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Bent's Old Fort National Historic SitePicture of fort in the spring
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Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Curriculum Materials

The lessons below were developed to help students gain an understanding of the people, time and place of Bent’s Old Fort. The lessons can be used for stand alone, in class or pre and post visit of the Fort. History, math, science, geography, reading and writing have been included in the lessons. The activities were developed to meet curriculum standards of grades 4-6. Downloads are available for individual lessons and require Adobe Reader. We would like to hear your comments about the lessons.

Lesson 1 - What I Think I Know [61K PDF]
Goal: The students will complete a pre- assessment activity to establish baseline knowledge that will assist the teacher in planning for the Bent’s Fort connection to Colorado History.

Lesson 2 - The National Parks and You [47K PDF]
Goals: The students will learn what a National Park is and why Bent's Old Fort is part of the National Park System.  They will learn why National Parks are important and what the visitor's responsibilities are.

Lesson 3 - Past Information: How Do We Know? [39K PDF]
Goals: Students will learn how we know about life in the early 1800s when no one is alive from that time period to inform us.

Lesson 4 - Time Travel [166K PDF]
Goal: The students will learn the chronological organization of historical events and people.

Lesson 5 - Map It Up [39K PDF]
Goal: The students will construct maps to locate and derive information about people, places, and environments.

Lesson 6 - Why Do People Move? [37K PDF]
Goal: The students will learn the reasons of why people moved west in the 1800's and make compairisons with today.  

Lesson 7 - Compare and Contrast [37K PDF] Goal: The students discover what diversity is, who the people were and how technology, economics, and science changed over time.

Lesson 8 - Bent’s Fort Mini Book [66K PDF] Goal: The students will learn the history of Bent’s Fort, how it opened up the West to the United States and brought many cultures together.

Lesson 9 - Bent’s Fort: Historical Inquiry [40K PDF]
Goal: Students will learn how to use the processes and resources of historical inquiry.

 
Trapper teaches trapping to the visitors  

Did You Know?
One of the most educated and well traveled men at Bent’s Fort was a humble hunter named Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. This highly regarded Bent employee started out life as the infant son of Sacajawea and accompanied his mother on the famous Lewis and Clark expedition.

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Last Updated: January 12, 2009 at 18:32 EST