Collaborative Problem-Solving with Research
Click on the links in blue to see what we've created!!!
Day 1. Getting ready for our journey west - We have money, but we don't know what to buy for our trip west. Check out our Solvr page to see our thought process and research.
Day 2. After our first day of traveling, we managed to go 60 miles! Unfortunately, our oxen are exhausted. What should we do? How do we avoid this problem in the future? See what students suggested on our Today's Meet discussion thread.
Day 3. We see so many people in wagons leaving their homes and traveling on the Oregon Trail. Why are all of these people moving west? Find out here.
Day 4. We discovered that it was hard to find reasons why people moved west, so we completed a History Alive chapter that helped us learn more about what was happening in this time period in the United States. We added more information to our Today's Meet from yesterday.
Day 5. We encountered hostile Native Americans who demanded that we pay a toll before continuing on the Oregon Trail. We researched what to do and posted our suggestions here. It also has our final decision.
Day 6. We have made it to the Platte River, but need to find a way to cross. We researched what the pioneers did and made a decision here. We also participated in a quick poll regarding what part of this simulation has been their favorite part so far.
Day 7. One of our members, Dutch Vermont, is severely sick. No one knows what is wrong with him, but he has a high fever and is unable to continue on without medicine. Unfortunately, our doctor has not been able to treat him and our medicines have not worked. Fortunately, a snake oil salesman has approached us and offered us snake oil medicine for $200 (or two doses for $300). Here is our discussion on what we decided to do.
Day 8. Our friends arrived back from Fort Kearney with medicine for Dutch. They also bought another barrel of flour to replace what we lost when crossing the Platte River. We will see how Dutch feels soon - the medicine should begin working by tomorrow. Meanwhile, we are soooooo bored! We need to research what pioneers did while walking the Oregon Trail. Look here to see what we learned. We also listened to an audio podcast of a radio show regarding the games that children played in the west. The podcast also sang some songs for us. See all of that here.
Day 9. Today, we passed Courthouse Rock and Chimney Rock, which are amazing geologic features!!! Check out our pictures on the Tableaux Vivants page! We experienced a water shortage, however. Here is our group discussion on the topic. We ended up having to take a couple extra days to search for water, and of course, we used one of the tricks we learned on Mars!
Day 10. We are on our way to Scott's Bluff, NE. Today we experienced two problems while traveling: (1) we have not been able to find any firewood for our fires at night, and (2) several of us (10) have gotten blisters on our feet from climbing the rough terrain. Here is our discussion of what we did to solve our problems.
Day 11. Today we stopped at Fort Laramie, and to our surprise there were hundreds of people there! Mexicanos, Mormons, Nez Perce, 49ers, and Chinese Immigrants were all congregating at the fort. We found out that they were all there because they were trying to create a Constitution that helped protect the rights of those who owned land. We learned that the Native Americans had their land taken away by people who moved into the west. We studied our History Alive Chapter 17 to help us learn more about these groups of people.
Day 12. As we were leaving Fort Laramie we encountered hundreds of rattlesnakes. Jose Leonardo has gotten bitten in the ankle. Here is what we researched that pioneers did in this instance (and what we decided).
Day 13. Two of our pioneers died from cholera (Christine Dupont and Sophia Castro). They were not attended to quickly enough. We learned the importance of making decisions quickly when necessary and accepting the consequences afterwards.
Day 14. We have reached the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains, but unfortunately a huge storm is brewing! We need to find shelter so that our animals are not spooked. We also want to avoid hail, lightning, and damaging winds. Here is our discussion.
Day 15. We need to repair some broken wagons from the storm and a recent collision. The mosquitos are starting to drive us crazy! Here's what we decided to do!
Day 16. We received a Skype call from 2112 letting us know that they've figured out how to bring us back from the past. Most of us took them up on their offer to return to our families and friends, but a few of us decided to stay in 1848 and try out farming in Oregon (if they ever manage to get there!).
