Motivational Introduction to the California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush sparked many people to try for their fortunes and led to the formation of some well-known California cities. Have your class read about the changes that happened and then respond to the five included questions.

Immigration to the US has been a topic of discussion for many years. Inform your class about discrimination against immigrants during the Gold Rush with a short reading passage. After reading, class members answer five questions related...

Students discover the people who lived in California before and after the gold rush. They use primary source documents to identify how the finding of gold changed the area. They also discover the discrimation that was present during the...

Learn about the California Gold Rush from an institution that has been in place since the early days of the American West: Wells Fargo History Museum. From domain-specific vocabulary review to group research projects, an expansive packet...

How much water does it take to brush your teeth? How about to wash your clothes? Perform an experiment that measures water usage in everyday tasks and compares them to the days before indoor plumbing, specifically the California...

There's gold in them thar hills! A short cartoon introduces middle schoolers to the California Gold Rush of 1849. The video encourages viewers to dig deeper and mine for a lode of information about gold mining, the 49ers, and the...

Fourth graders read about the era in their history books, write in their journals revolving around the Gold Rush, making crafts such as newspapers, and also play the part of the Forty-niners.

Students create a virtual exhibit. In this gold rush activity, students watch a movie about the California gold rush, view a virtual image of the gold nugget that started the gold rush and examine the sources. Students research and...

Students learn what it was like to be a gold miner. In this California gold rush lesson plan, students watch a movie about the California gold rush and discuss what they learned. Students use the Internet to examine the gold nugget that...

The California State Parks presents a brief unit on the California Gold Rush including three lessons which begin with the westward movement to California for gold, the actual process of mining for gold, then the effects of the rush on...