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Culminating Activity
Step 1. Tell your students they will get a better idea of a homesteader's life by looking at one more Web site. Provide your students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, asking them to log on to the "Do You Have What It Takes to Be A Pioneer?" Quiz at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/multimedia/interactive.html , and to answer the questions honestly. Once they answer the questions, students should receive their rating and read the information about homestead life.
Step 2. Allow your students to complete the activity. Ask your students to raise their hands if they were ranked a) a Perfect Pioneer, b) a Fair-Weather Frontier Person, c) a Hapless Homesteader, or d) a City Slicker.
Step 3. Ask your students if any of them would want to be a homesteader after learning the information presented in the quiz answers. Why or why not? Has the information about homesteaders made any of the students change their minds about the proposed trip to XR-38? Why?
Assessment
As an assessment activity, ask your students to write a short essay detailing the requirements of the Homestead Act, and whether or not they believe the available land was "free." What challenges did homesteaders face? Encourage students to include information and examples from the class discussions and Web investigation.
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