California: Becoming an Economic Power

Visual learners will enjoy primary documents like political cartoons, old photos, and advertisements designed to attract newcomers to California.

Let’s not forget agriculture. Kids come to appreciate that the state’s fertile valleys made a natural home for large farms, while the warmth and sunshine in much of the state made it possible to farm year-round. Thanks to the development of refrigerated rail cars, farmers could sell their produce in the East… as long as there was enough water to support the crops. As the farming industry grew in California, so did the need for water. Here, kids delve into the various ways people addressed the need for water, including inventions, levees, and dams. On their trip through time, kids also learn that California was no stranger to the hard times of the Great Depression. But with hard times came great achievements like the Golden Gate Bridge, a project they can be proud of. Kids will also want to dive into the facts and eyewitness accounts of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. But little will captivate them more than discovering the origins of the California they know now – oil, automobiles, and big tech; Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and aerospace. It’s all here for the taking.