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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

This Great Enterprise”: Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the implications of the "Great Enterprise." For this Panama Canal lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding President Teddy Roosevelt and Panama Canal. Students respond to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Embodied Presidency

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders discover details about Thomas Jefferson's life. In this early American history lesson, 8th graders view a PowerPoint presentation that outlines some aspects of Jefferson's life. Students research the life of slaves at...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Planning a Railroad

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners use a topographical map to plan a route from Doknner Summit to Truckee, then compare it to the route selected by Theodore Judah.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Industrial Revolution

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the time period of the Industrial revolution in American history.  In this American History lesson, 8th graders read the chapter on this time period.  Students create a presentation on this time period to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 6: Native Americans in the West

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students 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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prune Boom

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Students explore the process of harvesting and canning prunes. They discover the benefits of prunes to the Santa Clara Valley. Students investigate prunes at designated websites.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

San Francisco, Ahoy!

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders analyze paintings that share a common theme of San Francisco as seen by some of the first travelers who arrived there. In this art history lesson plan, 5th graders consider the experiences involved with the arrival to a new...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The American West-Knowledge Test

For Students 4th - 5th
In this American West worksheet, students complete a 24 questions test about the American West. Answers are included beneath questions on worksheet.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Sail Through History: American West and History of Medicine

For Students 5th - 6th
In these reading strategies worksheets, students learn reading hints, tips and the S.A.I.L. reading strategy. Students use the methods to learn about American history and the history of medicine.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Grew to the West

For Students 3rd - 4th
In this westward growth activity, learners use lyrics given to follow along with the song "Grew to the West," filling in blanks to answer simple questions throughout. Students then answer 10 additional questions about the song. Song link...
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Interactive
Vocabulary University

My vocabulary.com: Gold Rush California

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This page has a variety of vocabulary puzzles and activities using 19 words pertaining to the Gold Rush in California. It also offers an extensive Vocabulary Word List of 286 words, and ideas for lesson plans on the topic.
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Everyday Life and People

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary source photos from 19th-century California which portray what everyday life was like during the California Gold Rush.
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era, 1848 1865: Growth of Cities

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary source images depicting the rapid growth of small settlements into big cities as people continued to come to California from all over the world during the Gold Rush.
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Handout
Harvard University

Harvard Univ.: Immigration to Us, 1789 1930: California Gold Rush (1848 1858)

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the California Gold Rush and the impact it had on immigration to the United States and to the future demographics of California. Includes a high-resolution map of the gold region of California in 1851.
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Lesson Plan
Other

California State Parks: Gold Rush

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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...
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era, 1848 1865: Disasters

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary source materials that highlight the risks of natural disasters associated with the California Gold Rush as people rushed in to seek their fortunes.
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Environmental Impact

For Students 9th - 10th
Original photographs depicting scenes from California during the Gold Rush. Illustrations of mines, miners at work, and the tools they used as well as the effect of the mining industry on California's landscape.
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Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Staking Claims: The Gold Rush in Nineteenth Century America

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition explores the Gold Rush, a group of related gold rushes to Western territories in the second half of the nineteenth century, and its impact on American history and culture.
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Website
Oakland Museum of California

Oakland Museum of California: Gold Rush! California's Untold Stories

For Students 9th - 10th
View a virtual tour of a real exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, and the frenzied rush to California of gold seekers from...
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Murder and Mayhem

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary source materials and informational text that looks at law and order in the "wild west" of California, identifying changing ethnicity in a growing population seeking gold and other resources.
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Handout
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Mother Lode Now Strikes Gold in Tourism

For Students 9th - 10th
This CalGoldRush.com site contains an article on the effects that the California gold rush has on California's tourism. Many people still come from far lands to get a glimpse of what is was like to be a gold miner.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: Fantastic Facts

For Students 3rd - 8th
This resource provides information about the Gold Rush.
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Website
Other

California Historical Society: California History Online

For Students 9th - 10th
With over four hundred original images, this site covers periods in California's history from 1600 to the 1930s. Topics covered include the geography and climate of California, early aboriginal groups, the first European explorers, the...
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

Univ. Of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Diversity in the Changing State

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore original images depicting scenes of ethnic diversity in California during the Gold Rush years.

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