The Big Idea Activity

How does technology change people’s lives?

Role-Play a Person in California History

  California Standard 4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California. California Standard 4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development since the 1850s. California Standard 4.5 Students understand the structures, functions, and powers of the local, state, and federal governments as described in the U.S. Constitution.

Students working on activity

Teaching Tips

Each student will role-play as a famous person from California History.

Additional Links

Go to this Web site for more background on former Governor Hiram Johnson and the Progressive Party.

More information about Johnson.


Chinatown

  California Standard 4.4.4 Describe rapid American immigration, internal migration, settlement, and the growth of towns and cities (e.g., Los Angeles).

Chinatown

Teaching Tips

You may want to explain to students that Chinatown possesses a long, rich history. This Web site describes the effect of the San Francisco Earthquake on Chinatown.


Luther Burbank

  California Standard 4.4.6 Describe the development and locations of new industries since the turn of the century, such as the aerospace industry, electronics industry, large-scale commercial agriculture and irrigation projects, the oil and [MORE]

Daisy

Teaching Tips

Explain to students that plant science technology revolutionized the way that Americans farmed on a huge scale and grew plants on a small scale. Luther Burbank was the world's leading plant scientist during his life.

 

Josefina Fierro de Bright

  California Standard 4.4.5 Discuss the effects of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and World War II on California.

Camp

Teaching Tips

A historical perspective on de Bright from a book review.



 

Surburban Life in the 1950s

  California Standard 4.4.4 Describe rapid American immigration, internal migration, settlement, and the growth of towns and cities (e.g., Los Angeles).

Jukebox

Additional Links

Explore a resource covering 20th century: 1950-1959 Decade, including The Fifties: The Golden Age of television and The Music of the Fifties.