Introduction
It is May 11, 1869 and the transcontinental railroad has just been completed! You and your staff will complete a special edition news broadcast to celebrate and reveal to the world the building of the transcontinental railroad. Good luck and be creative!
Task
You are in a group of four reporters that will be creating a news broadcast about the building of the transcontinental railroad. There are four different "articles" of information that will need to be included in your broadcast. Each group member will choose a category to research and include in the news report. The categories are as follows:
Investors
Railroad Workers
Historian
Geographer
After deciding your category, research the links for important information that will need to be included in your broadcast. There are different questions listed under your category that should be answered. Make sure you are creative and include as much information as possible.
Process
Investors
You are an economist during the 1860s. You want to find out who the "Big Four" are and how they impacted the building of the railroad. You also want to know how much it cost to build, who was the engineer and why was he so important. Here are some questions to help you get started:
- Who were the "Big Four" in the building of the transcontinental railroad and why were they so important?
http://bushong.net/dawn/about/college/ids100/leaders.shtml
- Who was Theodore Judah and why was his role so important?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/tcrr-judah/
- How much did it cost to build the railroad and where did the money come from?
http://my.ilstu.edu/~jabraun/students/geiseman/facts.htm
Social Studies Newspaper and textbook
Railroad Workers
You are a civilian in teh 1860s. You want to know who worked on the railroad, their role in the building of the railroad, how much they were paid and what type of working conditions they endured. Here are some of the questions that will help get you started:
- What role did the Chinese have in the building of the railroad?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-cprr/
- Why were the Chinese so important in the building of the railroad?
http://cprr.org/Museum/Chinese.html
- How much money did the average worker make and what were hte working conditions like? Did the Chinese endure any hardships?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-cprr/
Historian
You are a historian during the 1860's. You want to know the highlights of the building of the transcontinental railroad. You want to find out when the railroad was started, milestones of the building and when it was finished. Here are some questions to help you get started:
- What were three important dates/events and why?
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/rail.html
- What are some milestones of building the transcontinental railroad?
http://www.transcoshow.com/transcontinental-milestones
- What are some historic landmarks along the route?
http://usparks.about.com/library/weekly/aa051099.htm
Geographer
You are a geographer in the 1860's. You will need to find out the routes of the transcontinental railroad, how it affected and benefited society, and the danger from the geographic locations and weather. Listed below are some questions that will help you get started:
- Why was the transcontinental railroad so important to build?
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist4/practical.html
- Were there any problems or danger when building the railroad?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-tunnels/
- Where was the railroad built?
Evaluation
You will be evaluated on the following criteria for your news broadcast:
Does your broadcast have an introduction?
Is each "article" of your broadcast thorough?
Is your information accurate?
Is your broadcast creative?
Did you use relevant pictures of important events as background?
Did you use complete sentences?
Is your broadcast informative?
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have finished researching the Transcontinental Railroad. Now, your job as reporters is to get back to the station to do a news segment on everything you have learned!
Work on your news broadcast with the iPad app "Tellagami."
1. Find pictures to use as your background on Google Images and then save them to the Camera Roll.
2. Open up the app and create a character. Then choose a background. Use photos from the Camera Roll that relate to your specific piece of the broadcast.
3. Record your "article." Remember, it's only 30 seconds so you have to be concise and quick!
4. When you are happy with your recording, tap the Share icon and then Save Gami. This will save it to the Camera Roll for us to manipulate later.