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= = =LIVING AND LEARNING ON THE OREGON TRAIL =

Fourth Grade Simulation Unit based on the book, "//Pioneers"// by Tim Bailey

This unit is simulation game with the challenge: successfully traverse the Oregon Trail. To meet the challenge students will have to integrate information they acquire from a variety of resources to make the best decisions possible. Throughout the unit, small groups will work as “wagon teams”, with each student taking on a defined role (banker, blacksmith, doctor, farmer, hunter, or scout). These teams will make decisions about their transportation and supplies based on the knowledge they gain from primary sources such as pioneer diaries and historical pricing charts as well as secondary sources including websites and nonfiction texts. Once on the trail, students will be introduced to Geocaching, a high-tech “game” of hidden treasures. Students will use handheld global positioning system (GPS) units to locate hidden boxes also known as caches. Each cache presents a problem reflective of those experienced by the pioneers and directions on where to find information to better understand and solve the challenge. With each scenario, students will be introduced to another important aspect of life on the Oregon Trail including finding food and water, dealing with disease, encountering Native Americans, and traveling over dangerous terrain. Their survival depends on gathering accurate information through research and critically thinking through information to make a thoughtful, well informed decision about how to address the given problem. Students will record their decisions, why they made one decision over others, and the impact of their choices in a journal written from the point of view of a pioneer on the trail to Oregon. The full unit will last three weeks with approximately one hour dedicated to lessons each day. All ten of the 4th Grade Informational Text Reading Common Core Standards will be tackled over the course of the unit in addition to the Common Core Opinion Writing Standards, the Speaking and Listening standards, and several Social Studies content standards. The culminating event will be a “Welcome to Oregon” celebration.

Maps:
@http://www.historyglobe.com/ot/otmap1.htm The trail - Interactive map [] (Oregon portion of trail)

Information about the trail that gets you thinking about the MATH:

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[|Quiz]about Historic points along the trail

Picture The Oregon Trail. Fine Art. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 25 Sep 2013. [|http://quest.eb.com/images/108_262091]