5SSWestwardExp

=Westward Expansion=

Quick Activities and Games
Fantastic Facts about the Oregon Trail http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Facts.html Students read the 10 short stories of fantastic facts and write the main idea or summarize each one.

Lewis and Clark Game: http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/into/index.html Play a game of expedition with Lewis and Clark

Interactive Lewis and Clark http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west/ Students join an interactive journey with Lewis and Clark in making decisions through the western frontier. The choice is theirs to make as they create their adventure and keep notes in an online journal.

Join a Cattle Drive http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/cattledrive/cattledrive.html Learn what life was like on a cattle drive

Animated Atlas: The Growth of a Nation http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.html An animated video that teaches students about American expansion. Students can click on any state to learn more about when and how it became a state. The ten minute presentation takes students from the original 13 states and shows them the gradual expansion. The interactive timeline goes from 1790 to 2000.

Lewis and Clark Adventure []

Lessons- Internet
Lewis and Clark Webquest http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webquests/lewisclark/ Captain Lewis and Clark are still looking for a few good volunteers to go along on their adventure into the wilderness. Will you be brave enough to join them? By making a game/map of your adventure, you will be revealing the secrets of the unknown world to the rest of America!

Wagon's West... An Oregon Trail Webquest http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webquests/oregon/ Your task is to pretend that you are a member of a group of pioneers selected by the government to complete the Oregon Trail. On your journey you must gather information about different aspects of the trail. The information gathered will be compiled into a report which will be sent back East so that the U.S. government and others can learn more about The Oregon Trail.

Lewis and Clark Interactive Journal Log http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/

Lessons- Technology
Web Pages- Landmarks on the Oregon Trail Students research various landmarks found along the Oregon Trail and create web pages complete with additional reference links and pictures. Click here to see an example of one class project. http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/greenway/leahy/ot/landmarks.htm Click here for research links http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/greenway/leahy/ot/research_l.htm

Internet Resources- Teacher
Enchanted Learning- Louis and Clark: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/l/lewisandclark.shtml Students will read the printable article in order to complete the cloze activity.

Internet Resources- Student
History of the Oregon Trail: http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/faq.html Choose the different links to learn about the history of the Oregon Trail, prairie schooners, and the cost of items the pioneers had to take with them, plus lots more.

Researching People on the Oregon Trail http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/greenway/leahy/ot/people.htm

Oregon Trail Guidebook: http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/greenway/leahy/ot/guidebook.htm Learn all about the Oregon Trail

Resources from Social Studies Alive
Animated Atlas: Growth of a Nation http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html “Growth of a Nation” from Animated Atlas presents a ten-minute animation of the growth of the United States. This movie is a good overview of the expansion of our country. It is also is a nice way of seeing how national growth fits in with the West, growing conflict over slavery, and the Civil War.

Jefferson’s West http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/lewisandclark/index.html Thomas Jefferson laid the groundwork for Manifest Destiny with his purchase of the Louisiana Territory and his sponsorship of the Lewis and Clark expedition. At the site devoted to Jefferson and his home Monticello, “Jefferson’s West” provides information on these beginnings of America’s move west.

History Globe: The Oregon Trail http://www.historyglobe.com/ot/otmap1.htm Explore the Oregon Trail. You can see the route of the trail on top of a map of the United States today or in 1843. Click on landmarks along the route to learn more about each one.

PBS: The West http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/ PBS made a documentary series on the West, and this is the website they’ve created to go with it. Each episode covers a different time in the West and has explanations of events and quotations from primary sources and experts.