Place names can tell the history of an area.
If you look at place names in and around Chicago, you can find names of historical persons, Native American tribes and terms, as well as the geographical history of the place reflected in the name it was given by people. The Native American place names reflect a much different reality than the names given by European settlers. Sometimes settlers named places after themselves, but often they called a place after the predominant geographic features of the landscape. In this activity, students will identify the outline of the historic areas of prairie and oak savannah by finding descriptive place names on contemporary maps. Use maps and other geographic representations and instruments to gather information about people, places and environments.