Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 1 - Grades 9-12
Archaeologists have discovered a cache of Native American relics. They want to preserve these relics by removing them from the rapidly eroding site to a lab where they can be studied. Native American traditions demand that the items...
Smithsonian Institution
Western Indian Wars
Why do many Native Americans live on reservations? An interactive resource teaches about how reservations came to be and the tragic history behind Native Americans moving from their lands. Teenagers read passages, view images, and click...
PBS
Sitting Bull: Spiritual Leader and Military Leader
Sitting Bull was not expected to be a great warrior. Yet, he led the Lakota people and other tribes to several pivotal victories against the United States government when federal troops threatened their land. Using primary sources, such...
Curated OER
Lesson 6: Native Americans in the West
Young scholars recall their knowledge of Native American people who lived in the West and reflect on how their perspectives differed from pioneers and argonauts of the 19th century.
Curated OER
Racists Actions Toward the Native Americans
Students explore Thomas Jefferson and his attitude toward Native Americans. They study maps from European colonization and the westward movement that pushed the Native Americans further west. Students analyze primary source writings of...
Curated OER
Native American Dwellings Scavenger Hunt
For this social studies worksheet, students work on a project to find information about the dwellings of Native Americans for the seven questions while using the internet.
Curated OER
Native American
Students investigate how early European exploration and colonization resulted in cultural and ecological interactions among previously unconnected peoples. They comprehend that Europeans had misconceptions about Native American literacy...
Curated OER
Who is Who in the Old West?
Students consider the backgrounds of those who settled the Old West. In this Westward Expansion activity, students participate in a simulation that requires them to role play miners, ranchers, Native Americans, Chinese, African...
Center for History Education
Pontiac's War
Invaders are coming: fight them off or run? Native American peoples had to decide this question after British colonists went west following the French and Indian War. Using a speech from Chief Pontiac, young historians consider if they...
Curated OER
American West: Indian Warpath Word Search
In this word search worksheet, students find the words that represent reasons why Native Americans were compelled to war during the history of the American West. Students locate 10 words.
Curated OER
Bible Lesson: Wagons West
Students debate whether manifest destiny is right or wrong. For this manifest destiny lesson, students discuss the westward movement and the role of manifest destiny as they focus on the Native Americans. Students view the...
Curated OER
Who are the Women of the Pacific North West: 1830-1870?
Students view a picture from the Vancouver National Historic Reserve and discuss the people in the picture. They locate Cromwell's Map and discuss the villages located close to Fort Vancouver. Students read information regarding the role...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 3
Should researchers be able to excavate, examine, and remove Native American artifacts from historic sites? Should companies be permitted to build on sacred Native American land? After watching West of the West's documentary, The Lone...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
What Brought Settlers to the Midwest?
Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...
Channel Islands Film
Sa Hi Pa Ca (Once Upon a Time): Lesson Plan 2
What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a...
University of Richmond
The Overland Trails 1840-1860
What led Americans to head west in the 1800s? Using an interactive map and journals from those who traveled, pupils explore the stories of those who migrated. In addition, they see how the numbers fluctuated in response to the push-pull...
Reed Novel Studies
Little House On The Prairie: Novel Study
Laura Ingalls Wilder memorialized life in the American West with her Little House on the Prairie series. Readers explore the first book in the series using a novel study guide. Along with standard text-based questions, scholars...
Annenberg Foundation
Masculine Heroes
What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...
Curated OER
Persistent Paths: Trails, Tracks and Turnpikes Across the Alleghenies
High schoolers study maps to determine barriers associated with the Pennsylvania mountains and the Native Americans. In this investigative lesson students study the routes used by Native Americans, explain physical features of the...
Curated OER
Food: Early American Food Cycles Web Quest
Learners complete a Web Quest on ways that Native Americans hunted for, harvested, stored, and prepared food and what types of natural foods were eaten. In this early American food cycles lesson plan, students discover many of the...
Curated OER
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Students examine the effect of the Lewis and Clark Expedition on Native American nations. In this Native American history instructional activity, students research Internet sources to find out how the expedition impacted Native Americans...
Curated OER
Sacajawea
Third graders investigate the challenges Sacajawea faced when communicating. They examine ways of communicating using gestures as the Native Americans did. They identify how the Native Americans used natural resources when meeting their...
Curated OER
Whats so Different Between Them
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...
Curated OER
Ethnography of the Lewis & Clark Expedition
Students research the people that Lewis and Clark encountered on their expedition. In small groups, they conduct research on a group of Native Americans, answer research questions, and contribute information to a class chart comparing...