School experiences at Living History Farms support and enrich Iowa Academic Standards. While our primary focus is on social studies and history, our content addresses many subject areas. By connecting your experiences here to the Iowa Core in the classroom, you will make the most effective use of the time you spend with us.
1700 Ioway Farm | 1850 Pioneer Farm | 1900 Horse-Powered Farm | 1876 town of Walnut Hill |
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Students will learn how the land shaped lives in the past and compare them to our life today.
TOWN: Students will explore spaces for work, home, school, and fun in our 1876 town and compare them to spaces today.
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Each farm represents a distinct community and culture. Inhabitants produced farm products for larger groups. How did they raise crops and livestock? How did that change or stay the same over time?
TOWN: How are communities in the past similar to, and different from, communities today? Students will learn how townspeople were connected to the larger world. They will visit tradespeople in Walnut Hill to learn about goods and services they provided.
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Students will learn what choices farmers faced about the use of the natural resources and how every choice had a consequence.
TOWN: Students will learn about the jobs people did in a rural community. Jobs consume resources. How did the people who worked and lived in 1876 make choices about what to do?
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Students will learn how and why people moved throughout history. The Ioway were mobile. Pioneers moved from somewhere else. The farm family in 1900 was part of a larger farm community. The food and products these farm families produced also moved. How did the Ioway get metal tools? Where did the pioneer family purchase a plow? How did the farm family in 1900 sell their livestock?
TOWN: People continually moved into and out of Iowa towns like Walnut Hill. Why? Where did families like the Flynns and Tangens come from? Goods and products these people made also went somewhere. Where, how, and why? How did businesses like the General Store, Drug Store and Implement Dealer get products to sell?
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Students will learn about the origins of their food as they travel through 300 years of farm history. They will also learn about work that must be done to raise crops and livestock for food, and how that work has changed over time.
TOWN: Like us today, townspeople in 1876 went to work and school, lived in homes, and played games. But change was all around them. The Industrial Revolution brought countless changes to daily life. Students explore these changes and how life continued, adapted, and responded.
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Every family member had a responsibility on the farm. Students will learn about children’s responsibilities. They will also learn how farmers throughout history have tried to be good stewards of the land by using the information available to them to make the most of the resources around them.
TOWN: Students will explore the rights of townspeople in the past. Who could vote? Who could own land? Were children required to go to school? Students will also learn how tradespeople produced goods, and how those goods were distributed.
STANDARDS:
FARMS: People who farmed and lived in Iowa in the past were connected to the larger world. Students will learn how these connections influenced and changed lives. They will also learn how Iowa’s unique physical characteristics played a huge role in how people lived.
TOWN: Connections to the larger world are all around the 1876 town of Walnut Hill. Students will learn about these connections and their impact on daily life.
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Students will explore the challenges faced by people in three different time periods, and how those people responded. They will search for examples of migration at the 1700, 1850, and 1900 farms. They will also explore the challenge of raising food to feed people.
TOWN: Students will learn how globalization affected the townspeople of 1876. Examples of a global economy are present in every building in town.
STANDARDS:
FARMS: Students will learn about the role of government in agriculture. In 1700, how did the Ioway govern themselves? In 1850, what role did government have in settling Iowa? In 1900, how did government affect the daily lives of farm families?
TOWN: Students will learn about local, county, state, and national government, and the role townspeople played at each level. How did government affect the daily lives of these townspeople?
Customize your visit! We can match your learning objective to the tour, whether it is U.S. government, history, economics, or another course.
The best learning is:
Email Living History Farms’ Education Department at education@lhf.org if you have questions on how these programs fit into other areas of the Iowa Core Curriculum.