of transportation unit. We added books about all sorts of trucks - fire engines, dump trucks, garbage trucks, etc - and also found books on airplanes and helicopters. I had way more field trip ideas by this point than I had time and other material so there are lots of things that we couldn't do. But here are a few of the highlights from the second half of the unit.

• Watched a movie about airplanes and helicopters
• Made our own paper airplanes - this day was for sure a favorite
• Read lots of books about cars, trucks, planes and helicopters to add to the train books we were still working on
• Visited Hill Air Force Base Museum

Things I Would Like To Do In the Future

• Tour of the fire station (and police station)
• Lesson on the basics of a motor from a mechanic
• Tour a semi-truck and learn about trucking (I happen to have two brothers-in-law who can help with this one, but I thought of it too late and couldn't get it scheduled in time. One thing I'm learning from planning my own units is to either plan WAY in advance or be more flexible with the field trips. There's a learning curve for sure).

Touring Hill Air Force Base Museum

Testing our paper airplanes

Books We Read

This book was AWESOME! We made every airplane in the book and tested the flight patterns of the different airplanes.

Pretty fun and informative movie

Train Unit

I decided to do a train unit to attempt to reel Preston in a bit. That kid is obsessed with trains and I thought there was a lot I could do with it. Dylan quickly informed me that he did not like trains as much as Preston. Two minutes into our first lesson and he changed his mind. I guess I really do like trains, Mom. They're really interesting. Sold! Here are some of the things we did as part of our train unit.

• Read an article I found that included a brief history of trains - horse-powered, steam engines, diesel engines, electric trains, and the future of trains. This was actually better for us than many of the books. It was a really good introduction to our unit.
• Read lots of books about trains from the library, from short board books to in-depth books about the history of the railroad
• Visited the Union Station Railroad Museum in Ogden
• Road the train at the zoo
• Went to the Treehouse Museum to play with trains
• Made construction paper animal trains (we called them zoo trains)
• Set up toy trains and played all day
• Made our own tickets, set up chairs and pretended we were riding a train, complete with train whistles and ticket punching
• Drew pictures of trucks and trains using a step by step book we found at the library
• Road the Light Rail (electric rail system in SLC)
• Watched a movie called "Big Trains, Little Trains" that the kids LOVED
• Listened to "I've been working on the railroad"
• Finger play (I had the kids learn this)

Here is the train engine on the track (hold up thumb)

Here is the coal car just in back (hold up pointer finger)

Here is the box car to carry freight (middle)

Here is the mail car. Don't be late (ring)

Way back here at the end of the train rides the caboose through sun and rain (little)

• Visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site (timing didn't work out, but our plan is to go see the reenactment this spring)
• Ride the Front Runner Train (Another thing that didn't end up happening yet, but will eventually. The plan was to ride down to SLC and then have a day there.)

Riding the train at the zoo

Our animal trains

The Union Station Railroad Museum

Outside the Union Station Railroad

Trains at a restaurant called JC Mickelson's in Nephi

We ate there on our way home from a family trip and the kids loved it!

Books We Read

Nothing incredible to report on books. They were all fun, but nothing spectacular. The article I found online was actually the best at keeping their attention and giving an overall history of trains. But here are some we read during the unit.

This book was long, but was really interesting and informative. We ended up reading a couple sections a day until we finished it.

This book was really fun. It helps you draw all sorts of trucks and trains one step at a time. For those of us who are quite artistically challenged, this was a fun way to get in another art project.

This was a favorite of my preschooler