THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
8th Grade U.S. History
Assessments: Rubric for Questions and Pictures; Final Unit Assessment
How did the development of the Transcontinental Railroad impact the United States?
· the impact of connecting the railroad from east to west changed the country.
· the Pacific Railway Act and how it encouraged the planning and growth of the railroad.
| Manifest Destiny | Sierra Nevada Mountains | Oregon Trail |
| Promontory Point | Utah | Golden Spike |
| Union Pacific Railroad | Central Pacific Railroad | Pacific Railway Act |
| Immigrant | Native Americans | Plains Indians |
| Chinese | African Americans | Discrimination |
| Thomas Durant | George Stephenson | Samuel Morse |
| Grenville Dodge | Alfred Nobel | Theodore Judah |
| Daniel Strong | Edward Harriman | Abraham Lincoln |
| John Sutter | Jesse James | Asa Whitney |
| Coal | Crédit Mobilier | Gold Rush |
| Nitroglycerine | Black powder | Buffalo |
| Yellow fever | Grade | Trestle |
| Spur line | Surveyor | Avalanche |
| Roadbed | Telegraph | Jupiter |
| Big Four | Topographical engineer | Railroad pirates |
| Rock Island | Bridge monkey | Tom Thumb |
The
sunset land; or, The great Pacific slope. By Rev. John Todd, D.D
Uncle Sam’s Belt - Today in History May 10, 1869. Maps, First Person Narratives
Chinese American Contributions to the Transcontinental Railroad
Primary Documents in American History - the Pacific Railway Act
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Maps - American Memory from the Library of Congress website - click on maps
Compton’s Encyclopedia
New Book of Knowledge
World Book Encyclopedia
Barter, James, A Worker on the Transcontinental Railroad
Blashfield, Jean, The Transcontinental Railroad, Compass Point Books, 2002.
Crewe, Sabrina, The Transcontinental Railroad
Magram, Hannah Strauss, Railroads of the West
Rach, Julie, The Transcontinental Railroad
Shane, C.J., The Chinese
Stein, R. Conrad, The Transcontinental Railroad in American History
Williams,
John Hoyt, A Great and Shining Road
Title:
Introduction to the Transcontinental Railroad
Objectives:
Students will be introduced to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Materials:
Video Clip, Website with maps, Computer, LCD projector, pencil and paper
Procedure:
Pretest Narrative sheet using 15 keywords:
| Immigrant | Promontory, Utah | P |
| Union Pacific Railroad | Chinese | Abraham Lincoln |
| Central Pacific Railroad | Golden Spike | Gold Rush / Gold |
| Manifest Destiny | Theodore Judah | Oregon Trail |
| Native Americans | Big Four | Discrimination |
Show video clip to introduce the railroad.
Introductory
Video clip
Assessment: Evaluate Student Narratives; Discussion Participation
Title:
Background Search
Objectives:
Investigate the background of the building of the Transcontinental
Railroad
Interpret, analyze, and organize information from a
variety of websites
Understand the impact of the Continental Railroad on the U.S.
Materials:
Video at beginning of class: Transformation of the West 1:31 min
Computer lab
Websites
- Primary Sources listed above plus many other
websites including:
Learning
Through History Archives
Virtual Museum, City of San Francisco
20 Questions
Procedure:
View Video Clip.
Students
will be in groups of two. Each group will explore the various websites, read and
discuss information, and answer the 20 questions using either Microsoft Word or
pencil/pen paper. Students will be responsible to turn in their own
answers.
1.
What is the origin of the transcontinental railroad?
2.
What role do you believe that Manifest Destiny played in the building of the
Transcontinental railroad?
3.
Why did Abraham Lincoln sign the Pacific Railway Bill? How much did it cost?
4.
Who were the Big Four? How did they receive that name?
5.
Which of the Big Four became president of the Central Pacific railroad?
6.
Why was Theodore Judah called " Crazy Judah"?
7.
What motivated the Central Pacific to hire the Chinese?
8.
Give 2 examples of how the Chinese workers were discriminated against.
9.
List 3 ways the Chinese workers differed from the Irish workers.
10.
What are some of the dangers the workers encountered when carving out the
tunnels in the Sierra Nevada Mountains?
11.
Which railroad had the easier task of laying track on the "Race to
Utah"?
12.
List at least 3 nicknames given to railroad workers and why they were given
those names.
13.
Explain the Crédit Mobilier scandal.
14.
How did the building of the transcontinental railroad disrupt the Native
Americans?
15.
How long did it take to build the transcontinental railroad and how much did it
cost to build?
16.
The two railroad companies met in what state?
17.
What do you believe thy used a golden spike to connect the two railroads?
18.
What are 3 ways in which the railroad impacted the Old West?
19.
