You have just hit the lesson plan jackpot! This isn't just a instructional activity, it's a ten-day unit covering westward expansion, pioneer life, and the Oregon Trail. Activities include baking, model building, role-play, newspaper...

Thoroughly delve into My Antonia by Willa Cather with a plethora of activities. Engage scholars with videos and web sites in this week-long unit that explains the historical context and creates pioneers in the field of research. An...

Students evaluate primary sources. In this Westward Expansion activity, students will write essays that compare and contrast the differences and similarities between pioneers and Native Americans. Students will engage in a wide variety...

Students use their photo analysis skills to gain an understanding of what pioneer life in Canada may have been like by examining historical photos. Students are then given an opportunity to present their findings to the class in a...

Students discover details of pioneer life. In this history lesson, students examine artifacts and play games from pioneer times.

Young historians research the Southwest Trail, which ran through Arkansas back in the 19th century. Pupils are divided into four groups. Each group researches a pioneer who blazed the Southwest Trail. Then, the group presents an oral or...

Utilizing the Nebraska State Quarter, pupils learn about the pioneers who had wagons that were pulled across Nebraska by oxen during the westward movement. Excellent worksheets are embedded in the plan that guide them through this fine...

Students explore Latin America by researching the favorite past time, baseball. In this Latin culture lesson plan, students identify the leaders in the Latin American baseball movement such as Felipe Alou, Jose Mendze, and the great...

Learners explore geology by participating in a field trip exercise. In this rock analysis lesson, students discuss rock formations and how water moves rocks according to the tide. Learners conduct a tide activity by marking a rock of...

Help your middle schoolers recognize the similarities and differences between the games they play and those played by pioneer children. Using the Internet, they research a game of their choice and discover how it has evolved over time....

Designed specifically for lower elementary pupils, this is a great biographical research project in which students research a famous American, and then design creative poster boards to help them "become" the famous...

Fourth graders explain the hardship of economic limitations in Westward Expansion . They describe the effects of fluctuations in supply and demand. They put themselves in the place of pioneers hoping to build a homestead.

What a fantastic project idea for discussing not only the history of America's expansion into the West, but for reviewing any major unit of history in your class. Pupils build stamp collections to visually represent themes of the...

Students research the Wright Brothers historic first flight and design a travel poster asking for volunteers to participate. Write a newspaper account of the first flight and include how the local people may have felt about the Wright...

Learners explore how to use natural resources in the next millenium. Students create a KWL chart and then research information on our solar systsem, natural resources, and environments. Learners build a model of a future community and...

Students explore the process of harvesting maple syrup. For this science and history lesson, students make their own maple syrup and create a picture book that shows the Native American and American pioneer methods of making the syrup.

Students describe the pioneering work of researcher Edward W. Nelson and identify everyday objects that aid in understanding a culture. In this everyday objects lesson, students conduct their own research into everyday objects by...

Sixth graders are read excerpts of the book "Pioneer Girl" by their teacher. Using the text, they discover what life was like on the Canadian Prairies during the 1880s. They discuss why people moved west and the expansion of the railroad...

Here is a fabulous series of lesson plans on four of the most celebrated artists of the Old Western period in American history. Learners study the works of Charles King, George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, and Thomas Moran. The pack is...

Here is a nicely designed lesson on ancestry and family history. In it, learners read an article entitled, "Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?" Then, they make up a series of questions to profile their family and their community 100...

Students interpret a message sent to space using a radio telescope and draw inferences from the interpreted message. Working with a partner, they interpret data that scientists believe is a message from aliens. They work on organizing...

Participate in the 100th anniversary of the first flight. In groups, learners use the internet to research the roles the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart played in promoting the use of flight. They use the information to write and...

Act out the African folktale Abiyoyo. Kindergartners listen to the tale and discuss the characters, dressing as their favorite characters in order to retell and perform Abiyoyo using props. They will gain an understanding of...

As an anticipatory set, biologists listen to the story of Ruth Patrick, a scientist who used algae to detect water quality. They observe a demonstration of osmosis and diffusion. In their lab groups, they place Elodea stalks in...