Theme: The importance of primary contacts between cultures

Questions to ask before and during lesson:

1.      Who were the people that lived in the area originally?

2.      Who wanted to move into the area and for what reasons?

3.      What was the time period of the Westward expansion?

Deliverable from Students:

1.      Worksheet

2.      Story (with Picture for computer classrooms)

Time Requirements:

1.      Read Prologue: 20 Minutes

2.      Discussion of questions: 10-20 minutes

3.      Worksheet: 10-15 minutes

4.      Optional Web Quest for images 30 minutes

5.      Story: Homework or in class

Format and Instructions:

          1. See worksheet below

Supplies for lesson:

1.      Worksheet below

2.      Additional Web Resources:

   Museum of westward Expansion: http://www.nps.gov/jeff/mus-tour.htm

      The American West Website: http://www.americanwest.com/

      PBS Series “The West”: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/

      Gold Rush Exhibit Online: http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever.html

      KidInfo on Pioneers and westward expansion: http://www.kidinfo.com/American_History/Pioneers.html

Name:                                                                  Date:

Imagine you are a person living in or traveling through the area of Pyramid Lake in the fall of 1851.

What is your name?

Where were you born?

How old are you?

What do you do for a living?

Now imagine that you are meeting someone very different that you never met before.

What is their name?

Where were they born?

How do you communicate?

What might they be able to do to help you?

What might they do to hurt you?

Write a story about your meeting, include lots of description of what each of you look like and what the area looks like also.  Write what you say and any action that takes place.

Find a picture online to illustrate your story.  Make sure you copy the web address of the picture and include it.