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"California Here We Come"
Grade: 4
Subject: California Gold Rush
Curricular Goal: To create a brochure persuading prospectors to join the California
Gold Rush.
Introduction:
It's 1848. Rumors of gold in California have swept the country. You don't want to miss out
on your chance to get a share of this new found wealth. It's going to be a long,
difficult, and dangerous journey to get there to stake your claim. Eager prospectors are
going to need to know where to go, how to get there, what to bring, and how to protect
their gold once they find it. You see an opportunity to get rich by showing others how to
stake their claims.
Task:
Create a brochure that will guide hopeful prospectors to their fortune in California.
Process:
Working in teams of four, you will explore the selected web-site links and use other
resources to gather information needed to create the brochure.
Resources:
Internet web-sites:
http://www.malakoff.com/gctgrfr.htm
http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever06.html;
Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia 96 CD-ROM
Your Social Studies textbook This Is Your Country
Encyclopedia
Evaluation:
Organization
Accurate, relevant, and useful information
Creativity
Persuasiveness
Multiple resources used and listed
Spelling, grammar, and mechanics
Conclusion:
You have learned much about this important time in the development of the western United
States. Think about the effects of the gold rush on the lives of the people who pursued
their dream to get their share of riches. What do you think some of the long-term
effects of the gold rush were on the west, and in particular the state of California (i.e.
transportation, population, commerce, environment). What other factors or resources
might have attracted people to the West? Consider how this part of west would have
developed if gold had never been discovered there.
Authors: Sylvia Bath, Kerri Parker, Terry Peraino, Phil Priest, Cynthia Zarkowsky
Created: 8 October 1999