Oregon Trail

 You are going on the Oregon Trail! First, it is important to gather some crucial information before starting your journey!!

 

1.You will need to gather different information to complete your webquest.2.Using the approved websites and links throughout the webquest, you must collect the information and record it on your webquest worksheet!3.When recording your information, make sure to use as many details as possible! Use your own words!4.Have Fun!!!!

Words to know 

*Before you learn about the oregon trail, it’s super important to know what certain words mean!

* Using www.wordcentral.com or a dictionary research the definitions for the different vocabulary words on the worksheet provided.

How did the Oregon Trail look? 

•Create a colorful picture on the sheet attached to your packet  using a picture illustrating some aspect of the Oregon.•Use books in our classroom or do some research online! J•Be sure to include your names and dateWhat is the Oregon Trail anyways? 

Go to the following websites and collect information about what the Oregon Travel was:

 http://www.ducksters.com/history/westward_expansion/oregon_trail.php

  http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/oregontraildef.htm

  http://www.historynet.com/oregon-trail

Record your notes on the worksheet provided.

Why go West?

*Find out why people decided to move west and what hardships and challenges they faced on their journey.

Use the information from the website provided or  the passage provided to help you gain knowledge about why they moved west.

http://www.connerprairie.org/Plan-Your-Visit/1836-Prairietown/The-Journey-West.aspx

*Record your answers on the worksheet.

 Reasonsfor Migrating West

During the 1840s and 1850s people read newspaper stories about a wonderful land in the Northwest called Oregon. Oregon was supposed to have mild weather and rich soil. Missionaries that had visited Oregon to bring Christianity to the Indians praised Oregon in letters they sent back east. Publications that painted enticing pictures of lush, available western lands put thousands on the trail. Overcrowded cities in the East caused others to flee westward.

One writer claimed that beets grew up to "three feet in diameter, while turnips were five feet around". From slike this, people caught the ‘Oregon Fever’ – a longinggo west and start a new life. Some hoped to find cheap fertile land while other settlers made money in the loggingbusiness. There were plenty of trees in the Pacific Northweand great demand for them in the East. The emigrants, awere called, came from every segment of American societyMany were farmers, cattlemen and homesteaders who wewest to build a ranch or farm in this new land of opportunThe emigrants also included tradesmen, businessmen, journalists, adventurers, missionaries, gamblers, and miners. They were motivated by avariety of reasons. y

Another group, African American slaves, traveled West to get their freedom. Runaway slaves were given freedom if they made it to these new western lands. There, they could start a new life as farmers or loggers.

A newsletter from a tiny settlement in San Francisco on March 15, 1848 proclaimed: E FOUND! By May, 1848, a few hundred gold seekers came to By the end of the year, they numbered in the thousands. ple from throughout the United States and other countr to California to make their riches in gold. Boom towns grewery quickly. By the end of the gold rush, more than 300,000 people had migrated to California. The gold seekers were called forty-niners for the year 1849 when the Gold Rush at its peak. Not everyone who came to California wanted to work in the Gold fields. Many men and women came to startbusiness. Some sold clothing to the miners. Others sold food or mining equipment. Others cooked and ran hotels. The gold rush lasted just 4 years. By 1852, forty-niners had mined gold womore than $80 million!

could travel. Canals were being built in the East and river transportation was improved when the steamboat was invented. Settlers could easily navigate the harsh rivers west.

destined, to expand to the Pacific Ocean. This belief was called Manifest Destiny.

Westward migration was influenced by geography and economic opportunity and the belief in Manifest Destiny. tories to st s the . nt ity. GOLD MIN California. Before long, peo ies flocked up v was a rth Moving west become easier. The Oregon and Sante Fe trails were overland trails pioneers Finally, many settlers wanted to go West because they believed America was meant, or Between 1801 and 1861, America underwent vast territorial expansion and settlement. 

Any mistakes? 

•Find out what were common mistakes pioneers often made?

http://www.frontiertrails.com/oldwest/oregontrail.htm

How did they get around?

•Find out the transportation the pioneers used?•Record your answers on the sheet

http://www.americanautomove.com/transport-and-life-on-the-oregon-trail/

http://www.oregontrail.com/hmh/site/oregontrail/articles?article=31265

http://tdl.org/txlor-dspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/636/03_journ_west_oreg_cal.htm?sequence=7

Good or bad? 

•Research and find out the advantages and disadvantages of having oxen pull wagons?

http://www.jordan-family.org/wagontrain_info.html

http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/HistoricalTrails/MulesOrOxen.htm

http://www.oregonpioneers.com/oxen.htm

What did they wear? 

•Look at the different types of clothing they wore! Did they dress the same as us?•You can use the books in our classroom to look at the different types of clothing!!•Record your answers on the worksheet.•Once you’ve recorded it, sketch a drawing of the clothing! On the sheet attached to your packet!•Write your names and date on it!Did they have iPads?!•How did the pioneers entertain themselves? Find out what different types of activities  they did to keep entertained.•Record you’re answers on the sheet.

http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/education-kids-trail.php

ACHOO!!! 

Find out what kind of diseases pioneers endured? Did they have doctors or medicine on the oregon trail?!

http://www.aphlblog.org/2012/02/the-diseases-of-the-oregon-trail/

http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/HistoricalTrails/Dangers.htm

Record your answers..

It’s raining, it’s pouring…

•Do you think weather affected the journey west? Find out how and record your answers.

http://my.ilstu.edu/~jabraun/students/kertz/page3.htm

http://oregontrailrus.weebly.com/hardships.html

Landmarks & Forts 

•Find out what landmarks and forts you will past on the trail!•You must copy it on your worksheet and describe it!•

http://www.historyglobe.com/ot/otmap1.htm

http://www.america101.us/trail/Sites.html

http://www.trails.com/list_11001_landmarks-along-oregon-trail.html

How did they know?

http://www.kidskonnect.com/subjectindex/16-educational/history/276-pioneers.html

•https://www.dialog.com/about/history/pioneers1.pdf

Using the resources provided, find out how the pioneers knew where they were and what to bring.

Record it on your worksheet. 

What did you learn?! 

•What new facts did you learn about the oregon trail!?•Write about it on your worksheet! FUN FACTS

Read about some fun facts and jot down them on your worksheet J

http://oregontrailkids.blogspot.com/2012/01/facts.html

http://oregontrailwithollie.com/story-behind-the-story/

YOU WILL BE GRADED ON YOUR RESPONSE ON BOTH YOUR PACKETS PROVIDED! PLEASE GIVE DETAILS ANSWERS AND HAVE FUN!!! :) 

GREAT JOB!!! You have done some fabulous research and learned all about the Oregon Trail…Now it’s YOUR turn to be pioneers and travel west on the Oregon Trail!!!