Week Three: What was it like to be a prospector?

CO Standards 2.2. EO A: Connections within and across human and physical systems are developed
Inquiry Questions:
1. How does the physical environment affect human activity?
Nature of Geography:
Spatial thinkers evaluate how physical features affect the development of a sense of place.
Aims and Objectives
Lesson Options
Activity Options
-Explore, experience,
-Design a Log Cabin:
and compare the
Access and show the picture resources of Miner Log Cabins
prospectors and their
Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4.
families ways of life
Tell each group that they are now a group of miners that are about to
whilst searching for
build a log cabin.
gold in Colorado.
Students tasks will be to:
-Account for the ways
1. Describe the steps (in writing) following a chronological sequence
in which our lives are
of events.
different in modern
2. Make a list of the problems that might occur and how they intend
times and examine the
to solve them.
cause of the changes.
3. Draw their cabins interior and exterior noting survival features,
the number of people that will live in the cabin, the tools needed to
build the cabin (no power tools available), and the length of time it
will take to build the cabin.
-Miners Housework
Students will do laundry the way the miners would have done laundry!
Divide students into groups of 3 or 4 with a bucket, a pitcher of warm
water, bar soap, and a dirty piece of cloth.
Challenge them to get the cloth the cleanest they can.
As they work, engage them in discussion questions with their groups.
1. How does this compare to how we do laundry in modern times?
2. Why is this difficult to do?
3. How often would the miners have found time to do their

Assessment Options
-Anecdotal notes about
group work successes
and challenges.
-Completion/correctness
of activities where
applicable.

housework?
4. Who would have most likely been responsible for doing laundry?
-Miners Music
For entertainment and relaxation, miners would make music using
items that would have survived the journey west. Make music with
house hold items that would have been found on your wagon. Bring in
items from home, use items already in the classroom. Create an
individual tune and then join in with other students to form a band!
-Pan for Gold Simulation (Science Connection)
Students will pan for small gold-painted rocks from a large tub of dirt
and water.
Using a pie pan with holes poked in the bottom, students scoop up
water and dirt into the pie pan, students will simulate the swirling
motion used in panning to force lighter rocks, dirt, and water from the
pan leaving the gold nuggets behind.
Give each student 3-5 minutes to pan and offer to buy their gold for
different amounts based on the size of the rocks. Use a scale to weigh
rocks and compare sizes/weights.
Challenge: discuss the benefit of a sluice box and what it would have
taken to build one
For enrichment of this topic, discuss the density of gold as it compares to
other minerals and metals.
Resources/Materials:
-cabin photos
-laundry supplies: dirty pieces of material, buckets, bar soap, pitchers of warm water, string for clothesline
-assorted household supplies for music: pots, pans, utensils, dishes, jars, glass bottles
-panning supplies: pie pans, shallow pool/tub/trough, rocks of different sizes, rocks painted gold, sand, water, scale