Question REVIEW

1. How did the Homestead Act help settle the west?

a. By giving free land to citizens b. By providing jobs c. By building cities d. By creating a new form of transportation a. Their vacation was over. b. They gave up during the difficult trip. c. They missed their families. d. They wanted better food. a. 80 acres and $5 b. 120 acres and $10 c. 160 acres and $10 d. 200 acres and $20

2. Why did some homesteaders return to their cities?

3. How much land could people claim under the Homestead Act, and how much did they have to pay?

4. What two names were given to people who claimed land under the Homestead Act?

5. List three things the pioneers had to do once they arrived on their new land.

Homes For The Homesteaders

When the pioneers reached their land in the western part of the U.S., they had many choices of how to build their new homes. This chart shows some types of homes they built. Look at the chart and answer the questions below.

TYPE OF HOME DESCRIPTION MATERIALS USED

Log cabin

Sod house a. Adobe house b. Sod house c. Dugout d. Stone house

A small house made of logs, which were easy to find and cut down. A log cabin was good at keeping the cold out but could easily burn down in a fire.

A house made of blocks of dirt and grass, which were easy to find on the homesteaded land. A sod house gave good protection against the wind but was often damp.

1. Which of these houses was the strongest?

Trees (wood) a. Wood b. Dirt c. Stones d. Mud

2. Which material was used to build a log cabin?

Dugout

Stone house

Adobe house

A house dug into the side of a hill or into the ground. A dugout stayed warm in the winter and cool in the summer but was often damp.

A strong house made of stones, which were difficult to find and had to be cut and fit together. A stone house was expensive and took time to build.

A house made of mud bricks that were dried in the sun. An adobe house was good at protecting against cold in the winter and heat in the summer.

Dirt, grass, and sometimes wood

Dirt, and sometimes wood

Stone and mortar a. It was expensive. b. It was damp. c. It could easily burn down. d. It was affected by the wind. a. It was damp. b. It was cold in the winter.

3. What was one disadvantage of building a sod house?

4. What was one advantage of building a sod house?

Mud and straw c. It was made of materials that were easy to find. d. It was strong.

▸ The state of Alaska is closer to Russia and Canada than it is to the rest of the United States.

Did you know?

• 17 of the 20 highest mountains in North America are in Alaska.

• There are more than 3 million lakes and over 6,000 rivers in Alaska.

▸ Fur trappers are people who hunt animals to sell their fur.

▸ Thousands of people came to search for gold