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Moving West
On-air this month three contemporary American families face 19th-century life
in the Montana wilderness, living as 1880s homesteaders - with only the tools
and technology of the period at their disposal in the "hands-on" history series,
Frontier House. Introduce students to frontier life by exploring why
people moved westward in the 19th Century.
Upper level grades may discuss more aspects of moving westward. For example, do the costs (hardships) outweigh the benefits (end result)? In other words, is it worth it?
View Frontier House. Compare your class's views on moving west as a homesteader with those expressed by the Frontier House families. Would your family take on this same challenge? Why/why not?
Pack your bags! Have students brainstorm what they would need to take on a 2-month journey across country. What items would you need if you would not be able to stop at hotels or restaurants? Estimate the weight and volume of each item of the list.
How many Conestoga Wagons would you need to pack everything on the list? Remind students that they need room for members of the family!
Bring all the items to school, and attempt to pack them into a mini-van (which is about the same size as a covered wagon). Does everything fit? As a class, rank the order of importance of each item. Debate items the class cannot decide upon.
Resources
Essential Information for Immigration to the Oregon Country
http://204.234.22.1/SDGI/Newell/Immigration.html
ThinkQuest Junior: Pioneers
http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/6400/default.htm
The Frontier
Frontier House
www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/
The West
www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/
Mark Twain
www.pbs.org/marktwain/
The American Experience: The Donner Party
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/donner/
The American Experience: The Gold Rush
www.pbs.org/goldrush/
Exploring the West
Lewis and Clark
www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/
The American Experience: Lost in the Grand Canyon
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/canyon/
The Western Landscape
The Living Edens: Yellowstone
www.pbs.org/edens/yellowstone/
The Living Edens: Canyonlands
www.pbs.org/edens/canyonlands/
The Living Edens: Denali
www.pbs.org/edens/canyonlands/
The Living Edens: Glacier Bay
www.pbs.org/edens/glacierbay/
Nature: Grand Canyon
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/grandcanyon/index.html
The American Experience: Mount Rushmore
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rushmore/
Nature: American Buffalo
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/buffalo/index.html
Nature: Grizzly River
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/grizzlies/index.html
Nature: Yellowstone Otters
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/otters/index.html
Other
The American Experience: Hoover Dam
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/hoover/
The American Experience: The Iron Road
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/iron/
First Measured Century
www.pbs.org/fmc/
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure: The American West
www.pbs.org/hemingwayadventure/amwest.html
POV: In Light of Reverence
www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/index.html
Don't miss this program airing in April! Check your local listings for the most accurate air date and time.
Frontier House
pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/
After surviving a competitive selection process, a rigorous training program
and a dangerous overland wagon trip, three contemporary American families faced
19th-century life in the Montana wilderness for FRONTIER HOUSE, a six-part "hands-on
history" series premiering on PBS this April. Chosen from more than 5,000 applications,
the Glenn family of Tennessee, the Clune family of California and the Brooks
family of Massachusetts headed west in May and resided there until early October,
living as 1880s homesteaders, with only the tools and technology of the period
at their disposal. Throughout their historic adventure, the cameras of FRONTIER
HOUSE rolled, revealing the families' trials, triumphs, simple pleasures and
daily rigors.
The American Experience: Ansel Adams
pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/
Born in February 1902 in San Francisco, Ansel Easton Adams grew up with America's
natural beauty all around him. In illuminating the way that Adams became so
intensely drawn to the natural beauty of the West, "Ansel Adams" traces the
growth of an awkward, nervous, home-schooled boy from the discovery of his precocious
talent for music through his fateful first trip to Yosemite with a Kodak No.
1 Box Brownie camera. "I knew my destiny," Adams later wrote, "when I first
experienced Yosemite." The documentary weaves archival footage, photographic
images, dramatic readings of the artist's own writing and interviews with leading
photographers, historians, curators, naturalists, as well as Adams' family,
friends and colleagues, to tell the story of a man who was at once a visionary
photographer, a pioneer in photographic technique and an ardent crusader for
environmentalism.
Nature: Cloud, Wild Stallions of the Rockies (rerun, 1995)
pbs.org/wnet/nature/cloud/
Filmed in the mountains of Montana, this poignant, engrossing chronicle focuses
on an extraordinary stallion, whose life has been recorded since his birth in
the wild in 1995 by Emmy-winning filmmaker Ginger Kathrens.
