Gold Rush Literature Webquest

Introduction

Topic: The California Gold Rush (1848-1855) and its Literature

Description: Students assume the role of a "forty-niner" in this web-quest. They explore the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, the journey to get to California, how the mining was done, the various people that searched for gold, life and culture of miners and mine towns, and the political and social ramifications on the formation of the United States of America.

Class: 7th Grade English

Teacher: Mr. Weber

Resources: http://zunal.com/introduction.php?w=3815

Task

Image result for california gold rush

The year is 1849. You are a young farmer living in New Hampshire. You sell apples, christmas trees, and sweet corn. Business is BAD. You and your family are barely surviving on your MISERABLE income. Your wife is pregnant...again. Great, another mouth to feed. You have heard the news that gold has just been discovered in the territory of California. Two of your neighbors have gone to California, and one of them has written that he has struck it rich! You get to thinking...could this happen for you too?

You talk this situation over with your wife, and she agrees that you should go to California, get some gold, and come back. Her brother will take over the running of the farm until your return. It shouldn't take long right?

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In this web-quest you will embark on a journey as a forty-niner. It will be your job to make informed decisions along your path to hopefully striking it rich. In order to make a successful claim and flourish in society you will have to uncover the information about the land, mining process, and mining society.What are you waiting for? Do you want to get rich or what? Let's Go....yee-haw!!!

Your tasks are as follows:

1.) Journey to California

2.) Find Gold and become Rich

3.) Come back to New Hampshire.

Sounds easy, right? Not quite. In order to accomplish all of these things you will have to make good decisions based on information. You will keep a journal about your travels and decisions that you have made. In the end, you will write an editorial to your local newspaper based on your journey. The editorial will be written either to persuade people to come to California or to persuade people to forget the Gold Rush and stay at home.

Your Groups and Duties are as follows:

	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
Leader	Abby	Baylie	Luke	Rhet
Recorder	Michael	Lanie	Casey	Saydee
Reporter 1	Isaac	Red	Makayla	Allan
Reporter 2	Clarissa	Linkyn	Trinity	Hailey

Expectations and Duties of each Role

Leader:

In charge of the whole group
Keeps the whole group organized and on task
Oversees each of the other members and makes sure they are doing their job correctly
Makes sure each journal is properly written, fact-checked, and formatted correctly.
Most responsible for the final grade that your group receives.

Recorder:

In charge of writing each journal entry.
Makes sure each journal is formatted properly, saved, and organized.
Listens to what they leader says – they are in charge.
Listens carefully to what they reporters report to them and puts it into the journals.
Assists in research
Keeps everything organized and saved in the same spot for easy recovery.

Reporter:

Reads each required link and reports back the findings to the leader and recorder.
Researches additional information to make sure journals are full of proper information
Listens to what they leader says – they are in charge.
Listens carefully to what the reporters need and then find it.
Always has their computer so they can do their job.

Process

In order to write your newspaper article urging or dissuading others to come to California for Gold, you have to embark on your journey:

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STEP 1: GOLD FEVER

1. Before you begin your journey, you must first understand how Gold Fever began. Do this by reading these:

STEP 2: JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT #1

In your journal, write your first entry dated SEPTEMBER 1st, 1848. In this entry you will tell why you have Gold Fever and what you expect to find in California. Make sure to include your character’s name.

This entry should be 100-150 words.

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STEP 3: ALL ABOARD

You first must CHOOSE what mode of transportation you will take.

However, before you can do this you must look at where you are going.

Read both of the following:

STEP 4: TRAVEL MODE

You will choose to travel either by Steam Ship (Sea) or Conestoga Wagon (Land).

If you have chosen SEA read more about it by visiting the following web sites

**Pay close attention to how long the voyage took, the route, what it would have cost, the advantages and disadvantage, and supplies**:

If you have chosen LAND read more your voyage by visiting the following web sites:

**Pay close attention to how long the voyage took, the route, what it would have cost, the advantages and disadvantage, and supplies**:

STEP 5: DRAWING A MAP

Draw and label a map of your journey. Mr. Weber will have a blank world map for you to use or you can choose to draw your own map.

You will need to label each of the following:

Where you are starting
At least 4 places you may stop
Where you are finishing

STEP 6: JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT #2

Write a journal entry detailing your voyage west. You have two options:

OPTION 1: Write an entry as if you are just starting your journey. Who is with you? Where are you staring from? What supplies did you bring? What stops are you going to make. How much time do you expect the voyage to take? How do you feel about your method of transportation? Why did you choose this method?

