Days 124 & 125 The Oregon Trail

February 27 & 28th, 2012

Days 124 & 125: The Oregon Trail

Colonial Skating Blog: Yesterday I left early to go to Boxboro Massachusetts again for lessons with Debi and Matt. On the way there I did my workbooks and played Oregon Trail. When we got there, we got my skates sharpened and got on the ice for my lesson with Debi. First we spun, I learned all sorts of cool new spins to put in my Worcester program. Then we jumped, starting with an axel. My axels were really good yesterday! My axels are good all the time now which is really good! Then we did all my double jumps! I was very excited because I landed all of them. After, Linda wanted to show Debi my programs, both my Jeannie and my Worcester. I basically had the same lesson with Matt. It was a really good day and both coaches said that I have improved dramatically. It was great, and I skated today as well and everything was. I even got to show mom my double lutz!

Oregon Trail game report: Corrie, Kevin, Lily, Sophie, and Ben started along the Oregon Trail with their wagon and oxen in 1836. Kevin was a banker, which means he could negotiate good deals with the Native Americans. Overall, our trip to Oregon was good. We had a few starvations, a couple of times where the wagon broke down, a few Eagle and Bear attacks, and many diagnoses of diseases. About when we got to Colorado, Ben died of Typhoid, so we only reached Oregon with 4 of the family members left, Corrie had a broken arm when we got to Oregon.

LA book: 2 pages

Math: 4 pages

Oregon Trail Web Quest:

1.       Follow this link: http://www.frontiertrails.com/oldwest/oregontrail.htm

A.      Write a good 6 + sentence paragraph summarizing what you learned:

The Oregon-California trail was 2,140 miles long from St. Louis Missouri to either Oregon or California, which ever route that you chose. The first trip along the Oregon Trail was made by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. They started off the migration for MANY other American families who wanted to start a new life. Over 5,000 people made the trip to Oregon in a covered wagon pulled by Oxen. It took 4-6 months to get there but most of the families made with at least one person living.   

2.       Follow this link: http://www.historyglobe.com/ot/otmap1.htm  

A. Follow the trail and click the links to learn about important points and see images. Write one sentence per site here and copy, paste, and Save As images:

1. In Independence, Missouri the pioneers considered it the “Jumping point” because it was the start of the Oregon Trail.

2. Courthouse Rock and Jailhouse rock were one of the first landmarks that the pioneers would see on the trail.

3. Chimney Rock signaled the end of the Prairies and rugged steep trails ahead.

4. Fort Laramie was started by the fur traders, but then became an active trading station for the pioneers.

5. Named such because it was found on the 50^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

6. A Mormon settled fort and trading post.

7. Bubbling pools of carbonated water caused by ancient volcanic action

8. A ort along the Snake River, first used as a fur trading post.

9. A fort used as a supply point for the pioneers.

10. The Whitman mission is a fort on the Northern fork of the Oregon Trail.

11. The Dalles is a huge sandbar across the Columbia River that the pioneers used

12. Oregon City as the ending of the Oregon Trail

3.       Follow this link and watch video (may be slow to upload): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zu6SqfblzQ&feature=related

A.      How does the video game, “The Oregon Trail,” teach you about the hardships, challenges, and rewards about this historical event? Write 3 good paragraphs below.

The Oregon Trail Video Game is very accurate and historically right with there events. There were a lot of choices that needed to be made on the Oregon Trail and there are a lot of choices to be made in the Video Game. The game makers were also accurate on all of the problems and dangers of the Oregon Trail. Because of the harsh circumstances, the emigrants got diagnosed with diseases very quickly, there were also a lot of weather hazards that got in the way of progress on the Oregon trail.

The Video game makers were historically correct on about the timing and progress of each day. Depending on the weather, the pioneers would get about 12 miles each day, that isn’t really a lot, but the fastest speed that they could go was 2 miles per hour!

They also made the dates on reaching the forts accurate also. The trip took about 3 months and that was true in the game. All the forts were right and they did great making it. I had a lot of fun playing the game and I think it teaches a lot about The Oregon trail because of all the accuracy and historical events.