SUBJECT: Social Studies
GRADE: Middle School
TECHNOLOGY: Oregon Trail (Software)

Oregon Trail. MECC software, 1993.

7th-10th grade history students. This group may find lecture and textbook delivery of information dull and could benefit from alternate forms of learning. This lesson is designed to make the 19th-century history of Western settlement more relevant to students' lives by allowing them to experience decision-making in a role-playing scenario and to gather period information at the same time.

If the lesson plan is properly completed, students will play and complete a game of The Oregon Trail and afterwards will, using information acquired from the game and other sources (e.g., WWW), create a "helpful guide to the Oregon Trail for new travelers." This guide will include factual information about the trail and stops along it, hints for making the journey easier and anecdotal information about the students' own "trips" along the Trail.

Students will (possibly in groups) complete a game of The Oregon Trail. As they play, students should keep careful track of all decisions made along the way (not limiting themselves just to information in the computer-generated Journal, but also including personal thoughts and ideas for strategies). After playing the game, students will complete additional research on topics of their choice related to the Oregon Trail that may provide useful information to those who have not yet "traveled the trail" (i.e., played the game). The World Wide Web and other, "traditional" sources may be used. After collecting all needed information, students will write their own guides to the Oregon Trail. These guides will serve as "fact-at-a-glance" books for those about to move westward and will provide hints that students may have learned as they moved along the Trail (e.g., how to calculate amounts of food to purchase, what works well when a party member is sick, best way to cross rivers under different conditions, etc). Further, students may wish to include any anecdotes or reflections from their own trip for others to enjoy. This guide may take whatever form is deemed most appropriate, from a folding brochure to a bound collection of work put together by different students or groups of students.

Word processing software could easily be integrated into this lesson plan. This software would make editing and compiling information simple and fast, and would allow the trail Journal to be inserted directly from the *.txt file the program generates. WWW applications could also be used for research.