Moving West
On-air this month three contemporary American families face 19th-century life
in the Montana wilderness, living as 1880s homesteaders - with only the tools
and technology of the period at their disposal in the "hands-on" history series,
Frontier House. Introduce students to frontier life by exploring why
people moved westward in the 19th Century.
Upper level grades may discuss more aspects of moving westward. For example, do the costs (hardships) outweigh the benefits (end result)? In other words, is it worth it?
View Frontier House. Compare your class's views on moving west as a homesteader with those expressed by the Frontier House families. Would your family take on this same challenge? Why/why not?
Pack your bags! Have students brainstorm what they would need to take on a 2-month journey across country. What items would you need if you would not be able to stop at hotels or restaurants? Estimate the weight and volume of each item of the list.
How many Conestoga Wagons would you need to pack everything on the list? Remind students that they need room for members of the family!
Bring all the items to school, and attempt to pack them into a mini-van (which is about the same size as a covered wagon). Does everything fit? As a class, rank the order of importance of each item. Debate items the class cannot decide upon.
Resources
Essential Information for Immigration to the Oregon Country
http://204.234.22.1/SDGI/Newell/Immigration.html
ThinkQuest Junior: Pioneers
http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/6400/default.htm
The Frontier
Frontier House
www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/
The West
www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/
Mark Twain
www.pbs.org/marktwain/
The American Experience: The Donner Party
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/donner/
The American Experience: The Gold Rush
www.pbs.org/goldrush/
Exploring the West
Lewis and Clark
www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/
The American Experience: Lost in the Grand Canyon
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/canyon/
The Western Landscape
The Living Edens: Yellowstone
www.pbs.org/edens/yellowstone/
The Living Edens: Canyonlands
www.pbs.org/edens/canyonlands/
The Living Edens: Denali
www.pbs.org/edens/canyonlands/
The Living Edens: Glacier Bay
www.pbs.org/edens/glacierbay/
Nature: Grand Canyon
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/grandcanyon/index.html
The American Experience: Mount Rushmore
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rushmore/
Nature: American Buffalo
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/buffalo/index.html
Nature: Grizzly River
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/grizzlies/index.html
Nature: Yellowstone Otters
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/otters/index.html
Other
The American Experience: Hoover Dam
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/hoover/
The American Experience: The Iron Road
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/iron/
First Measured Century
www.pbs.org/fmc/
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure: The American West
www.pbs.org/hemingwayadventure/amwest.html
POV: In Light of Reverence
www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/index.html
Don't miss this program airing in April! Check your local listings for the most accurate air date and time.
Frontier House
pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/
After surviving a competitive selection process, a rigorous training program
and a dangerous overland wagon trip, three contemporary American families faced
19th-century life in the Montana wilderness for FRONTIER HOUSE, a six-part "hands-on
history" series premiering on PBS this April. Chosen from more than 5,000 applications,
the Glenn family of Tennessee, the Clune family of California and the Brooks
family of Massachusetts headed west in May and resided there until early October,
living as 1880s homesteaders, with only the tools and technology of the period
at their disposal. Throughout their historic adventure, the cameras of FRONTIER
HOUSE rolled, revealing the families' trials, triumphs, simple pleasures and
daily rigors.
The American Experience: Ansel Adams
pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/
Born in February 1902 in San Francisco, Ansel Easton Adams grew up with America's
natural beauty all around him. In illuminating the way that Adams became so
intensely drawn to the natural beauty of the West, "Ansel Adams" traces the
growth of an awkward, nervous, home-schooled boy from the discovery of his precocious
talent for music through his fateful first trip to Yosemite with a Kodak No.
1 Box Brownie camera. "I knew my destiny," Adams later wrote, "when I first
experienced Yosemite." The documentary weaves archival footage, photographic
images, dramatic readings of the artist's own writing and interviews with leading
photographers, historians, curators, naturalists, as well as Adams' family,
friends and colleagues, to tell the story of a man who was at once a visionary
photographer, a pioneer in photographic technique and an ardent crusader for
environmentalism.
Nature: Cloud, Wild Stallions of the Rockies (rerun, 1995)
pbs.org/wnet/nature/cloud/
Filmed in the mountains of Montana, this poignant, engrossing chronicle focuses
on an extraordinary stallion, whose life has been recorded since his birth in
the wild in 1995 by Emmy-winning filmmaker Ginger Kathrens.
