Curated OER
I Hear the Locomotives: The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad
Students examine the effects the Transcontinental Railroad had on the regions through which it passed. They analyze and discuss maps, view and describe online images, and use photos and documents to develop a cause-and-effect ladder.
Curated OER
Rendezvous at Promontory: A New Look at the Golden Spike Ceremony
Students complete a variety of activities as they examine the historical significance of the Transcontinental Railroad and the Golden Spike Ceremony in Promontory, Utah, which honored its completion. In one activity they plan and...
Curated OER
California's Golden History: 1848-1880
Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...
Curated OER
Transcontinental Railroad Web Quest
Students examine aspects of the Transcontinental Railroad. In this Westward Expansion instructional activity, students conduct a web-quest in order to gather information about the Transcontinental Railroad. Students will use their...
Curated OER
The Railroads and Settlement of the Great Plains
Enhance your American literature unit with this resource, in which readers access the Nebraska Studies website and read about "Railroads and Settlement." They search for a photograph of some aspect of the railroad from the Prairie...
Curated OER
Globe Skills Lesson 7 The Transcontinental Railroad
Students explore the Transcontinental Railroad. In this geography skills lesson, students use map skills in order to locate legs of the Transcontinental Railroad on globes.
Curated OER
The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad#140
Students participation in a simulation of laying the track of Transcontinental Railroad starting from three different locations. They use toothpicks and coffee stirrers to build the rails. They evaluate which group laid the most track...
Curated OER
The Transcontinental Railroad
Students investigate the impact of the Transcontinental Railroad. In this Transcontinental Railroad lesson, students research Internet and print sources regarding the effect of the railroad on Chinese immigrants and American Indians,...
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 Railroads and Settlement
Have you ever wondered how your town was placed where it is? Scholars research the impact the advancement of the railroad due to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act had on the formation of civilization in the Great Plains. Map...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: California
It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...
Curated OER
Old Stone House Lesson Plan
From stagecoach to railroad tracks, your class will discover how advancements in travel in the United States during the nineteenth century played an integral role in the industrialization and development of American society. The main...
Federal Reserve Bank
Ten Mile Day
Get your class working on the railroad with this detailed and interactive lesson. After reading and discussing Ten Mile Day, learners explore division of labor, human capital, and productivity with a hands-on group activity in which they...
Curated OER
The Railroad Is Born
Fourth graders examine the proposal of Theodore Judah for the first transcontinental railroad. They analyze a map, write an obituary for Theodore Judah, and create a symbolic poster of Judah's dream for a transcontinental railroad.
Scholastic
The Rise of Railroads: California
Railways are an integral part of the history of California. Using a timeline format, class members connect major historical events to the rise of the railroads and their impact on the state. Activities include a mix of independent and...
Scholastic
The Rise of Railroads: Illinois
Railways not only cross the US, but they are also intertwined with the history of America. Using a timeline format, individuals explore the connections between major events in American history—such as the Civil War—and the rise of the...
Stanford University
Chinese Immigration and Exclusion
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first race-based restriction on immigration in American history. Why was the act passed after Chinese immigrants helped build the Transcontinental Railroad? A series of documents, including speeches and...
Curated OER
I Will Meet You In The Middle
Learners use the 50 States Quarter Reversal as a context of learning a curriculum concept based from the state of Utah. They research the concepts of cause and effect. Also, they use customary units of measurement to find length and...
Curated OER
Railroads across the Country
Students see how to read and trace transcontinental routes on a nineteenth-century railroad map of the United States. They identify their home city or a nearby city on the core map and explain how railroads helped travelers back in the...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: Illinois
Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered activity on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional...
Curated OER
The Wild, Wild West
Sixth graders research the history of the transcontinental railroad. They use advertising propaganda techniques to design and create a poster encouraging people to explore the West by rail.
Curated OER
The Railroad Booms!
Pupils discover how the railroads contributed to the interdependence between farms and towns. Using the railroads, they describe the effect of them on western settlement and the relationship between their location and the availability...
Curated OER
USH Industrialization: The effects of the railroads
Eleventh graders interpret a time zone map and describe the effects of the railroads. They discuss what a continent is, what you think it means if something is transcontinental and offer descriptions about some different inventions from...
Curated OER
Transcontinental Railroad
Eleventh graders explain the development of the American West following the Civil War. They also explore the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Pacific Railway Act of 1862. They also participate in a simulation about the American West.
Curated OER
Traveling the Transcontinental from Yesterday to Today
Students examine the impact of the train on the physical landscape and spatial organization of America. They read and analyze various poems, analyze maps, and develop a list of the positive and negative changes brought by the...