Gold Rush Groceries

Chapter 6 in social studies started with a lesson about entrepreneurs during the Gold Rush.  We learned that entrepreneurs could charge outrageous prices for items. This activity called "Gold Rush Groceries" really nailed down the concept for them

I started by having students bring in grocery ads from the local newspaper.

Next, the students had to fill in their grocery list with items that forty-niners would need.  We talked about how they did not have "Pop Tarts", they had eggs and bread! 

One of my favorite comments from the students while they were doing this was "Mrs DeRitter, they sell PORK LION!" My response "No buddy, that says pork loin" HAHAHA!

Next they found the price for those items and listed it on the worksheet. They then took that price and multiplied it by 10 to show how prices could be inflated. The students were really surprised at how expensive things became! The last step was to add up the total for their groceries. It was fun to see which group had the highest grocery bill!

 Here were some of our top spenders!

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