Transcontinental Railroad Teacher Resources

Find Transcontinental Railroad lesson plans and worksheets
Showing 82 resources
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PPT
Curated OER

The Railroads: The First Transcontinental Railroad

For Teachers 9th - 11th
The move West was greatly effected by the first transcontinental railroad. Present your class with well-organized information regarding major causes, players, and effects the railroad had on the face of an expanding America. Note: A...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transcontinental Railroad Web Quest

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine aspects of the Transcontinental Railroad. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students conduct a web-quest in order to gather information about the Transcontinental Railroad. Students will use their information to analyze...
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Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Transcontinental Railroad

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Who built the Transcontinental Railroad and why was it important? Your class can learn about the laying down of these tracks by reading a short passage. Pupils then respond to five questions related to the text.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad#140

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students participation in a simulation of laying the track of Transcontinental Railroad starting from three different locations. They use toothpicks and coffee stirrers to build the rails. They evaluate which group laid the most track...
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Lesson Plan
Federal Reserve Bank

Ten Mile Day

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Get your class working on the railroad with this detailed and interactive lesson. After reading and discussing Ten Mile Day, learners explore division of labor, human capital, and productivity with a hands-on group activity in which they...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Chinese Immigration and Exclusion

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first race-based restriction on immigration in American history. Why was the act passed after Chinese immigrants helped build the Transcontinental Railroad? A series of documents, including speeches and...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

What Else Was Happening During the Civil War Era?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Examine a time of political division and upheaval— not unlike our own—using firsthand accounts. While study of the Civil War often takes center stage in the classroom, the 1850s and 1860s were a period of profound change in other areas...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

The Settlement of the American West

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What do Abraham Lincoln and the Transcontinental Railroad have in common? Using a set of primary source documents, including pictures, maps, and treaties, class members link together the common themes of expansion into the American West....
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Perfect Postcards: Illinois

For Teachers 4th Standards
Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered lesson plan on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Wild, Wild West

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders research the history of the transcontinental railroad. They use advertising propaganda techniques to design and create a poster encouraging people to explore the West by rail.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

THE GAM SAAN ADVENTURE ARE YOU WILLING TO RISK IT?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study the lasting influence of the Pony Express, Overland Mail Service, Western Union, and the building of the transcontinental railroad, including the contributions of Chinese workers to its construction. They explore the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stop Action and Assess Alternatives

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students stop action and determine how history may have been altered. For this historical perspectives lesson, students consider how the Cherokee Removal, the Transcontinental Railroad, the Immigration Act of 1924, and the dropping of...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Great Plains Homesteaders

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Westward, ho!" may have been their cry in spite of the hardships. Using a series of photographs by Solomon D. Butcher of those who ventured west, class members consider what life was like in the 1800s for those who embarked on the...
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Worksheet
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K12 Reader

Traveling to the Distant West

For Students 6th - 8th
If you build it they can come. After reading a short article about the impact of western expansion, middle schoolers cite evidence from the article to explain how this expansion forced changes in transportation.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Washington Irving in Context

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the various roles Washington Irving had in his lifetime. Examining the situation in Europe and the United States, they are encouraged to relate Irving's experiences to different events. They examine themselves in many...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dragon's Gate

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students read Dragon's Gate as a shared literature book. This instructional activity provides excellent extension activities students can engage in while they are reading, and after they have finished the book.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Chinese Expulsion Act of 1880

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Young scholars examine the Chinese Expulsion Act of 1880. In this History lesson, students explore the issues of immigration and exclusion surrounding the Chinese Expulsion Act. Young scholars will use a variety of primary sources to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

California-Becoming an Agricultural and Insustrial Power

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power. They trace the transformation of the California economy in its political and cultural development since the 1850's.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Growth and Expansion in the late 1800s

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine a picture of John Gast's, American Progress to determine what they know about American growth between 1877- 1900. By working through thirteen center or folder activities, they study the economics,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Gam Saan Adventure- Are You Willing to Risk it?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its development since the 1850's.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Social Studies Test B-Grade 5

For Students 5th
In this grade 5 social studies test worksheet, 5th graders complete a 30 question multiple choice quiz covering a variety of grade 5 concepts. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's It Say Today?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students consider important structures in their community -- specifically, those structures that have had a great impact on the history of their community.
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Graphic
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition explores the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad and its impact on American westward expansion.
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: 1870 1900: The Transcontinental Railroad

For Students 9th - 10th
Original photos and images highlighting the impact that the Transcontinental Railroad had on the lives and perspectives of Americans and Native Americans.