Goldtown Adventures Online
The activities on this page supplement the Goldtown Adventures Enrichment Guide (six books). Page numbers are included to show where in the guide the links to these activities are found. Enjoy these activities alone or with the print or instant download >
🔎 Jump to a Book’s Activities
1- Badge of Honor
Badge of Honor Chapters 1-4
Page 11 – Panning for Gold. This fun, two-and-a-half minute video shows our family panning for gold in Stockton Creek near Mariposa, California. Mariposa is not far from the fictional town of Goldtown.
Badge of Honor Chapters 5-8
Page 16 – “Californio.” This fun, one-and-a-half minute video highlights the song “Californio, singing how they went around the Horn to find plenty of gold in California.
Badge of Honor Chapters 9-13
Page 18 – “Oh, California,” a Gold Rush Song. The gold miners changed many of the words from Stephen Foster’s popular song, “Oh! Susannah,” which was published in 1848 and became one of the most popular American songs ever written. For example, the original song starts out “I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee” instead of “I come from [pick a place] with a washbowl (or wash pan) on my knee.”
Page 18 – Turkey Sounds. How many distinct turkey calls can you hear in this 2-minute video?
Badge of Honor Chapters 9-13
Page 20 – Stamp Mill. Watch how a real old-time stamp mill worked to crush gold ore. This is a five-stamp mill, which is relatively small. Some stamp mills might have twenty stamps!
Badge of Honor Chapters 14-18
Page 26 – Riding the Flume. This is a fun scene showing a working log flume. The scene is taken from one of my all-time favorite shows, the 1967 Disney movie, Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar.
Badge of Honor Chapters 14-18
Page 29 – Colt Revolver. This 3-minute video shows how to load and shoot an 1851 Colt revolver, similar to the one Sheriff Coulter used in the book. Watch the video as many times as you need to help you fill in the steps for this activity.
2- Tunnel of Gold
Tunnel of Gold Chapters 5-8
Page 41 – Gold Rocker. Watch this 30-second video showing how to use a rocker (also called a cradle) to separate gold from dirt and gravel. After using a rocker, a gold pan is often used for the finetuning separation.
Tunnel of Gold Chapters 5-8
Page 43 – Branding Calves. Here’s your chance to see how cowboys brand a calf with a hot iron (2 minutes).
Tunnel of Gold Chapters 5-8
Page 57 – The Great Railroad Race. The transcontinental railroad is explained in this fun, two-minute video. Then scroll down to play the interactive game.
Page 57 – The Great Railroad Race. Follow along as the transcontinental railroad is built. Click the image to start the “race.”
3- Canyon of Danger
Canyon of Danger Chapters 6-10
Page 68 – Henry Rifle. Watch this fellow load and shoot his 1860 Henry rifle. Can you see the used cartridges pop out of the rifle when he cocks to get ready for the next shot?
Canyon of Danger Chapters 6-10
Page 72 – Chinese Writing. In this fun, 3-minute video, you will learn how the Chinese came up with the characters they use in writing and why they look the way they do.
4- River of Peril
River of Peril Chapters 1-4
Page 92 – Stagecoach Travel. Watch this one-minute video of authentic stagecoach travel, just like the stage Pa, Aunt Rose, Jem, Nathan, and Ellie rode on their way to Sacramento.
River of Peril Chapters 5-9
Page 97 – Steamboat Whistle. Listen to the low, deep sound a paddle-wheel steamboat makes.
River of Peril Chapters 15-18
Page 110 – Steamboat Dinghy. Black Boots and his companions steamed away in a sidewheeler dinghy. Here’s what it might have looked like and how it works (1 minute).
River of Peril Chapters 15-18
Page 110 – French Lesson. Have fun with a free French lesson about colors and simple objects and hear how Henri might have spoken his native tongue. (1.5 min.)
River of Peril Chapters 15-18
Page 112 – The Arabia’s Paddlewheel. Watch the 1856 steamer Arabia’s reconstructed paddlewheel in action (20 seconds).
River of Peril Chapters 15-18
Page 112 – The Arabia. Learn the story behind the Arabia by clicking the image. You can even take a virtual tour of the rediscovered steamboat that sank in 1856.
River of Peril Chapters 15-18
Page 113 – Your model paddle-wheel boat should work something like this in water.
5- Valley of Treasure
Valley of Treasure Chapters 1-4
Page 116 – The cannon in this video is just like the one Gruber and the other miners shot off during Goldtown’s celebration. It could shoot an eight-pound ball 3/4 of a mile. The explosions are so loud that we wore earplugs when we heard these cannons go off during a Civil War reenactment in Mariposa, California. Three cannons are fired in this one-minute video.
Valley of Treasure Chapters 1-4
Page 119 – Listen to the “Star-Spangled Banner,” the national anthem of the United States.
Valley of Treasure Chapters 5-9
Page 124 – Watch this one-minute video to see how a bone heals itself after breaking.
Valley of Treasure Chapters 10-14
Page 126 – Constellation Stories. Click the image or the tab to read ancient stories about how the constellations got their names.
Valley of Treasure Chapters 15-18
Page 132 – Strike-it-rich Sam sings the gold rush folk song, “Oh, California.” If you watched this video during the Badge of Honor unit study, that’s okay. It’s fun to hear again!
Valley of Treasure Chapters 15-18
Page 132 – Earthquakes! Watch these two short videos. 1) The top three most devastating earthquakes in the world. 2) The 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Valley of Treasure Chapters 10-14
Page 135 – Gold Tales. Click the image or the tab to read stories about lost gold during the California Gold Rush.
6- Ocean of No Escape
Ocean of No Escape Chapters 1-4
Page 140 – Ride Along on an 1800s Locomotive. This locomotive is similar to the one the Coulter family rode from Stockton to Oakland (2 minutes).
Page 140 – Whistles. Which is the steamboat’s whistle? Which is the steam train’s whistle?
#1
#2
Ocean of No Escape Chapters 1-4
Pages 142-143 – How a Steam Locomotive Engine Works. This 3-minute video explains how steam makes an 1800s locomotive go.
Ocean of No Escape Chapters 5-9
Page 149 – A Ship’s Bells. Listen to the number of “dings” for each numbered question. What time is it telling (based on the “watch” chart on page 148).
Ocean of No Escape Chapters 10-14
Page 151 – Sailing Knots. Follow along on this 2 1/2 minute video that teaches you how to tie five basic boating knots. Figure eight, half-hitch, double half-hitch, cleat, and square knot. You will need one rope for the first four knots and two ropes for the square knot. It is also helpful to have the bars or “holes” through which to put the rope ends. Have fun!
Ocean of No Escape Chapters 15-18
Page 157 – See a Sextant Work. If you watch carefully, you can get an idea how First Mate Downey used a sextant, which uses the sun and latitude/longitude to pinpoint the ship’s position in the middle of the ocean.
Lapbook Activity Chapters 16-18 – An Origami Sailing Ship. Follow along with this 7-minute video, with step-by-step instructions on how to fold an old-time sailing ship. You can pause the video as you complete each step, or even go back and play it more than once if you get stuck. You need a perfectly square sheet of paper. The papers used in the video are 21 cm x 21 cm (8.25 in. x 8.25 in), but you can make it bigger if you want.