OR:

OPTION 2: Write an entry while on your way to California. Who is with you? Where are you? Where have you been and what other stops are ahead of you. What are the conditions like on your trail or steam ship? What supplies did you take with you and how much do you have now? How long have you spent traveling? Has the journey been a pleasant one, or have unexpected factors like disease and attacks made your life interesting?

**Your journal must be at least 175 words long**

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STEP 7: PROSPECTING

Congratulations! You made it to California! Please NOTE that it is now 1850. I hope that you had a nice trip, although chances are that you didn't. Now you must select a piece of land and start to mine.

Go to the following website: http://www.glittering.com/attractions.html
Click through the mining towns on the map and read about them
Choose one of the towns to be where you set up camp.

STEP 8: JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT #3

Write a journal entry that details the following things:

Where you decided to set up camp
Why you decided to set up camp here
What county is your mining camp in
What makes this a good mining location

**Your journal must be at least 75 words long**

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STEP 9: LEARNING TO MINE

Now that you have a mining camp, you must learn about mining if you want to get rich.

Read at least 4 of the following documents:

http://www.america101.us/gold_rush/despair.html

http://www.calgoldrush.com/ (click on part 2 and then ‘food’)

http://explore.museumca.org/goldrush/fever13.html

http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/path.html (Indians and Immigrants)

http://www.america101.us/gold_rush/changes.html

http://www.america101.us/gold_rush/cultures.html

STEP 10: JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT 4

NOTE: Since not all miners struck it rich many, as you have read turned to other occupations. You may choose to follow another occupation if you wish.

A. Draw in your journal (or on a separate piece of blank printer paper) a picture of your life in California. Be sure to include the following in your picture:

You and your occupation (if you choose to be a miner, include some of the tools that you would have used)
Where you live (your mining camp)
People you may come across (who works with you)

B. Now describe what you do for a living, where you live, what your house is like, what you eat, some of the people that you see on a day to day basis, and if you are making a lot of money. **Your journal must be at least 100 words long**

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STEP 11: ALMOST HOME FREE

You are almost done with your adventure!

One last JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT:

1. Write a short entry about how your journey ends. Do you strike it rich and head back home to your family? Do you decide to stay in California? Are you so poor that you have to stay in California? Or do you die of disease or some other tragedy? This can be done in the form of a eulogy. **Your journal must be at least 100 words long**

2. Create a cover for you journal and submit your work!

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STEP 12: FINAL PRODUCT

You will need to submit a completed journal that has each of the following:

Decorated Cover
5 journal entries
1 picture of your life in California
Final page that has your group members’ name on it

You will be presenting your journal to the class.

Evaluation

Gold Rush WebQuest Journal Rubric
	A (24-25)	B (22-23)	C (20-21)	D (17-19)	F (0 pts)
Spelling and Grammar (25 pts. possible)	All words are spelled correctly in the article. All sentences end with the proper punctuation. Students applied appropriate language in their article.	The article had few grammatical and spelling errors, appropriate language used. Student proof read his or her article.	Article had many grammatical and spelling errors some incorrect usage of words. There was little evidence of proof reading.	A myriad of spelling and grammatical errors existed in the article, making it barely readable. Words were used incorrectly. There was no evidence of proof reading.	No effort
Organization & Appropriateness (25 pts. possible)	Journal was organized in an appropriate format. All word limits are met and writing was clear and logical.	Journal was organized but not as clear as a score of A.	Journal was less organized but not as clear as a score of 4. Word limits may not have been reached.	Journal was not clear or organized. Word limits are not met.	No effort
Creativity (25 pts. possible)	Journal is creative and indicative of higher-level thinking and effort. Strongly represents a historically-accurate character.	Journal is creative, but lacks higher-level thinking. Less time is put into representing a historically-accurate character.	Journal is completed by doing bare minimum. Lacks effort and higher-level thinking.	Journal is missing parts or word lengths aren’t met. Little to no evidence of effort and/or higher-level thinking	No effort
Research & Examples (25 pts. possible)	Journal contents are original and relatable to historical content. Journal is based off the findings from links.	Journal contents are mostly relatable to historical content, but is not based off the findings from the links	Journal is completed by doing bare minimum. Little to no evidence of reading the links.	Part of journal is missing. Word lengths aren’t met. Little to no evidence of reading the links.	No Effort
Total Points Earned _________/100

Conclusion

In this lesson learners will have discovered what the California Gold Rush was, the process, routes and modes of travel involved in migrating to California, various occupations that people held, various ethnic groups that came to California, and how Victorian social roles affected California mining society. They will have thought reflectively and critically about these issues through writing and art. Learners will be able to answer the following questions: Who profited from the Gold Rush? Were all miners successful?

Credits

The following Common Core Standards are met by this Webquest: