Colorado History: 20th Century
Grade Level: 4th Grade
Subject: Social Studies
Time Frame: 8 weeks (April/May)
​
Big Understandings
​
- analyze primary and secondary sources from multiple points of view to develop an understanding of the history of Colorado
- the historic eras, individuals, groups, ideas, and themes in Colorado history and their relationship to key events in the United States within the same historical period
- connections are developed within and across human and physical systems
- people respond to positive and negative incentives
- the origins, structures, and functions of the Colorado government
​
Essential Questions
​
- how have past events influenced present-day Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region?
- why is it important to know the sequence of events and people in Colorado history?
- how can primary sources help us learn about the past or create more questions about our state's history?
- what social and economic decisions caused people to locate in various regions of Colorado?
- in what ways have geographic, economic, cultural, and technological changes influenced Colorado today?
- Why did people of various cultures migrate to and settle in Colorado?
- How have various individuals, groups, and ideas affected the development of Colorado?
- what physical characteristics led various cultural groups to select the places they did for settlement in Colorado?
- how did Colorado settlers alter their environment to facilitate communication and transportation?
- how does the physical environment affect human activity?
- how does human activity affect the environment?
- why are different good and services important at different times in Colorado's history?
- how have science and technology changed the economy of Colorado?
- how have natural, human, and capital resources had both positive and negative impacts on the development of Colorado?
- to what extent were various individuals and organizations in the state important in the development of Colorado's government?
​
​
By the end of the unit, students will be able to:
​
- draw inferences about Colorado history from primary sources such as journals, diaries, maps, etc.
- identify cause-and-effect relationships using primary sources to understand the history of Colorado's development
- explain, through multiple perspectives, the cause-and-effect relationships in the human interactions among people and cultures that have lived in or migrated to Colorado (American Indians, Spanish, explorers, trappers/traders, and settlers after westward expansion
- identify and describe how major political and cultural groups have affected the development of the region
- construct a timeline of the major events in Colorado history
- explain the relationship between major events in Colorado history and events in United States history during the same era
- describe both past and present interactions among the people and cultures in Colorado (American Indians, Spanish explorers, trappers/traders, and settlers after westward expansion)
- describe the impact of various technological developments (changes in mining technologies, transportation, early 20th century industrial developments, and mid- to late- 20th century nuclear, and computer technologies)
- describe how the physical environment provides opportunities for and places constraints on human activity
- explain how physical environments influenced and limited immigration into the state
- analyze how people use geographic factors in creating settlements and have adapted to and modified the local physical environment
- describe how places in Colorado are connected by movement of goods, services, and technology
- give examples of the kinds of goods and services produced in Colorado in different historical periods and their connection to economic incentives
- explain how productive resources (natural, human, and capital) have influenced the types of goods produced and services provided in Colorado
- explain the historical foundation and events that led to the Colorado Constitution and the formation of the three branches of Colorado government
​
Topics:
​
- women's suffrage
- Colorado unions
- Ludlow Massacre
- WWI
- The Great Depression - Dust Bowl
- WWII- Camp Amache
- Civil Rights Movement
​
Standards
SS.4.1.1
SS.4.1.2
SS.4.2.2
SS.4.3.1
SS.4.4.2