Area 2: Early Growth of the United States (1800-1850s)
Question:  Why do peoples and societies explore, relocate, and settle frontiers?

Lesson Plan Developed By
Michael Redman, St. Stephens Indian School, St. Stephens, Wyo.

Grade Level
6-12

Content Area(s)
Social Studies
English

Learning Objective(s)

1. Students will gain a fuller understanding of the geography of the Oregon Trail and the hardships and dangers faced by its early travelers.
2. Students will gain a fuller understanding of how the trail brought European Americans into the North American West.
3. Students will come to understand the trail’s various routes and uses across what became Wyoming, including the Oregon Trail, the California Trail and the Mormon Trail.
4. Students will consider larger questions: What difference did the trail make in how the United States grew in the 1800s? Why did people make the journey?

Standards
Wyoming Social Studies Standards, with 2018 Additions

Click here to see a spreadsheet aligning Wyoming State Social Studies and Common Core Standards for this and other digital toolkits of Wyoming History.

We will update the standards spreadsheet as more lesson plans are developed.

Length
One 90-Minute class period or
two 45-minute class periods

Materials Required
Maps:
Trails West, National Geographic.
Oregon Trail interactive map, WyoHistory.org.

Video:
Count diphtheria, dysentery, drowning, accident, and exhaustion as some of the dangers along the Oregon Trail, Britannica.com.

Readings
Oregon Trail, History.com.
Trails Across Wyoming: The Oregon, Mormon Pioneer and California Routes WyoHistory.org.

Lesson Plan