Geography

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=Places and Regions= 1. Compare places and regions in the United States as they existed prior to 1877 with the same places and regions today to analyze changes in land use and population, political, social and economic characteristics.

=Human Environmental Interaction= 2. Analyze how physical characteristics of the environment influenced population distribution, settlement patterns and economic activities in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries. http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/themed_collections/subtopic1e.html This is a great collection of primary source documents from Calisphere at the University of California. "These images record the rapid growth of small settlements into big cities as people continued to come to California from all over the world. Aerial views show spreading cities, and photographs depict the substantial hotels, stores, and other businesses that served the steady influx of new Californians."
 * 1848-1865: Gold Rush Era - Growth of Cities **

=Movement= 3. Explain how colonization, westward expansion, immigration and advances in transportation and communication changed geographic patterns in the United States. http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/ At this excellent site you can read about how transportation shaped the lives, landscapes, culture, and communities of America. You can examine the changes brought by transportation networks, play some cool games, and check out lots of other resources from the National Museum of American History. There are also excellent teacher guides available for each section. **History of the American West, 1860-1920: Photographs from the Collection of the Denver Public Library ** http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/codhtml/hawphome.html This is a great collection of primary source documents and images from American Memory at the Library of Congress. "Over 30,000 photographs, drawn from the holdings of the Western History and Genealogy Department at Denver Public Library, illuminate many aspects of the history of the American West. Most of the photographs were taken between 1860 and 1920. They illustrate Colorado towns and landscape, document the place of mining in the history of Colorado and the West, and show the lives of Native Americans from more than forty tribes living west of the Mississippi River." Be sure to see the "Collection Connections" for ideas on how to use these resources in your class. **1848-1865: Gold Rush Era - Growth of Cities ** http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/themed_collections/subtopic1e.html This is a great collection of primary source documents from Calisphere at the University of California. "These images record the rapid growth of small settlements into big cities as people continued to come to California from all over the world. Aerial views show spreading cities, and photographs depict the substantial hotels, stores, and other businesses that served the steady influx of new Californians." **1870-1900: Closing of the Frontier - The Transcontinental Railroad ** http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/themed_collections/subtopic2b.html This is a great collection of primary source documents from Calisphere at the University of California. "The transcontinental railroad connected the east and west coasts of the United States with a single rail line. This had a profound impact on the nation as a whole, and on California - the end of the line - in particular. The images in this group show different aspects of the railroad, including workers, travelers, tracks, railroad bridges, and trains." **The Oregon Trail Virtual Tour ** http://www.historyglobe.com/ot/otmap1.htm <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica">"The Oregon Trail Website provides a virtual tour of landmarks along the historic trail. Visitors to the site can see both a modern map and a 19th century map of the trail. Landmarks can be clicked on the map to lead the visitor through paintings, drawings and photographs of trail sites." **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica">StateMaster ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica">http://www.statemaster.com/statistics <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica">StateMaster is a fantastic site for statistics on all topics concerning the United States. The information is nicely arranged by topic and can be viewed as totals, per capita, bar graphs, pie charts, or maps. Best yet, the site allows you to see correlations (both positve and negative) between different statistical topics. This allows users to investigate relationships, causes, and effects. The topics areas include crime, economy, education, energy, geography, government, health, housing, immigration, industry, labor, lifestyle, military, people, elections, sports, trade, transportation, and more.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica">America on the Move **