Teacher'sAnswer Key

Worksheet 1: Keywords

Across

1. Considered the basic building block of wood. Cellulose
3. The railroad drastically changed the perception of time, space, and distance in America.

6. The Industrial Revolution was a period in American history marked by rapid industrialization, vast technological improvements and increased urbanization.

8. A framework consisting of vertical, slanted supports and horizontal crosspieces supporting a bridge. Trestle

11. Forest products come from the renewable resource of trees.

12. Amount of goods that people are ready to buy for a given price. Demand

13. A beam or rod, typically made of wood, that supports and connects the rails of a railroad track. Crosstie

14. Amount of goods available for meeting a demand or for purchase at a given price. Supply

Down

2. Until the growth of railroads after the Civil War, steamboats transported most people and goods in the U.S.

4. Barbed wire helped shape life in the American West by greatly reducing the number of trees used for wooden fence posts.

5. A cone-bearing tree, often evergreen. Conifer

7. New technology, most specifically the chemical treatment of wood, helped reduce the amount of wood used by American railroads.

9. Sticky material found in many trees and plants that hardens when exposed to air. Resin

Worksheet2: Essay Analysis

1.       Listthree common uses for wood in America before the advent of the IndustrialRevolution.
a. Building houses; b. Cooking meals; c. Heating homesand other buildings (three possible answers) Other answers include, wood wasused for tools, transportation (boats and horse carriages, for instance), andfurniture.

2.  Describe how therapid increase in the population of the United States during the latter half ofthe nineteenth century affected American forests.
Extensive forestland was cleared to make room for the increased population inthe United States during the late nineteenth century. In urban areas with swelling populations, vast amounts of wood were usedto fuel the fires of industrialization and in rural areas, many people clearedforests to farm. The increased number of people living in the United States resulted ingreat demands placed on American forests.

3.  How did steamboatsplace strain on American forests during the nineteenth century?
By 1850, over 700 steamboats were transporting goods to and from majorAmerican ports. Besides typically being constructed of wood, steamboats consumed largeamounts of fuelwood on a daily basis.

4. What role did theeconomic principles of supply and demand play in the amount of wood used duringthe American Industrial Revolution?
Because wood was relatively cheap for much of the nineteenth century, due toits plentiful supply, the majority of people and companies saw no reason to lookfor ways to increase the life of wooden products such as crossties. However, bythe late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, the supply of wooddecreased in the East leading to an increase in the price of the product.Furthermore, since the demand for wood was high across the country, especiallyin areas having limited access to the resource such as the plains and prairies,the cost of wood continued to rise. Because of the steadily rising cost of wood, American railroadcompanies (among others) began to implement measures to increase the durabilityand average life span of the wooden products they used in their operations.

5.  Provide twoexamples of how technology helped conserve trees during the nineteenthand twentieth centuries. Supply evidence to support your two examples.
One example of how technology helped conserve trees was the chemicaltreatment of crossties. Before the evolution of chemical treatments, crosstiestypically lasted between 5 and 7 years; the addition of preservatives increasedthe life span to between 30 and 40 years. The chemical treatment of crosstiestherefore decreased the amount of trees used by American railroads. Anotherexample of how technology helped conserve trees was the invention ofbarbed wire. Instead of using wood for fences, many Westerners used barbed wireto fence in their animals and prevent open grazing, thereby decreasing thenumber of trees cut down for this purpose.

6.  Explain how the nickname “iron road,” could be considered amisleading description of nineteenth-century American railroads.
Despite the fact that railroad tracks were forged of iron, railroads usedmore wood than any other resource. For instance, station houses, bridges andtrestles, railroad cars, and telegraph poles normally were constructed of woodduring the nineteenth century. The most significant way that railroads relied upon wood was in theconstruction and replacement of wooden crossties – the average mile of trackrequired over 2,500 crossties.

7. Compare and contrast forest products of the past in the United States with modern goods derived from trees.
   In the past, Americans used wood to build homes, fences and furniture, and for recreational equipment such as baseball bats and jigsaw puzzles.  Early Americans also used wood to cook food and heat their homes and enjoyed the consumable components of trees like nuts, fruit, and maple syrup (to name just a few).  In modern times, although much furniture and some sporting equipment is constructed of wood, research and development has led to more diverse uses for forest products.  Many everyday items such as toothpaste, shampoo, and liquid cleaners, often contain derivatives of trees.

Worksheet3: Wood Keeps the Fires Burning

Answerswill vary but below are examples of some acceptable responses.

Worksheet4: Using a Line to Graph History

Graph#1: Railroad Crossties

Graph#2: Miles of Railroad Tracks

Graph Questions

1. In the 10-year period between 1900 and 1910, how many new miles of track were built? How many crossties were installed for the tracks built between 1880 and 1940? Between 1900 and 1910, 47,000 miles of railroad track were built and 293 million crossties were installed between 1880 and 1940.

2. In what 10-year period between 1840 and 1930 was the rate of mile of track installed the greatest? The rate of mile of track installed was the greatest between 1880 and 1890.

Worksheet 5: It Comes from a Tree

Answerswill vary, but below are examples from each of the five boxes distributed to theclass.

Assessment1: Test

1. Describe some of the uses for wood before the American Industrial Revolution.
Before the American Industrial Revolution wood was used to construct houses (and other buildings), fences, furniture, roads, bridges, and carriages. Wood also was used to heat homes and cook food. Finally, wood was used in the smelting of iron throughout the eighteenth and into the nineteenth centuries.

2. Explain the relationship between crossties and concerns regarding forest depletion.
When the supply of timber seemed plentiful railroad companies did not need to find methods to make wooden crossties last longer. However, concerns about forest depletion, due to the fact that railroads and other industrial segments consumed so much wood, prompted research and development regarding the possibility of increasing the average life span of the crosstie. By the early twentieth century the majority of wooden crossties were treated with preservatives, thus reducing the number of trees needed by railroad companies for their operations.

3. What were some of the technological advances during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that helped conserve trees?
One of the most significant technological advancements that helped conserve trees was the chemical treatment of wooden crossties used by railroads. Whereas untreated crossties normally lasted between 5 and 7 years, chemically treated ones usually last between 30 and 40 years.  Preservatives injected into wood used for fence posts also helped conserve trees because it took much longer for the posts to deteriorate.  Finally, the invention of barbed wire for fencing drastically reduced the number of wooden fences constructed in the U.S., thereby helping to conserve trees.

4. Explain the impactrailroads had on American forests during the nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies.
American railroads used wood for many purposes during the nineteenth andearly twentieth centuries. Although it was nicknamed the “iron road,” railroad companies used wood in the construction of station houses, telegraphpoles, railroad cars, bridges and trestles, and fences. However, the mostprevalent use of wood by railroads could be found in the crosstie. Onaverage, every mile of track required over 2,500 crossties. Hence, Americanrailroads, because of their extensive use of wood, placed considerable strain onU.S. forests.

5. Explain the impactrailroads had on American society during the nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies.
Railroads had a significant impact on American society. First, railroadsaltered people’s perceptions of time, space, and distance. People could travelplaces on railroads that they previously believed inaccessible. Moreover, theamount of time necessary to travel from one point to another drasticallydropped. Second, railroad construction (mainly the transcontinental railroad)helped unite a growing country. Railroads facilitated the formation of politicaland commercial networks between regions of the nation and the ability todisseminate goods and information in a timely manner further united the Americanpublic.

6. Provide twoexamples of materials extracted from trees in the production of common householditems.  Nametwo items in either your classroom or home that are derived from trees.
Cellulose, the building block of wood, and resin, a sticky substance thathardens when exposed to air, are two examples of materials extracted from treesin the production of everyday household objects. Hair spray (containing resins)and toothpaste (sometimes contains resins and/or cellulose) contain materialsextracted from trees.

7. How did steamboats utilize wood during the nineteenth century?
During the nineteenth century, steamboats remained an important form of transportation in the United States. Typically constructed of wood, steamboats also used wood as fuel for much of the century because of its plentiful supply and relatively low cost. Steamboats often stopped twice daily at wooding stations (small, unauthorized stations where people cleared forestland they did not own) in order to buy wood for fuel.