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Showing 20 results for cowboys ...
Gateway Arch National Park
Cowboys Traveling Trunk
- Type: Traveling Trunk
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
In this traveling trunk, students will learn about the experiences of nineteenth century cowboys and the story of Nat Love, a famous cowboy who had many adventures on the trails and rails of the American West.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Cowboy Gear Traveling Trunk
- Type: Traveling Trunk
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
This trunk will bring the historic cowboy to life in your classroom.Each trunk contains period photographs, reproduction clothing, and a teacher's guide with grade-specific activities.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
CSI: Cowboy Scene Investigation
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS is home to about 50,000 historic artifacts. From branding irons to saddles and cowboy boots, each one is a physical connection to the cowboy story preserved here. But some of the collection’s artifacts are more mysterious than the cowboy gear we expect. What can these artifacts tell us about past life on a cattle ranch? This lesson invites students to explore artifacts from the museum collection and analyze them to uncover the hidden lives of the ranch’s past residents.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Cowboy Gear: 3rd - 4th Grade
- Type: Guest Speakers
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Cowboys on the open range needed tools to do the job, like most workers. Explore the essential tools and gear needed for a cowboy, and the history behind them.
Niobrara National Scenic River
Cows in the Campground
- Type: Student Activities
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
By exploring the community of the Niobrara valley students will develop an understanding of the significance of development and its hand in hand existence with preservation of a natural resource students will: understand the interrelationships contained in the river system and write a descriptive essay, Two alternative essay assignments are also included.
Cowpens National Battlefield
Come on out to the Cow Pens!
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
The lesson will involve studying the Cowpens National Battlefield and the history behind it. Students will artistically create a brochure either on the computer or paper. The brochure will advertise the Park and give pertinent information as well as being visually appealing.
Niobrara National Scenic River
Cows in the Campground - Pre-Visit Writing Activity
- Type: Field Trips
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Students will read about the community of the Niobrara Valley prior to their field trip to develop an understanding of the significance of development and its co-existence with preservation of a natural resource. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the interrelationships contained in the river system by writing a descriptive essay based on an essay prompt of their choice.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Skills and Survival
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
By 1900, the cowboy’s world was changing. Gone were the days of trailing cattle as homesteaders claimed the vast public lands. Cowboys were confined to fenced-in ranches, where they were expected to do additional tasks to keep the ranch going. This lesson invites students to explore how cowboys used Grant-Kohrs Ranch’s repair shop to learn new skills and how learning helped them overcome change.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Bison Life Cycle
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Bison cow and calf
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Experience Grant-Kohrs Ranch
- Type: Field Trips
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Programs may be available on topics such as pioneer life, the Open Range cattle era, the cowboy, the chuck wagon, blacksmithing, livestock and much more.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Chuckwagon Flip the Story
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
The chuck wagon was an essential part of the success of cattle ranching in the American West. Chuck wagons were the mobile kitchens, a headquarters for communications between members of the unit, and the “house” for cowboys to return to for meals and sleeping while on cattle drives and roundups. The cook, or “cookie,” oversaw the wagon and all the necessities of life which the wagon provided to the cowboys. In this lesson, students will explore information about the cook and the various jobs
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
Wheat Honeys advertisement. The Left side features a bumble bee holding a gun in each hand and wearing a cowboy hat. The right side features a rocket mid-launch.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Replace or Repurpose?
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
The ability to work metal was a critical skill in the late 1800s American West. Local blacksmiths provided the metal tools and objects people used every day. But this skill became more important among cowboys during the Great Depression of the 1930s. As ranches struggled to earn money to survive, metal’s ability to be repaired and reshaped into new tools gained importance. This lesson invites students to step into the minds of cowboys living during the Great Depression and repurposing items.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Reading for Rustlers
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Lower Elementary: Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade
During the Open Range Cattle Era of the late 1800s, one of the most valued cowboy skills involved reading. Cattle brands, or hot irons used to mark cattle ownership, were the only way to tell whose cattle belonged to who on the open range. In this lesson, students will learn how to “read” the mysterious symbols used on cattle brands. They will also take on the role of cowboys and use their brand reading skills to find cattle thieves, called rustlers.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Cattle Drives and Roundups
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
The Open Range Cattle Era helped to shape life in the American West during the late 19th century, lasting from about 1866-1900. Ranching activities are defined by the seasons of the year and the life cycles of the livestock. For cattle ranchers in the Open Range Cattle Era, two practices became routine for cowboys, the cattle drive and the roundup. In this lesson, students will learn about cattle drives and roundups, what they were and their importance to the Open Range Cattle Era.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Who Was a Blacksmith?
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
The blacksmith was an essential member of a 19th century community. Before there were factories to make iron tools and objects, the blacksmith filled this role. To become a blacksmith involved years as an apprentice and hard work learning the skills needed to build, fix or repair things made from iron. Blacksmiths worked on the metal rims for wheels on wagons, tools, and other items used in homes or on equipment. After 1900, the profession of blacksmithing declined as factories filled this need.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Photo Explorer: The Past comes to Life: 2nd - 3rd grade
- Type: Guest Speakers
- Grade Levels: Lower Elementary: Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade
What can you learn by looking at photos from the past? What will photos from today tell people in the future? By exploring photos from the Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS photo collection, students will learn about what life was like for the people who lived on the ranch in the past and connect the past to their modern lives.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Dots, Dashes and Deliveries: 5th - 6th grade
- Type: Guest Speakers
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
Communication on the American Frontier was challenging to say the least. From freight services to the short-lived Pony Express and the telegraph, students will learn about the various ways people living in the American West sent messages and letters to stay in touch with family and friends back East.
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Intercultural Kinship
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Lewis Garrard's ten-month journey on the Santa Fe Trail put him in contact with a variety of southwestern cultures. This lesson offers a chance to reflect on how family unions across cultures both helped and hindered successful operation of the Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. during the 1840s.
Gateway Arch National Park
African Americans of the West Traveling Trunk
- Type: Traveling Trunk
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
James Nash was an African American explorer who traveled through the West in the nineteenth century. Learn about Nash's life experiences and his most cherished possessions and memories with this traveling trunk.