Lesson Plan
Curated OER

We Accuse Colored Peoples of California V. State of California

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Students participate in a WebQuest to investigate discrimination of African Americans, Chinese and Californio/Latino during the Gold Rush era. They act as law clerks to write a letter to their clients about a potential trial.
Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Links to the Past

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners use documents from California As I Saw It: First Person Narratives, 1849-1900 , in American Memory to create a script depicting the motivations, expectations, fears, and realizations of immigrants who settled California between...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Westward Expansion

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students locate California and New York on a map and explore available means of travel in the 19th century. Students explore the role of trade in pioneer America and simulate various barter transactions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gold Mountain

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners read primary and secondary sources to find jobs as a Chinese immigrant. In groups they create a chart listing jobs for Chinese and write a letter about employment and living conditions to a Chinese friend.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Biblical Perspective

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students analyze money using a Biblical and business perspective. In this algebra lesson, students define their money relationship biblically and in a business fashion. They compare their view with the view of someone in the Gold Rush days.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Sleeping Mountain

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students conduct research on the activity of Mammoth Mountain, a volcano in California. They role-play as townspeople whose lives and livelihoods are endangered by an active volcano that may or may not erupt in the near future. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ship of Gold

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students research the events that were taking place in the U.S. during the time period when the SS Central America sank, and explore the adventurous, innovative, and individualistic traits that often define the American spirit.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Indians' Loss of Gold

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine and discuss how the American Indians suffered the loss of their homelands, homes, and their way of life. They watch videos, read books and develop research projects on the struggles of the American Indians.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oh My Darling

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students discuss human interaction with the environment and sing "Clementine" with historical fiction lyrics. They create a map or model of a mining camp in which Clementine may have lived. They discuss what might happen to their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

San Francisco Cooking

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students investigate the history of San Francisco, California and then create recipes from the area, including a Monte Cristo Sandwich, Sourdough Bread, and a Golden Gate Burger.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rincon History Museum

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students visit the Rincon History Museum in California. They discover different periods in the state's history and discuss. They view the art and explain what can be learned from it.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Exploration and Settlement of the American Southwest

For Teachers 3rd
Students scrutinize the Zuni Pueblo Revolt in this seven lessons unit on early Spanish explorers in the American southwest. The discovery of the Spanish missions, the search for the seven cities of gold, and particular geological...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pioneer Currency in Utah: Have you got change for 5?

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine why pioneer society needed a uniform medium of exchange -- not so much among themselves, but for use with non-Mormon suppliers and California immigrants.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Journey to America

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders carefully analyze the artwork, Les Emigrants, and explore the reasons that people emigrated to the United States, and what life was like for new arrivals. They discuss what things immigrants were able to bring with them and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Documenting the Great Depression

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Students compare and contrast two photographs from the Great Depression, and identify the ways in which the photographers depicted the hardships of everyday life during this period. They hypothesize about the story behind each photograph...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pushing the Boundaries: The Pioneer Spirit

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders recognize how social reform occurred at the turn of the century. Through a debate, 11th graders determine advantages and drawbacks of traveling west using original sources and descriptions of the attitudes, beliefs, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning Landscapes

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders analyze a landscape depicting Yosemite during the time of the Wild West. They compare their perceptions of the West from film and television to this representation. They observe the use of scale and color to depict size and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hydraulic Mining

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explore reasons for supporting and opposing hydraulic mining. It was the most efficient and used mining method until 1884. A simulated court hearing is held where a decision is made whether to allow the continued use of this...
PPT
Missouri University of science & Technology

General Overview History of the Panama Canal

For Students 10th - 12th
Called the Eight Wonder of the World by some and the Big Ditch by others, the Panama Canal is indeed an engineering marvel. The long, complicated, and sometimes controversial history of the canal is captured in a presentation loaded with...
Worksheet
2
2
K12 Reader

Traveling to the Distant West

For Students 6th - 8th
If you build it they can come. After reading a short article about the impact of western expansion, middle schoolers cite evidence from the article to explain how this expansion forced changes in transportation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Port of Entry

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners research patterns of immigration throughout American history. The focus is on the process of how immigrants came through Ellis Island. Students reflect upon the topic to develop critical thinking skills.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hydraulic Mining Offline Lesson

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students utilize a variety of source materials to explore reasons for supporting or opposing hydraulic mining. A mock court hearing is held where a decision to allow the continued use of hydraulic mining is made.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Reading Comprehension

For Students 3rd - 5th
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read facts about the origin of blue jeans and assess reading and vocabulary comprehension. Students answer nine multiple choice questions.

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