All About California Unit for Fourth Grade
California History is the social studies focus for fourth graders in California. Growing up in Wisconsin, I learned about Wisconsin history so this unit was almost entirely new information to me as well. We had so much fun exploring the diverse geography, history and people of California.
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California Basic Facts
I used CALIFORNIA HISTORY FOR KIDS as the foundation for our study of California history this year. It covers California history from Natives and Early Explorers through modern issues like forest fires and pollution. It felt a lot less textbook like to read together than other options that I looked at and had some fun activities to do along the way.
My fourth graders also did a page in a California Dailies Workbook each week that helped to cover some of the basic facts, dates, and such we might have missed otherwise.
California Geography
California is one of the most diverse states in the United States. It has coastal areas, farmlands, mountains, and deserts. Helping my kids appreciate that diversity was a big goal this year and we visited each of these areas this year.
- Did Minecraft STEM Labs activities about maps, ecosystems, and city planning.
- Used California Region and State Pages from This Reading Mama state pack.
Coastal Region of California
- Visited Torrey Pines
- Took a field trip to see the La Jolla Sea Lions and learned more about sea lions with Good and Beautiful Marine Biology unit.
- Read: THE TREE LADY: THE TRUE STORY OF HOW ONE TREE-LOVING WOMAN CHANGED A CITY FOREVER by Joseph H. Hopkins
Desert Region of California
- visit Joshua Tree National Park. Visiting Death Valley National Park or Anza Borrego State Park would also be great choices.
- Visited the Balboa Cactus Garden and California Plant Garden at Balboa Park.
- Watch: Magic School Bus Dries Up and do activities on Scholastic
Forest/Mountain Region of California
- Visited Sequoia & King Canyon National Parks.
- Took weekly hikes at Mount Laguna in the Cleveland National Forest an hour from San Diego.
- Learned about Forest Fires
Farm Region of California
- I wish we could have visited Napa or a larger farming area, but we did visit an orange farm.
- We learned about what is grown in California and cooked with avocadoes and lemons.
California National Parks
California has some incredible National Parks and Fourth Grade is also the year that you can get a free National Park Pass for the whole family. Visiting the different California National Parks is an excellent way to support learning about California Geography and deepen your nature studies for the year.
Read: The Camping Trip That Changed America about Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir by Barb Rosenstock
Cabrillo National Monument
California History
We started the year by creating a huge timeline that we added to throughout the year as we traveled through time. Then we went chronologically through California history starting with Native Californians.
1500s – Early California History
Native Californians – We learned about tribes native to Southern California. This was a fun unit with lots of history and geography, but also art activities, awesome read alouds and more. READ FULL UNIT POST
Juan Cabrillo – read about him in our CA History book and then visited Cabrillo National park.
1700s – Spanish Missions
Father Junipero Serra founds the first California mission in San Diego. We visited the local Mission Basilica SD De Alcala. Then later in the year we went to Mission San Juan Capistrano in Oceanside. It is a bigger, beautiful mission with a free audio tour with admission. You could visit any of the other 21 California Missions up and down the coast of California.
1800s – Wars and Explorers
In 1821 Mexico gained independence from Spain and the Missions ended. This is a brief period before explorers start heading westward from the United States on the East coast. This led to the 1846-1948 Mexican-American War and then soon after the Gold Rush and statehood. This portion of history comes to life at Old Town San Diego.
Old Town San Diego represents life in the Mexican and early American periods of 1821 to 1872. It is a wonderful spot for a field trip with plenty of hands on activities and experiences. You can learn more about Old Town San Diego State Park on the CA State Park site. Girl Scouts San Diego also has a fun scavenger hunt (that can earn you a patch if you are in fact a Girl Scout) for Old Town San Diego.
Gold Rush, Telegraph, Pony Express, Transcontinental Railroad & Statehood
In 1848, James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill and California’s path changed forever. As the Gold Rush began and people flocked to the west coast in search of fortune, statehood wasn’t far behind. California became the 31st state in 1850.
- Pan for gold, if you’re in the San Diego area you can do this at Old Town State Park and in Julian CA
- Read What Was the Goldrush
- Play Oregon Trail Card Game
- Built model covered wagons
What followed was a burst of development. The development of new forms of communication and transportation played a large part of these transformations.
- Read: Ride On, Will Cody!: A Legend of the Pony Express by Caroline Starr Rose to learn about the Pony Express.
- In 1861, telegraph messages began to reach California. Write notes to each other using Morse Code. Here are some more related activities from Education.com
Then in 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad was completed.
- Read Locomotive
- Cook food from The US History Cookbook. We made a Coast to Coast Apple Pie.
1900s: San Francisco
If you can visit San Francisco, it is such a fun city for families. Here’s a peek at our 48 hours in San Francisco during our California Road Trip.
Learn about the Golden Gate bridge and the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco. We read What Was the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 to dive in more deeply about the Earthquake and how it shaped the state.
- Earthquake math place value activity from Orison Orchards
- Earthquake videos ( 1906 Earthquake – Why Do Buildings Fall in Earthquakes – Why Are Earthquakes so Hard to Predict )
- I used this free Earthquake worksheet to assess what my kids learned and document for their portfolios.
Movies & Film in California
1927 First movie with sound created. Film Capitol established.
- Visit Hollywood, Disneyland or Universal Studios if you are able.
- Read Who Was Walt Disney?
- Watched Imagineers docuseries on Disney+
- Read about Disney and history of movies in CA in California History for Kids
1941 World War II
- Visit Unconditional Surrender Statue and USS Midway
- Read On The Horizon by Lois Lowry
- Japanese Internment Camps which was included in our Japan Unit
Immigration
1965 Immigration increases with new laws
- Read: Between Us and Abuela
- Read: Santiago’s Way Home
Final Project
At the end of the Spring, each of my kids picked one topic from California History they were most interested in and created a presentation on it. They needed to explain the topic (how it was invented, the general history of it) and then explain how it impacted California History. My son did his on the Transcontinental Railroad and my daughter did hers on Disney and Film.
