1880s Agricultural Nation Classroom Activity Guide

Grade Range: 5-12
Resource Type(s): Primary Sources, Lessons & Activities, Worksheets
Date Posted: 1/22/2011

In this set of classroom activities developed for the exhibition America on the Move, students will use visual, analytical, and interpretive skills to examine primary sources including historical maps to answer questions about farming, transportation, immigration, and racism in the 1880s, and will answer questions about the history and impact of railroads on their own communities. The activities provide opportunities for historical analysis, interpretation, evaluation, analyzing cause/effect relationships, understanding multiple points of view, performing original research, debating and persuasive writing and help students develop and strengthen map-reading skills and the ability to identify issues and problems in the past and connect the past to the present.