Complete California Gold Rush Unit: Differentiated: Westward Expansion (Teaching History)

Comprehensive California Gold Rush Unit – Differentiated for Grades 4-12 This high-interest and engaging unit, complete with lesson plans, covers the California Gold Rush of 1849 and is completely differentiated. Include are text dependent questions, resources for primary document study, projects, hand-on learning and more. Students pan for gold, make sluice boxes, complete projects. The span of the Gold Rush, including its environmental impacts, contributions to California Statehood, economics, exploitation of Native Americans and immigrants, especially the Chinese, boomtowns, discovery, panning to hard rock mining – is covered in detail. Three weeks of lessons or pick and choose. Readings written at two levels. Contents Teacher Pages: “The Golden Glitter of California: Life, Labor and Lore in the Gold Mines Lesson Plan 1: “History in a Nutshell” The Gold Rush and Gold Panning Hand-On Panning for Gold Activity Inflation During the Gold Rush – Plan How Inflation During the Gold Rush Drove Advances in Goods and Transportation The Transition from Panning to Hard Rock Mining During the Gold Rush Early Gold Hunting: Panning Impact on Indigenous Populations An Environmental History of the California Gold Rush Hard Rock Gold Mining: A Dangerous Venture Sample Lecture: The California Gold Rush – The Shift from Panning to Hard Rock Mining Inflation During the Gold Rush Paired Text Analysis:Timeline of Major Strikes and Summary of the Gold Rush Timeline of Major Strikes & Summary of the Gold Rush Compare and Contrast Learning About and Making Sluice Boxes The Sluice Box: Engineering Marvels of Their Time Hands-On Making a Sluice Box Activity Hard Rock Mining in California and Exploitation – Socratic Seminar The California Gold Rush (1848-1890): An Examination of Miner Exploitation The Unvarnished Truth: A Detailed Look at Miner Exploitation During the Gold Rush The Argonaut Gold Mine Disaster: An Historical Tragedy Newspaper Articles, photos, letters and Drawings Activity:Analyzing the News Primary and Secondary Think-Pair-Share and Round Robin For California Direct Steamship! Advertising Handbill Letter from John Sutter – RE: Finding Gold Brochure Cover: Wonderful Facts from the Gold Rush Region Photo: 1849 Gold Miners Photo: 1952 Gold Miners Illustration: Miner’s Life Illustrated Letter: B.A. Watson: Lassen, CA – September 12, 1849 Part of an Interview: Robert McNamara, 1848 Letter: Tom Aden – May 30, 1850 Letter: Tom Aden – November 30, 1850 Journal: Mitchell Bishop – July 15, 1848 and July 15, 1849 Journal Complied by Chauncey Canfield – June 1850 Illustration: California Gold Fever by George Keller Photos: Immigrants Mining Photos: The Progression of Mining Operations Newspaper Ad: “Inexhaustible Gold Mines” Propaganda Journal: – Published: J.D. Borthwick -1851-1954 Journal: James Abby: August 1950 Journal: Franklin Buck: Marysville 1853 Journal: Edward Gould Buffum 1848 Treatment of Chinese During the Gold Rush: Exploitation and the Rise of Corporations Chinese Laundries and the Rush for Gold “Anti-Chinese” Ads, Comics and Clippings Corporations: Article: California’s Mining Boom: Uncovering the Story of the Golden State’s Corp Rise The California Gold Rush: Advent, Evolution and Beyond Group Work – Read, Research and Report 1849: The Advent of the Rush 852: Evolution of the Rush 1855 and Beyond California Gold Rush and Its Influence on Westward Expansion The California Gold Rush: Fueling Westward Expansion Creating a Boomtown Boomtowns: Some Survived – Some Didn’t Group work, project-based learning, individual work, source documents, assessments and more.