Oregon

Summary
A lesson on the state of Oregon. The reading is accompanied by true/false questions.

Objectives
• To introduce students to salient features about the state of Oregon and its history.

Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
Oregon is located in the northwest corner of the United States, and its western edge borders on the Pacific Ocean. Oregon is surrounded by four other states: Washington to the north; Idaho to the east; and California and Nevada to the south. The Columbia River forms much of the boundary between Washington and Oregon.

Early History
At the time that European explorers were reaching the Pacific shore of North America, over a dozen distinct Native American groups occupied small stretches of seacoast in present-day Oregon. About another dozen were scattered across the remainder of the state. The best known residents were the Northern Paiute and the Shoshone peoples who occupied the southeastern quadrant of Oregon. Historians estimate that there could have been as many as fifty tribes and twenty languages in Oregon around 1700.

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