Iowa Past to Present Teacher's Guide: Chapter 5 Pioneer Life on the Prairie

Introduction

The first job for the earliest settlers on the Iowa prairie was to build a house. If there was enough wood, they would build a log cabin. Otherwise, they learned how to make a snug sod house. There were few stores where pioneers could buy supplies, so families had to make or grow almost everything they needed. First the pioneers had to break the prairie sod. Then they planted crops to feed the animals that fed the family. Later on, they raised extra crops and animals for sale. Although pioneer life in Iowa was hard, it was not lonely. Farms were close together and a good deal of visiting went on.

Explore the resources on this page to find out more about ideas in the chapter:

• Pathways: Find related articles and make connections with other ideas in Iowa history.
• Artifacts: View related images, videos and more.
• Side Trails: Explore more on this topic on other websites.

Suggested Classroom Resources and Lesson Plans

• Iowa Past to Present Teacher Guide: Chapter 5
• Iowa Pioneer Life, Explorations in Iowa History Project, University of Northern Iowa
• Prairie Voices Curriculum Guide, State Historical Society of Iowa
  • Migration and Interaction
  • Organization and Communities
• Iowa Pathways Quest and Challenges
  The Iowa Pathways Quest and Challenges are a collection of tasks that support students as they make and interpret connections among the people, places, events, and ideas of Iowa. Worksheets that model the thinking and research process are provided, as well as rubrics to aid you and your students.
  • More information about Quest and Challenges
  • Start a Quest or Challenge

Iowa Past to Present Chapter Listing

This online teachers guide was developed as a companion to the textbook Iowa Past to Present: The People and the Prairie (Revised 3rd Ed.); written by Dorothy Schwieder, Thomas Morain, and Lynn Nielsen; published by University of Iowa Press. Select a chapter from the list below to find related content and classroom resources.

• Chapter 1: The Changing Land
• Chapter 2: American Indians, The Earliest People in Iowa
• Chapter 3: Many Flags over Iowa
• Chapter 4: Pioneers on the Prairie
• Chapter 5: Pioneer Life on the Prairie
• Chapter 6: Rivers, Trails, and Train Tracks, Transportation in the 1800s
• Chapter 7: A Nation Divided
• Chapter 8: Settlers from Many Lands
• Chapter 9: Providing a Government
• Chapter 10: Schools for a New State
• Chapter 11: Keeping Faith on the Frontier
• Chapter 12: Experiments in Community Living
• Chapter 13: Life on the Farm—Iowa Style
• Chapter 14: New Inventions Bring Change
• Chapter 15: Business and Industry in Iowa
• Chapter 16: Word War I and Hard Times After
• Chapter 17: Depression, Changing Times, and World War II
• Chapter 18: A Time of Many Changes
• Chapter 19: Iowa in the World