Day 1. Getting ready for our journey west - We have money, but we don't know what to buy for our trip west. Check out our Solvr page to see our thought process and research.
Day 2. After our first day of traveling, we managed to go 60 miles! Unfortunately, our oxen are exhausted. What should we do? How do we avoid this problem in the future? See what students suggested on our Today's Meet discussion thread.
Day 3. We see so many people in wagons leaving their homes and traveling on the Oregon Trail. Why are all of these people moving west? Find out here.
Day 4. We discovered that it was hard to find reasons why people moved west, so we completed a History Alive chapter that helped us learn more about what was happening in this time period in the United States. We added more information to our Today's Meet from yesterday.
Day 5. We encountered hostile Native Americans who demanded that we pay a toll before continuing on the Oregon Trail. We researched what to do and posted our suggestions here. It also has our final decision.
Day 6. We have made it to the Platte River, but need to find a way to cross. We researched what the pioneers did and made a decision here. We also participated in a quick poll regarding what part of this simulation has been their favorite part so far.
Day 7. One of our members, Dutch Vermont, is severely sick. No one knows what is wrong with him, but he has a high fever and is unable to continue on without medicine. Unfortunately, our doctor has not been able to treat him and our medicines have not worked. Fortunately, a snake oil salesman has approached us and offered us snake oil medicine for $200 (or two doses for $300). Here is our discussion on what we decided to do.
Day 8. Our friends arrived back from Fort Kearney with medicine for Dutch. They also bought another barrel of flour to replace what we lost when crossing the Platte River. We will see how Dutch feels soon - the medicine should begin working by tomorrow. Meanwhile, we are soooooo bored! We need to research what pioneers did while walking the Oregon Trail. Look here to see what we learned. We also listened to an audio podcast of a radio show regarding the games that children played in the west. The podcast also sang some songs for us. See all of that here.
Day 9. Today, we passed Courthouse Rock and Chimney Rock, which are amazing geologic features!!! Check out our pictures on the Tableaux Vivants page! We experienced a water shortage, however. Here is our group discussion on the topic. We ended up having to take a couple extra days to search for water, and of course, we used one of the tricks we learned on Mars!
Day 10. We are on our way to Scott's Bluff, NE. Today we experienced two problems while traveling: (1) we have not been able to find any firewood for our fires at night, and (2) several of us (10) have gotten blisters on our feet from climbing the rough terrain. Here is our discussion of what we did to solve our problems.
Day 11. Today we stopped at Fort Laramie, and to our surprise there were hundreds of people there! Mexicanos, Mormons, Nez Perce, 49ers, and Chinese Immigrants were all congregating at the fort. We found out that they were all there because they were trying to create a Constitution that helped protect the rights of those who owned land. We learned that the Native Americans had their land taken away by people who moved into the west. We studied our History Alive Chapter 17 to help us learn more about these groups of people.
Day 12. As we were leaving Fort Laramie we encountered hundreds of rattlesnakes. Jose Leonardo has gotten bitten in the ankle. Here is what we researched that pioneers did in this instance (and what we decided).
Day 13. Two of our pioneers died from cholera (Christine Dupont and Sophia Castro). They were not attended to quickly enough. We learned the importance of making decisions quickly when necessary and accepting the consequences afterwards.
Day 14. We have reached the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains, but unfortunately a huge storm is brewing! We need to find shelter so that our animals are not spooked. We also want to avoid hail, lightning, and damaging winds. Here is our discussion.
Day 15. We need to repair some broken wagons from the storm and a recent collision. The mosquitos are starting to drive us crazy! Here's what we decided to do!
Day 16. We received a Skype call from 2112 letting us know that they've figured out how to bring us back from the past. Most of us took them up on their offer to return to our families and friends, but a few of us decided to stay in 1848 and try out farming in Oregon (if they ever manage to get there!).
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