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The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.
Here are the teacher pack items for Western Industries: Ranching, Farming, and Mining:
Overview In this experience, students build a word cloud of associations with cowboys and the Wild West. Then they learn about three major economic activities that developed with westward expansion: ranching, farming, and mining. Next they explain an invention or innovation that impacted these activities. Finally they create a map of economic activity in the United States at the end of the Gilded Age. Objectives:
From the days of the early Republic, residents of the United States had turned their eyes longingly westward. Whether driven by the ideal of Manifest Destiny or the more personal dream of owning a small piece of land, the nation was pushing its frontier farther west each generation. Life was different for people leaving the crowded industrial regions of the country and venturing into previously unsettled regions. In this experience you will learn how people made their livings across the western frontier.
Objectives:
William “Buffalo Bill” Cody helped spread the myth of cowboys and the Wild West
both across the nation and around the world.
In a word or short phrase, post what comes to mind when you hear the words cowboy and Wild West. To list multiple responses, separate them with a comma, like this: ship, pirate.
Being a cowboy was hard, physical work. Yet many people across the United States and even around the world held a romantic vision of the cowboys and the Wild West. How did the myth of the American cowboy originate? One person who contributed to the image was William “Buffalo Bill” Cody. He assembled a traveling show called The Wild West, which was a cross between a rodeo and a staged production. Cody hired real ranch workers and American Indians to perform in the show, which toured both the United States and England. In these days before movies or television, many people developed their mental image of the Wild West from the show.
The Student Pack contains a link to a biography of William Cody. It also includes the link to an article about historical views of land ownership. The contrast between European views (and those of immigrants to the United States who brought these views with them) on land ownership versus the views of American Indians can lead to some interesting class discussion.
