1. AGENDA Today: Tomorrow: Miners, railroads, homesteading
Farming simulation, part 1
Tomorrow:
Farming simulation, part 2 and QUIZ over chapter 13
DUE ON FRIDAY: OPTIONAL STUDY GUIDE FOR EXTRA CREDIT AND YOUR SENSORY IMAGE OF A PIONEER WOMAN (which must be colored)

2. WARM UP:
Based on what you read yesterday, did women in the west experience more freedom than women on the east coast? Why or why not? Justify your answer with EVIDENCE (don’t just say yes or no – tell me why)

3. People started heading west to find gold
The Gold Rush – 1849
People started heading west to find gold
Predict: What was life like for miners?
Miners

4. What is the significance of railroads in the USA in the late 1800s?

5. FARMING SIMULATION
How would you fare in the west? What are some challenges faced by those who went westward?

6. HOMESTEAD ACT (1862) What is it?
160 acres per head of household
What caused the government to do this?
people previously passed through the land, we needed more food for our growing population, and this encouraged farming
What were the effects?
People settled the Great Plains and became farmers!
160 acres per family. People previously passed through this to get to California – and we needed more food for our growing population. Result? People settled the plains.

7. HOMESTEAD ACT (1862)
160 acres of land free to any citizen who was head of the household
600,000 families participated
*Oklahoma – 2 million acres of land given away in a single day
The “sooners” – they went before time was allowed

8. What is 160 acres?
Cherry Creek High School (plus the stadiums – all of our land) is 80 acres
In 2014, according to US News, the national average value of land per acre was $4000.
$4000 x 160 acres = $640,000

9. Groups of four to five. Get to it.
WHO’S READY TO FARM?!
Groups of four to five. Get to it.

10. BEGINNING THE GAME $1500 as a family
Save $300 for living costs
Save $200 for transportation costs
You need to ship those crops, remember?
You have $1000 to invest in crops and livestock as a family. You can also choose to save a certain amount per year.

11. THINGS TO CONSIDER
You start with $1500, but your money then rolls over from one year to the next
If you end the first year with $600, you will only have $100 to invest in the following year (because of transportation and living costs)
Transportation costs WILL vary… for some people…

12. 1885 Crop/Livestock Investment Return Corn 2 Beans 3 Wheat 1 Barley 1
Oats
Field Hay 2
Tobacco 2
Field Peas 2
Cattle 1
Sheep 2
Hogs

13. 1886
Crop/Livestock Investment Return Corn 2 Beans 1 Wheat 2 Barley 2 Oats 2 Field Hay 1 Tobacco 2 Field Peas 2 Cattle 0 Sheep 3 Hogs 0

14. 1887
Crop/Livestock Investment Return Corn 1 Beans 1.5 Wheat 2 Barley 1.5 Oats 1 Field Hay 2 Tobacco 1 Field Peas 1 Cattle 3 Sheep 1 Hogs 2

15. CLOSURE
What hardships did farmers face and have to overcome in the West?
What was challenging about the game?
How did these difficulties lead to the rise of the Populist movement?
WEATHER! Blizzards, droughts, flooding, tornadoes, dust storms, fires, grasshoppers, plowing was hard and packed, and you’re lonely – the closest people are probably half an hour away

16. Pioneer Woman reading
Read the Pioneer Woman reading silently to yourself. Then as a family discuss the following:
-What is your reaction to this reading?
-What was the grossest part?
-How would this impact the families who lived through it?
-What are the costs and benefits of farm life?