There's Gold In

Them Thar' Hills!

A WebQuest for 5th - 7th Grade
Language Arts/Social Studies/Math

Introduction:

The California Gold Rush is on! You have decided to move your family of four to Sacramento, California to find your fortune. Many decisions must be made as you prepare to leave, as well as on your journey. Many exciting adventures and difficult struggles are ahead.

The Tasks:

Westward Bound! Which route to take? What will I experience on the trip? What can I expect once I arrive? These are some of the discoveries you will make on this exciting adventure.
You will:

Compare and contrast the journey from Independence to Sacramento by land and by sea.
Compute how many steps it will take to walk from Independence to Sacramento.
Determine from reading the "Miners' Ten Commandments" what values were important to them, and write "Ten Commandments for your classroom".
Select an event during the Gold Rush from the Timeline and write a newspaper article about it for the Sacramento Bee.
Take a quiz to assess your Gold Rush knowledge.

The Process:

Now it is time to begin your journey to Sacramento. You will visit several websites where you will learn about factors to consider as you plan your trip, find out what life was like in the mining camps, and other interesting information. Your journey will proceed more successfully if you visit the sites in order. Have a great journey!

1. Read about the journey to Sacramento by land and by sea. Compare and contrast in two or three paragraphs the two routes, and determine which route you will take. Consider time, safety, size of your family (four), and expense as you make your decision.
2. Assume that you have decided to take the 5-6 month journey by land. Read about some experiences you might have as you walk, as most of the pioneers did, beside your wagon as you travel west by land. Compute the number of steps it would take to walk from Independence, Missouri to Sacramento, California by measuring in inches your normal step from your toes to the back of your foot. Divide 63,360 (number of inches in a mile) by that number of inches. Now multiply by 2000 (number of miles from Independence to Sacramento). Now you have the number of steps you will take!
3. Now you have arrived safely in Sacramento, and have set up camp for your family in a mining camp. Read about the women in Sacramento - they were few and far between!. Since mining towns were known for their lawlessness, a California miner recorded The Ten Commandments for miners in 1853. Identify three values important to the miners, and then work with a partner to come up with Ten Commandments for your Classroom.
4. You quickly learn that mining for gold is not the "get rich quick" scheme that you have been told, and that a mining camp is not an ideal home for a family, so you decide to change careers. You are hired by the Sacramento Bee (which is the only newspaper in Sacramento still reporting news in 2001!). Read about the Press in 1848-1850. Then read the Timeline and select an event, month, and year. Using a word processor, write a newspaper article about that event. Include "who", "what", "where", "when", and "why". Remember to watch your grammar and spelling.
5. Read more about the California Gold Rush and then take the quiz. If you scored 80 or above, congratulations! You get the "Gold" for your Gold Rush Knowledge!

The Evaluation:

Grades will be determined using the following rubric:

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4
Compare and Contrast the Journey to Sacramento - By Land or by Sea?	Open the website, and read about the journey to Sacramento.	Open website, read, compare and contrast in 1 paragraph, considering only 2 of the 4 factors; no explanation	Open website, read, compare and contrast in 2-3 paragraphs, considering 3 of the 4 factors, with minimal explanation of how you arrived at decision.	Open website, read, compare and contrast in 2-3 paragraphs, considering the 4 factors, and explaining in detail how you arrived at your decision.
Compute Number of Steps in Journey to Sacramento.	Open the website, and read about the trail to Sacramento.	Open website, read, begin computation but unable to complete.	Open website, read, compute the number of steps with incorrect answer.	Open website, read, correctly compute the number of steps.
Determine Three Values Important to Miners/Write Ten Commandments for the Classroom.	Open websites, read about the Women in Sacramento and the Ten Commandments.	Open websites, read them, and identify from the 10 Commandments three values important to the miners.	Open websites, read, identify three values, and write Ten Commandments for the Classroom that are generic in nature.	Open websites, read, identify three values, and write Ten Commandments for the Classroom that are applicable to your particular class.
Write Newspaper Article About Gold Rush Event.	Open websites, read about the Press and the Timeline.	Open websites, read; select event, month, and year; write a newspaper article that does not address the five "W's"	Open websites, read; select event, month, and year; write a newspaper article that addresses the five "W's", but is not grammatically correct.	Open websites and read; select event, month, and year; write a newspaper article that addresses the five "W's", and is grammatically correct.
Quiz Yourself on Your Gold Rush Knowledge.	Open the website and read; take the quiz and receive score of 39 - below.	Open the website and read; take the quiz and receive score of 40 - 59.	Open the website and read; take the quiz and receive score of 60 - 79.	Open the website and read; take the quiz and receive score of 80 - 100. You receive the GOLD!

Conclusion:

By completing this WebQuest, you should have learned some interesting information about the time period of the Westward Movement in the 1840's - 1850's, and about events surrounding the California Gold Rush. You should also now know some basic information about writing a newspaper article. Are you glad that you live now in 2001? Would you have liked living in the mid-1800's? For further "Gold Rush Fun", you might wish to write a play with the Gold Rush Players. There is also a wagon train for kids who want to "be pioneers" that you might want to check out for the future!

Credits & References:

Thanks to Chad Thompson, Grace Kang, Brenda Hall, and Dr. Bruce Lewis for their help in completing this WebQuest.

Teacher Advice:

This WebQuest is designed for 5th - 7th Grade Social Studies, but involves language arts and math as well. It can also be easily extended for upper grades, or even modified for lower grades.

Learners should know the basics of writing a newspaper article before beginning this lesson. Also, the learners will need to know how to compute basic division and multiplication problems.

This lesson will require more than one class period. It could be taught in several periods, as it includes several subject areas, or could take a week to complete if taught only in Social Studies class.

A teacher should have some familiarity with the Internet in order to teach this lesson. It would be helpful to have some knowledge of the California Gold Rush, which can be obtained by visiting the various websites listed above. Also, a teacher should have basic knowledge of writing a newspaper article. Discovery and Oregon Trail are additional websites that might be helpful.

The Ten Commandments and the newspaper article may be written in small groups, with a partner, or alone.

A Social Studies teacher should be able to implement this lesson alone, unless you wish to coordinate with the Language Arts teacher.

Created for EDU 506 @ FHU School of Education by Dana Helton on July 31, 2001.