Trucks at Work

How do juicy oranges arrive at a grocery store in winter? Cargo trucks are on the road year-round. Create your own business fleet!

• 1.

  Watch some cargo trucks. What loads do they carry-furniture, animals, building materials, computers, food, mail, gasoline, or trash? Find out the names of parts on a cargo truck such as the cab, trailer, side-view mirrors, mud flaps, and axles. Many trucks have bright, colorful signs on the trailer's sides. The signs tell the name of the business and show a picture of what the truck is carrying.

• 2.

  Pretend you run your own business. What loads would your cargo truck carry? Choose a name for your business. Here are some ideas about how to make your own cargo truck. Use your imagination to make your own Trucks at Work. Design a whole fleet with recycled boxes to make your trailer and cab.

• 3.

  Cover your art area with newspaper. Using the sides of the boxes as patterns, use Crayola® Scissors to cut construction paper to cover them. Use Crayola School Glue to glue paper to your trailer and cab. Air dry.

• 4.

  Use Crayola Washable Markers and Crayola Gel Markers to design signs on both sides of your trailer and the cab. Bright colored letters outlined in another color will make your signs stand out.

• 5.

  Cut cab windows from white paper. Glue on to cab. Air dry.

• 6.

  For a chrome effect, use Gel Markers to outline windows and doors, and draw windshield wipers, door handles, and hinges. To make mirrors, glue aluminum foil to construction paper. Glue onto a folded paper strip (to make it stand out) and then onto your tr

• 7.

  <B>Ask an adult</B> to help you cut wheels from corrugated cardboard. How many wheels does your truck need? Use wheels as patterns to cut black construction paper tires. Glue tires to wheels. Air dry.

• 8.

  Use Gel Markers to draw fancy spokes on your wheels. Glue wheels to your upside-down truck. Air dry.

• 9.

  For axles, cut a thin, black strip of paper for each pair of wheels. Glue between wheels. Cut and glue mud flaps behind the last two pairs of wheels. Air dry.

• 10.

  Explain to your classmates what your truck carries, the type of truck it is, and why your business is important to people.

• 11.

  A cargo truck pencil or crayon holder would make a great gift. Have fun thinking of your own ideas for these terrific trucks!

Benefits

• Students gather information about cargo trucks, the diverse loads they carry, and their importance to a country's economy.
• After determining which cargo and truck they would like to investigate in depth, students design and create their own cargo trucks.
• Students display their trucks and report what they have learned to the rest of the class.

Adaptations

• Choose a product, point of origin, and destination. On a map, highlight the route taken to deliver, for example, apples from Salem, Oregon, to New Orleans, Louisiana, or honey from Windsor, Quebec, to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Take notes on states and prov
• Select trucker challenges as daily journal topics: flooded or snowbound roads, truck breakdowns, traffic jams, trucker illness or vacation. Older students respond with written solutions and younger students draw illustrations.