Oregon Trail Unit

[mopar]

Hi all!

With the help of a few great teachers, my team created an Oregon Trail unit for the students. It involves multiple classes and is relatively easy to use.

Preparation:
Create a large map showing the Oregon Trail. I used an overhead and drew it on large butcher paper. Split the Trail into Forts, these can be the real forts and then give them mileage.

Second, make a list of supplies needed to bring to Oregon including wagon, animals, food, clothing, etc. Give each item a price. When I find my price list, I will post it here.

Third, Make a budget sheet for the students. They write what they buy, how much it cost and what they have left. Also make a supply sheet where the students show the supplies that they have on their wagon. Include a travel log and a journal if you wish.

Fourth, make cards. There should be Weather Cards (some good weather some bad), Wagon Cards (problems that arise or great things that happen), Food Cards (spoiling and finding), Health Cards (good and bad) and finally Hunting Cards (usually good, two or three bad). I will post examples of my cards when I finally type them.


Procedure:
Students are assigned to groups of 4, otherwise their family. I have the students make a family name. The students spend the first few days researching what a Pioneer needs to bring West. They also research the length of the trip and how many days it might take between forts. They compile a list and then spend a few days shopping, or buying the supplies.

After supplies are situation, I have the students role dice. They role two dice. The first two numbers that they role, the multiply. This represents how many miles per hour they traveled. The students then role two other dice. These two numbers are added together to find out how many hours they traveled.
Each day, the students also pull a weather card, wagon card, food card and health card. These will effect their travel and need for supplies.
The students then figure out how far they were able to travel in a day and how far they have left to travel. I ask that my students show all their work so that I can see their use of multiplication and subtraction.
I also have the group subtract a certain amount of food per day so that they are using their supply.
After they have figured out their traveling, I have each of my students journal on the events of the day. The events come from the cards that the students earned. These are graded on creativity!
After the entire group has journaled, the group may move their wagon to show how far they have traveled. And to incorporate graphing, I have my students graph their distance traveled each day (extra).

If the students choose to hunt, they lose a day of traveling but can gain extra food if needed. Also, the students can only buy more supplies when they reach a fort. Thus the need to plan ahead and accurately.

As my students are journaling, I have them read about the Oregon Trail and incorporate much of what they read into their journals. The students also help to create new cards as they learn more. At the end of the unit, the students are expected to use their journals and their research to write a report detailing similarities and differences between their experience and the Oregon Trail. Students are amazed by the living conditions and the experiences had on the trip.

I will add more when I am able to retype all of my work...as I have recently lost my worksheets on the computer.

[Chef Dave]

I once did something similar but to make the game even more interesting, the wilderness was largely uncharted. I went to a game shop and bought laminated hexagonal paper. Students started just west of St. Louis. Parts of the map were revealed i.e. a blue line for a river, an upside down "V" for a mountain, an upside "u" for a hill etc. Most of the map was covered with paper.

One of the event cards included finding various trail guides who would work for various rates of pay. Some were good and some were unscrupulous. Another event card allowed students to buy maps that showed partial routes.

As students journeyed westward, hexagons were revealed. Some students who had reached dead ends against seemingly impassable rivers or mountains would sometimes backtrack and follow the trails left by more successful wagon trains.

One of the neat things about this unit was that it reinforced basic map skills. Students had to tell me which direction to move their wagon train symbol i.e. north, northwest, north east, south, southwest, or southeast.

Students also had to read map keys.

[mopar]

That sounds like a nice feature that I might have to add next time. I had map keys but had not thought to include dead end trails and alternative routes.

[Chef Dave]

I had map keys but had not thought to include dead end trails and alternative routes.

Yep ... there were all kinds of natural obstacles on the Oregon Trail ... hills that slowed down the wagon train and increased the likelihood of lamed animals, torn harnesses, or broken wheels ...

Mud from rainstorms that mired wagon wheels ... the pioneers gathered bundles of grass to put beneath the wheels ...

Sand and dry grit that got into everyone's eyes ...

Disease ... the two most common being cholera and Malaria. (The Oregon Trail was dotted with crosses that marked the graves of dead pioneers).

Food was definitely a problem due to spoilage. When the pioneers shot buffalo or caught salmon, they had no way to preserve this food. Canning was not yet common in the 1840s.

BTW - an excellent supplemental resource: Oregon Trail Archives which include diaries, memoirs, and period books!

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/00.n.trailarchive.html

[Chef Dave]

When confronted by problems, I used a modified values clarification technique to resolve the problem.

For example, if an event card revealed that a student group was now mired in mud, I'd build an element of chance into the event. If the students could roll a 6, they would free themselves from the mud and not lose a turn.

For each reasonable explanation that the students gave regarding how they could get their wagons out of the mud, I'd give them +1 on their die roll.

So ... the students might think of gathering stones and wood to put under the wheel ...

They might suggest unloading the wagon to lighten the load.

They could suggest pushing the wagon.

Since all three answers were reasonable, I'd add 3 to the die roll. If the students rolled a 3 or higher, they didn't lose a turn.

Conversely, I also subtracted a point for each inept solution i.e. -1 for calling a towing service. Phones and tow trucks hadn't been invented yet ... -1 for capturing an entire herd of wild buffalo and harnessing them to the wagon for extra pulling power. I won't bother mentioning why this would be impractical ... -1 for bodily picking the wagon up and carrying it to dry land. The average weight of goods carried by each wagon was 1.5 tons.

[Chef Dave]

Here's another resource:

Features of the Conestoga Wagon.
http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/wagon/page1.asp?secid=31

http://www.folkpark.com/collections/the_journey/conestoga_wagons/

Frequently Asked Questions About the Oregon Trail by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management:
http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/history-faqs.ph

[mopar]

I forgot to mention the element of chance. We included the option of rolling to get about of a fix. But I never thought to include their responses to solve a problem.

Also, if someone gets sick, we also had an option to heal yourself. I requested that the students rolled 2 even numbers on 2 dice. They had 3 days to do this otherwise they lost a group member "family member". This was a hard aspect to handle for many of the groups but lead to a lot of discussions.

[Chef Dave]

We also had an option to heal yourself. I requested that the students rolled 2 even numbers on 2 dice. They had 3 days to do this otherwise they lost a group member "family member". This was a hard aspect to handle for many of the groups but lead to a lot of discussions.

Great minds must think alike. I did the same thing ... but the number of days was random and only known by me.

Students could again use reasons to "heal" their "family members" i.e. we have medicine, we've stopped traveling for the day to allow our sick person to rest, we're making sure she drinks broth made from our dried meat and vegetables etc.

In the event a "member" died, that person became my assistant.

[mopar]

The assistant is a great idea. I had my groups of four make a made up family. That way if someone died, the group would still be a group with one less mouth to feed. Well until they had a baby.

[upnorthteacher]

I do something similar based on a simulation I purchased from InterAct publications. My students each represent a wagon and are placed in groups to be a "wagon train". There are many things that happen by chance, but also events that may happen if they haven't brought along certain supplies. Each wagon train has to make decisions at certain places in their journey, For example, do you take a shortcut that you know little about or follow that known trail? Do you try to make it through the mountains when winter is starting to set in or wait until spring? There are many different variables based on their problem-solving decisions and the kids really love it. Everyone wants to be the first wagon train to make it to the Oregon Territory to choose a good plot of land!
Also, if each student represents one wagon/family you can have people die along the way without having any students out of the simulation.

[busbus]

The Oregon Trail including the suggested add-ons /extensions is great. Can't wait to share it with my teachers. All directions and procedures given are easy to understand and follow. So much can be done with this activity. Thanks loads.