CECsst.242


TITLE:  Westward Ho!

AUTHOR:  Eileen Thrash, Bedford Junior High School;
         Bedford, TX

GRADE LEVEL:  US History 8th.

OVERVIEW:  Inter-disciplinary unit with Social Studies, Math
and English.

OBJECTIVE(s):  Students will be able to explain the process
necessary for planning a transcontinental trip across the US
during the westward expansion movement.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:

SOCIAL STUDIES:
     Class will be divided into families of 4 or 5.  They
must plan the route they will take from St. Louis, Missouri
to either California, Washington, or Oregon.  They must show
rivers crossed, mountains, forests, etc.  Each group will
have a map showing their route.
     They must also determine what provisions will be
necessary for the journey, what articles of furniture,
clothes,  and livestock will accompany the family.  A list
of these items will be made and each item must be
justifiable when reporting their plans to the class.
     (I had students find the measurements of a Conestoga
wagon and we made a facsimile of the floor of the wagon by
measuring it out on the floor then pushing desk up to make
walls of the wagon to help students better visualize what
space they had available)
     Each family then must report to the group what their
plans are and get the approval of other families planning
the same journey to join up with them.  All of this will
depend on if the group feels that the family is adequately
prepared and would be able to survive without undue
assistance from the group.

MATH:
     Students will determine how far they could travel each
day and how long the entire trip would take.  They would
also determine how many boxes of a given size they could
take along with any furniture whose measurements they were
given.

ENGLISH:
     Students will write a short story, diary, or newspaper
article describing  the planning of their journey, some of
the events of the journey, or describe plants and animals
with which an early settler might not be familiar.  A
description of weather conditions, availability of food and
water, river crossings might be some of the choices students
could write about.