California Gold Rush

A WebQuest for 4th Grade (Social Studies)

Introduction

The first person to discover Gold in California was James Marshall in 1848. The Gold Rush brought many changes to California and the world, such as instant wealth. The 49ers were in search of Gold in California.

How long would you be willing to travel for wealth?

What would California and the world be like now if the Gold Rush had never occured? How would California have developed? In this unit you're going to do some serious playing with history.

Task

In groups of four you are to compare and contrast the affects (socially, economically, and politically) the Gold Rush had on your character. Each group will have a different character from the following list; Johann Sutter, James Marshall, 49ers, Shop Owners, and Native Americans.

Your group is to role-play and think like your character. Use the questions to assist you in your discovery of the causes and effects of the Gold Rush.

Finally, your group is to create a PowerPoint presentation of your interpretation of the Gold Rush. Remember to be creative and explain how the Gold Rush affected your character. There are no right or wrong answers just make your interpretation valid by providing rationale of why your group came up with that response.

Process

First, you are to create a concept map to review the events that occurred during the Gold Rush. You will use the following websites to find as much information as possible: Oakland Museum of California, California Gold Rush Country, and The Gold Rush. This will help you through the interpretation of your group's character.

Then, you are to take a quiz on the Gold Rush to see how much you know. If you did not pass, you have to review the events that occurred during the Gold Rush.

Next, you will be assigned to a groups and given a character from the following list; John Sutter, James Marshall, 49ers, shop owners, and Native Americans.

Then, in groups, research and discuss the perspective of your character. Use the worksheet to assist you in your discovery. Remember to take notes. You will have five hours divided in five days so use your time wisely.

Finally, you are to create a PowerPoint presentation based on your group's discussion of the questions. Note you will present this to the whole class in groups, so make sure you do your best.

Evaluation

You will be evaluated based on your Teamwork in the project as well as for your individual work. The following are the rubrics for the PowerPoint Presentation and the Research you do on the Gold Rush.

The following are links to rubric of how you will be graded for the activity. Make sure to review the links as you work on your project to make sure you are doing it correctly.

Teamwork
Research
PowerPoint Presentation

Conclusion

Eureka! Job well done!!

You have now finished the activity and you have a better understanding of the Gold Rush and a different prespective of how the events occurred. Now you understand that history can be looked at and interpreted according to a person's perspective. I challenge you when learning about history to always try to examine it from someone else's view.

Credits & References

In order to complete this project, you will need:

*    Class sets of fourth grade Social Studies books
*    Access to internet and computer programs (PowerPoint, Hyper Studio, and Kid Pix).
*    A disk for each group
*    On line Gold Rush quiz
*    PowerPoint Rubric
*    PBS website
*    Oakland Museum of California
*    Learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation
*    California's Gold Rush Country
*    Catholic Telemedia Network

This project would work best if done in center rotations (for better access to computer use). One teacher should be able to carry out this activity; however, extra help would be very helpful.

Thanks to the following websites for making this lesson possible and special thanks to the EDTEC department for the idea of Webquest project : Most importantly, thanks to Wendy Parcel for all her help.

Webquest Page for providing the guidelines for a webquest
Webquest Design Patterns for providing the necessary information and template for this activity.
Alternative History Webquest Student Template for the use of student template.
Alternative History Webquest Teacher Template for the use of teacher template.
Fourth Grade Websites for this picture on this page.
Gold Rush Books for providing the picture on the teacher page.
Inspiration that helped us create the concept map.

"We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by Adriana Chee and Gabriela Temroes on July 1, 2003. If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."

Last updated on (July 1, 2003). Based on a template from The WebQuest Page