TEACHER'S GUIDE: ACTIVITIES
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The "father of Grand Central."
Imagine that it is 2013, and for Grand Central's centennial, New York City leaders plan to hold a ceremony honoring the man most responsible for making Grand Central possible. But they can't agree on who that is: Cornelius Vanderbilt? Whitney Warren? William Wilgus?Assign each student one of the three men, and have each student write a 500-word statement that his or her assigned person would deliver to city leaders if he were alive, explaining why he deserves the honor more than the two other nominees.
Ask for volunteers to read their statements to the class. When the presentations are done, hold a class vote on who should be the "father of Grand Central."
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Picturing the terminal.
Visit the gallery of photos of Grand Central and select the photo you find most interesting. Imagine that you were the one who took that photo (as a New York resident or a visitor to the city), and that you are now enclosing it in a letter to a friend or family member. In your letter, explain the circumstances under which you took the photo, what the photo shows about Grand Central, and your connection with Grand Central.Post the photographs on a bulletin board, and beneath each one, post the letters students wrote about it. How different are the stories these letters tell?
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Getting around Gotham.
As the film explains, Grand Central Terminal serves the New York City subway system as well as commuter trains from outside the city. Conduct an experiment to see how well students can navigate the rail and subway maps and schedules (as well as the Web sites) involved.Have each student team up with a partner to plan a day trip to New York City from White Plains, New York. Teams should take the commuter train from White Plains to Grand Central Terminal, then take the subway to visit the American Museum of Natural History, Rockefeller Center, and Wall Street (in any order), then return to White Plains.
Each team should prepare a schedule for the day listing the commuter train they would take into the city in the morning, the subway lines they would take to visit the three sites in Manhattan, and the commuter train they would take to return to White Plains in the evening. Each team should also tally the cost of the train and subway trips required.
Have teams outline their proposed itinerary on a sheet of paper and post it for the rest of the class to review. Which group's itinerary appears the most accurate and logical?
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Grand Central in the news.
Read these examples of stories about Grand Central in New York newspapers. Imagine you are a New Yorker who lived through all four events described here --- and read about them in the newspaper. For each event, write a letter to the editor of one of the newspapers, giving your reaction to the event described and the coverage it generated. -
Mandating progress?
As the film notes, by banning steam-powered locomotives from the city, New York forced the New York Central Railroad to be a pioneer in the new technology of electric trains, thereby reducing pollution in the city. Today, of course, much of New York's pollution comes from cars. Should the city ban conventional, gasoline-powered cars as a means of encouraging residents to buy hybrids or other cleaner vehicles instead?Imagine that New York City is planning to hold a referendum on that question. Divide the class into two groups -- one in favor of the proposal and one against it -- and have the two groups produce one or more campaign posters, radio ads, and jingles to persuade people to vote for their side.
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