Curated OER
Busting the Prairie: Planning a Homestead Community
Students research, design and advertise a homestead community. This is an extensive instructional activity with a variety of ativities and learning experiences.
Curated OER
U.S. History: Settlement on the Plains
Eleventh graders examine the settlement and life on the western plains. Applying role-playing techniques, they discover the importance of railroads in the settlement of the west while also evaluating the daily lives of the homesteaders....
Curated OER
Keys' Desert Queen Ranch
Students complete a variety of activities that go along with the study of and possible field trip to Keys' Desert Queen Ranch in Joshua Tree National Park, east of Los Angeles.
US Department of Labor
U.s. Department of Labor: Labor in the Industrial Era
This interesting essay traces the growth of the Knights of Labor from a group that represented those in the shoe industry in Philadelphia to a nationwide union fighting for workers' rights. It also traces other union developments over...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Our Story: Life in a Sod House
Imagine moving into a house made out of sod that you and your family had to build in the middle of a prairie! Find great information and activities that will help you understand how it felt to live on the prairie.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Sodbusters!
From the National Endowment for the Humanities, a lesson plan on sod construction on the American prairie, "Sodbusters!" includes several links to related information and four activities: "Designing a Home," "Sodbusters and Their Homes,"...
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: Building a Sod House
Here's great information on building sod houses. You can even watch a video of a famous two-story sod house that stood until 1967.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Manifest Destiny
This collection uses primary sources to explore the idea of Manifest Destiny and its influence.
Other
Agriculture in the Classroom Sask: Early Days: Homesteaders
A broad view of life as a pioneer or homesteader in the prairie lands of the United States or Canada in the 19th century. Learn about the work and play of pioneer families, and how their towns developed.
Tom Richey
Tom Richey: Conquest of the American West
This PowerPoint presentation will thoroughly illustrate the significant role the transcontinental railroad played in the economic and cultural development of the nation as it expanded west. What did the political leadership of the nation...
Curated OER
Homestead 1892
1896, A Website of Political Cartoons provides the illustrated story of both strikes with quotes from newspapers of the time and a brief characterization of Andrew Carnegie.