This lesson plan involves taking students on two field trips to help them understand the California Gold Rush and the lives of the indigenous Cahuilla people. On the first day, students will visit a replica Cahuilla village to learn about their customs and way of life. The next day, students will experience a gold mining town from the Gold Rush era, panning for gold and seeing how miners lived. Upon returning, students will give presentations comparing the two cultures and demonstrating their understanding of how the Gold Rush transformed California. The goal is for students to make connections between the different groups and how they relied on and adapted to the natural environment.

1. Claudia Chavez
Final Lesson Plan
Overview: This lesson plan is intended to be the final part in learning about the California Gold
Rush. This will help to seal the knowledge students will acquire about the Gold Rush. Students
will have a field trip in the Desert Adventures (http://red-jeep.com/). They will take the Pioneer
Adventures and Indian Culture Journey as presented in the Desert Adventures.
California Standard(s):
4.3.3 Analyze the effects of the Gold Rush on the settlements, daily life, and the physical
environment.
4.4.2 Explain how the Gold Rush transformed the economy of California, including the types of
products produced and consumed, changes in towns, and economic conflicts between diverse
groups of people.
4.2.1Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their geographic distribution, economic
activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the
physical environment by cultivation of land and use of sea resources.
National Geographic Standard(s):
12. The process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
General Objectives:
Students will be able to have a better understanding of the Gold Rush.
Students will be able to see the structure, economy of settlements during the Gold Rush.
Students will be able to experience the life during the Gold Rush.
Students will be able to experience the ways of the Cahuilla Indians.
Students will be able to contrast both cultures in terms of town structure and the use of
natural resources.
Time of session: 2 entire school days.
Materials: Comfortable walking shoes, sun block, water, lunch. Disposable camera.
Process: Students will take the field trip Indian Cultural Adventure. This fieldtrip will teach
them the “customs, ceremonies, and everyday lives of the Cahuilla Indians in a historically
accurate replica Cahuilla Village (http://red-jeep.com/). The trip will continue in a natural palm
oasis, where students will learn why Cahuilla Indians chose that location and how they managed

2. to survive. The next day, they will take the fieldtrip Pioneer Adventures. They will learn why
early pioneers migrated to the desert. They will experience the desert life during the California
Gold Rush. They will see a telegraph office, stagecoach office, mercantile, assay office and a
town jail. They will be able to pan for gold like the early pioneers did. “The naturalist guide
describes how miners and prospectors coped with the extreme climate, primitive living
conditions, and back-breaking business of prospecting, mining, and extracting gold from ore.
After the Mining Camp, the student will go in a short-nature-walk to a pioneer homestead,
depicting life on the frontier for early pioneer families” (http://red-jeep.com/).
Closure: During the third day, students will have a class discussion about their trips. Depending
on class size, students will do group or individual presentations about the differences of the two
cultures. The presentation will also include their understandings of the Gold Rush.
Student evaluation: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the Gold Rush during
their presentations. They will be graded on the facts they provide about the Gold Rush, the
creativity used in their presentation aids, the depth of thought when they discuss the Gold Rush,
the points they make about the Cahuilla Village and the Gold Rush town.
A follow-up activity: Students can be assigned a small research written report about a different
Indian group. They should include the place where they resided, the natural resources near them,
specific aspects about the group, and their ways of adaptation to environment. In addition, they
should also include some current facts about them if applicable.