Topics: US History, Western History, Industrialization.

Age Group/Grades: Ten – Thirteen years old, 5^th – 8^th Grades.

Download Lesson Plan & Worksheets

Learning Objectives:

• Literacy: Students will read on the creation and expansion of the Union Pacific Railroad across Wyoming, focusing on Carbon County.
• Critical Analysis: Students will use the printable sheets analyze the photographs (primary sources) to better understand the people and places of Carbon County, Wyoming.
• Active Learning Activities:
  • Activity 1: Students will study and analyze historic photographs from the Union Pacific construction and use using our template.
  • Activity 2: Students will complete the printable word search.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will analyze the creation and development of the Union Pacific Railroad, from the federal to the local level.
• Students will identify how the growth of the railroad expanded the American West’s population and facilitated growth of the area in the late nineteenth century.
• Students will examine and analyze primary sources (photographs) to better understand the places and people of the American West/Carbon County, Wyoming.
• Students will evaluate who the railroad workers were and the conditions they worked under, as well as how the rural environment impacted their work.

Topics to be Studied:

• The role of the federal government in the creation of the railroad.
• How the post-Civil War era allowed the growth and development of the railroad.
• How industrialization in America was helped by the growth of the railroad.

Online Resources:

• Read: “Industry, Politics and Power: The Union Pacific in Wyoming”. Gregory Nickerson, Published November 8, 2014. Access here: https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/industry-politics-and-power-union-pacific-wyoming
• Read and View our Virtual Exhibit, “Let’s Go West! The Union Pacific in Carbon County” found here: https://www.carboncountymuseum.org/the-union-pacific-railroad
• Watch: Wyoming PBS Documentary, “End of Track” found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUDv87_LjCs&list=PLi7t-ipQDn6egPmZNl873oQ2ogkpD9MJt&index=40
• For more on Benton, See this short article: https://kingfm.com/the-legend-of-benton-wyomings-wildest-town/

Activities:

• Word Search: Using the word search provided, students locate words related to the Union Pacific in Carbon County.
• Create a journal using the prompts and papers provided.