What was the impact on our economy after the Transcontinental railroad was
built?
20.
Why did the Transcontinental railroad put the Oregon Trail out of business?
Assessment:
Completion and discussion of questions. Rubric
Day 3: Continue with questions and research
Video at beginning of class: Native Americans and the Railroad 1:29 min
Title:
Identification of People, Events, and Documents.
Objectives:
Students will identify and explain contributions and/or effects of pictures
of people, events, and documents involved in the building of the
Transcontinental Railroad.
Key to Picture
Page
1.
Mark Hopkins – started a minor
supply store in a tent; built it into a multi-million dollar business.
Became Treasurer of the Central Pacific Railroad.
One of the Big Four
2.
Leland Stanford – Elected
Governor of California in 1861. Became
President of the Central Pacific Railroad.
One of the Big Four.
3.
Collis Huntington – Partner of
Mark Hopkins. Vice President of
Central Pacific Railroad. Spent
construction years in Washington, D.C., lobbying for government funds.
One of the Big Four.
4.
Charles Crocker – Construction
Boss. Responsible for men who built
the railroad. Tough, rugged man who
earned worker respect. One of the
Big Four.
5.
Chinese Workers – Crocker first
suggested Chinese workers. Railroad
builder James Strobridge argued that Chinese were too frail.
In 1865, Crocker hired the first Chinese workers.
Were the best workers in the world.
Chinese were discriminated against, but turned out to be major
contributors to the railroad.
6.
Buffalo – Picture depicts
railroad workers killing buffalo to clear the path for the railroad tracks and
provide food for workers. This
greatly impacted the lives of the Native Americans by taking away their major
food supply.
7.
Pounding of the Golden Spike –
May 10, 1869. The final spike was
driven in at Promontory, Utah, and was ceremoniously made of gold to commemorate
the occasion. The dignitaries were
unable to pound it in, so it had to be finished by the workers.
8.
Pacific Railway Act – July 1,
1862. President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act, which set the route for
the Transcontinental Railroad, authorizing two companies to build tracks.
9.
Theodore Judah – Engineer.
Built the first railroad in California.
His dream was to build a railroad across the country.
Along with the Big Four, they founded the Central Pacific Railroad in
1861.
10.
Lincoln
– Signed the Railway Act to start building the Transcontinental Railroad.
Materials:
Computer lab/Media Center; word processor or paper and pencil/pen
Assessment:
Students ability to explain and identify the photographs.
Rubric
Rubric for Questions and Pictures
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CATEGORY
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3
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2
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1
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0
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Amount
of Information |
All
questions and pictures were answered/described with at least 2 sentences. |
Most
questions and pictures were answered/described with at least 2 sentences. |
Some
questions and pictures were answered/described with at least 1 sentence. |
Half
of the questions and pictures were not addressed. |
|
Quality
of Information |
Information
clearly answer/describes all questions or pictures. |
Information
clearly answer/describes most questions or pictures. |
Information
clearly answer/describes some questions or pictures. |
Half
of the questions and pictures were not addressed. |
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Internet
Use |
Successfully
uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within
these sites easily without assistance. |
Usually
able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates
within these sites easily without assistance. |
Occasionally
able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates
within these sites easily without assistance. |
Needs
assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to
navigate within these sites. |
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Group
Work |
Almost
always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of the group. |
Usually
always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of the group. |
Often
listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of the group but
sometimes not a good team member. |
Rarely
listens to, shares with, or supports the efforts of the group and often
not a good team member. |
Title:
Assessment and Discussion
Objectives:
Students will complete the Posttest Narrative.
Materials: Posttest Narrative sheet using 15 keywords:
| Immigrant | Promontory, Utah | P |
| Union Pacific Railroad | Chinese | Abraham Lincoln |
| Central Pacific Railroad | Golden Spike | Gold Rush / Gold |
| Manifest Destiny | Theodore Judah | Oregon Trail |
| Native Americans | Big Four | Discrimination |
Historical Narrative
Analytic Rubric
NAME OF UNIT: Transcontinental Railroad
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UNIT NARRATIVE CLUE WORDS OR CONCEPTS |
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Immigrant |
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2.
Union Pacific Railroad |
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3.
Promontory, Utah |
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4.
Chinese |
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5.
Central Pacific Railroad |
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6.
Pacific Railway Act |
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7.
Manifest Destiny |
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8.
Golden Spike |
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9.
Abraham Lincoln |
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10.
Big Four |
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11.
Discrimination |
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12.
Gold Rush/Gold |
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13.
Oregon Trail |
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14.
Native Americans |
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15.
Theodore Judah |
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CRITERIA: 0-Not included or used incorrectly 1-Included but without elaboration 2-Used with some elaboration 3-Used with extensive elaboration |
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