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Pioneer life captures the imagination and sets students dreaming. I wonder how many, though, are dreaming about snakes on the dinner table?? Read this Minute and see where their imagination takes them. |
Social Studies
Explore homesteading
Use this Minute to delve into the homesteading opportunities that encouraged Americans to settle the Midwest. How were they enticed to go? What opportunities were possible? What were the dangers? Then ask students if homesteading is still a possibility today. How does that work?
STEM
Explore insulators
Author Warren describes sod aa great insulator. Why do we need insulators? Can students compile a list of places we use insulators? What qualities makes the best insulators? Set up an insulating contest. Using only the things they can find around them, have students create insulators and then design a method to test their efficiency.
Explore biomes - temperate grasslands
The plains and prairies of the American Midwest are part of a biome know as temperate grasslands. Have your students explore the features of the biome. What grows there? How does the biome affect what grows and thrives and what does not? What are the advantages to differents species, including humans? What are the disadvantages? Can the be overcome? How?
Explore construction materials
Shelter is a basic necessity for human living. THis Minute demonstrates how homesteaders in the Midwest looked to available materials to construct shelters. Have students explore what materials might be available for shelter in other places on (and off) Earth. What do they need to consider before building a shelter? How would they prioritize those considerations?
Explore biology
Author Warren lists all the critters that existed in one square of sod. Take your students out to the school yard, or challenge them to find a small square in their backyard or in a park. What lives there? How many different materials and species can be found in one small square? How do they all work together?
Research Skills
Explore online resources - website evaluation
Do some online searching to find lots of ways to help your students learn about frontier life. They can explore the Oregon Trail, or look for activities on the Smithsonian Our Story site. Pioneer life captures the imagination, so resources for further reading and interactive play aboud. Have your students do some resource evaluation and help you compile a list of great online resources for further learning.
Explore homesteading
Use this Minute to delve into the homesteading opportunities that encouraged Americans to settle the Midwest. How were they enticed to go? What opportunities were possible? What were the dangers? Then ask students if homesteading is still a possibility today. How does that work?
STEM
Explore insulators
Author Warren describes sod aa great insulator. Why do we need insulators? Can students compile a list of places we use insulators? What qualities makes the best insulators? Set up an insulating contest. Using only the things they can find around them, have students create insulators and then design a method to test their efficiency.
Explore biomes - temperate grasslands
The plains and prairies of the American Midwest are part of a biome know as temperate grasslands. Have your students explore the features of the biome. What grows there? How does the biome affect what grows and thrives and what does not? What are the advantages to differents species, including humans? What are the disadvantages? Can the be overcome? How?
Explore construction materials
Shelter is a basic necessity for human living. THis Minute demonstrates how homesteaders in the Midwest looked to available materials to construct shelters. Have students explore what materials might be available for shelter in other places on (and off) Earth. What do they need to consider before building a shelter? How would they prioritize those considerations?
Explore biology
Author Warren lists all the critters that existed in one square of sod. Take your students out to the school yard, or challenge them to find a small square in their backyard or in a park. What lives there? How many different materials and species can be found in one small square? How do they all work together?
Research Skills
Explore online resources - website evaluation
Do some online searching to find lots of ways to help your students learn about frontier life. They can explore the Oregon Trail, or look for activities on the Smithsonian Our Story site. Pioneer life captures the imagination, so resources for further reading and interactive play aboud. Have your students do some resource evaluation and help you compile a list of great online resources for further learning.
© Karen Sterling, 2018 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
