United States History: 1877 to the Present

Geography

USII.2

The student will use maps, globes, photographs, pictures, or tables for

a) explaining how physical features and climate influenced the movement of people westward;
b) explaining relationships among natural resources, transportation, and industrial development after 1877;
c) locating the 50 states and the cities most significant to the historical development of the United States.

NOTE: The Virginia Board of Education adopted the revised 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning at the January 10, 2008, meeting. Full implementation of these documents is scheduled for the 2010-2011 school year, as outlined in Superintendent’s Memorandum Informational Number 49.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Begin the unit with a question about how people's perceptions and use of the Great Plains changed after the Civil War and how did people adapted to life in challenging environments.
Explain that during the nineteenth century, people's perceptions and use of the Great Plains changed.
Discuss how technological advances allowed people to live in more challenging environments.
Describe the physical features and climate of the Great Plains including:

Flatlands that rise gradually from east to west
Land eroded by wind and water
Low rainfall
Frequent dust storms

Explain that because of new technologies, people saw the Great Plains not as a "treeless wasteland" but as a vast area to be settled.
Introduce the following inventions and adaptations:

Barbed wire
Steel plows
Dry farming
Sod houses
Beef cattle raising
Wheat farming
Windmills
Railroads

Prior to the lesson, explain to students that the settlement of the Great Plains was a great challenge. Before the Civil War, the Plains were viewed as uninhabitable. With the help of technological advances, the West became more hospitable to settlement. This lesson provides students with an opportunity to examine some of the technologies that permitted individuals to live in this challenging environment.
Have students work individually or in pairs to complete this activity. Give each student or pair of students a Life on the Great Plains worksheet and have them research the inventions and agricultural practices listed. Allow students to use their textbooks and other supporting resources to complete their research. Provide additional resources from the library. For a Life on the Great Plains worksheet, CLICK HERE.
After students have completed their charts, have them share their answers as part of a class discussion. Prompt discussion with questions such as the following:

What invention or agricultural practice do you feel made the biggest impact in settling the Great Plains?
What are some possible negative effects of beef-cattle raising to the environment?
What were some of the climatic obstacles farmers faced in settling the Great Plains?
What impact did the railroad have on the life of those in the Great Plains? On the economy of the nation as a whole?

Follow up this session by having students examine poems, photographs, and/or personal accounts of life on the Great Plains at the time. See http://www.edsitement.neh.gov, which offers an extensive lesson entitled "Life on the Great Plains." Click on "History and Social Studies," and scroll down to find the lesson in the alphabetical list. The lesson is designed for grades 9-12, but can be easily modified for sixth grade. This lesson utilizes resources from The West at http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program and from the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress at http://www.memory.loc.gov. The American Memory Collection also offers Fred Hultstrand's Settling the Land at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/ndfahtml/hult_home.html. The North Dakota State Library offers a Hultstrand photography exhibit entitled Pioneer Camera Exhibit at http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs/exhibitions/pioneer/camera/default.htm.

WEB SITES

http://www.teacheroz.com/19thcent.htm
Nineteenth century America and the Great Plains

http://memory.loc.gov/learn//collections/ngp/ngpintro.html
The Northern Great Plains from the Library of Congress

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/1800b.shtml
Nineteenth century inventors

http://www.barbwiremuseum.com/barbedwirehistory.htm
History of barbed wire

http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farm_tech.htm
History of agriculture and steel plows

http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/hardry.html
Dry framing in the Great Plains

http://www.museumoftheamericanwest.org/explore/exhibits/sod/history.html
Homesteading in a sod house

http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_history.html
History of wind energy

http://www.cprr.org/
Transcontinental Railroad history

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