Social studies activity
Alaska's Story: Glaciers, Gold Rush & Seward's Folly
Alaska is so gigantic that if you put it on top of the rest of the United States, it would stretch from Florida all the way to California! And it has rivers made of ice — called glaciers — that move SO slowly you can't see them move. Let's build an icy Alaska scene!
Materials and setup
- paper
- crayons
- pencil
- paper plate
- yellow glitter or yellow paper scraps
- bowl of water
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Alaska is so gigantic that if you put it on top of the rest of the United States, it would stretch from Florida all the way to California! And it has rivers made of ice — called glaciers — that move SO slowly you can't see them move. Let's build an icy Alaska scene!
Steps
- Show your child where Alaska is on a map and say: 'This state is SO big that Texas — already the second biggest state — could fit inside it TWICE. Can you believe that?'
- Scrunch white paper into a tall pointy mountain. Press it onto blue paper.
- Use a blue crayon to draw slow, thick, curving lines coming down the mountain — those are glaciers, rivers made of solid ice!
- Draw a tiny sled dog team at the bottom — say: 'Before cars or snowmobiles, sled dogs were the taxis of Alaska.'
- Ask: 'If you lived in Alaska, what would you need to wear to stay warm outside?'
Learning objectives
- Wonder at Alaska's enormous size compared to other states
- Notice that ice can flow like a river — just very, very slowly
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
In 1867, the US bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million — and the whole country laughed. Newspapers called it 'Seward's Folly' and 'Walrussia.' But inside that 'frozen wasteland' was $200 billion worth of oil. Let's pan for gold and think about whether a bad-looking deal can turn out to be brilliant.
Steps
- Tell the story: 'Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia for less than 2 cents per acre. People laughed at him. But then they found gold, then fish, then OIL — so much oil that every Alaska resident gets a check from the government every year just for living there!'
- Make a gold pan with a paper plate. Put yellow paper scraps or glitter in a bowl of water and let your child swirl and catch the 'gold.'
- Draw an Alaska scene: mountains, a river with a gold panner, a sled dog, and an oil barrel labeled '$$$'.
- Ask: 'Have you ever thought something wasn't worth it, but then it turned out to be really great? What was it?'
- Label your drawing: 'Seward's Folly? More like Seward's Fortune!'
Learning objectives
- Understand the Alaska Purchase and why critics called it 'Seward's Folly'
- Learn that Alaska turned out to contain enormous natural wealth
- Begin to think about how we judge decisions before we know how they turn out
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Alaska has been home to the Inuit, Yup'ik, Tlingit, Athabascan, and Aleut peoples for thousands of years — each developing extraordinary skills for one of the most extreme environments on Earth. These Indigenous peoples are master hunters and foragers who know how to find food and survive in -40°F weather. Then in 1867 the US bought Alaska from Russia without consulting any of those peoples at all. Today you'll explore how Alaska's Indigenous cultures worked, and what the purchase meant for them.
Steps
- Draw a large circle — your Alaska story map. Inside it, draw 4 scenes: an igloo, a kayak, a totem pole, and a caribou. Write one fact next to each showing how Indigenous Alaskans used it to survive.
- Add this fact to your map: 'Alaska has 20 distinct Indigenous languages. When the US took over, children were often sent to boarding schools far from their families and forbidden to speak their languages.'
- Research one Indigenous group (Inuit, Tlingit, or Yup'ik). Write 3 sentences on what their daily life looked like before 1867.
- Write a sentence answering: 'The US and Russia made a deal for $7.2 million — but who was never asked, and whose homeland was it really?'
- Add a border of geometric patterns inspired by traditional Alaskan artwork around your story map.
Learning objectives
- Identify at least three Indigenous groups native to Alaska and describe their cultural practices
- Explain the Alaska Purchase and analyze who it left out of the decision
- Create an annotated visual map connecting cultural practices to the environment
- Begin to analyze historical events from the perspective of those most affected
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
The US paid Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in 1867 — about 2 cents per acre. Everyone mocked Secretary Seward. Then gold was discovered. Then oil. The state now holds an estimated $200 billion in recoverable oil alone, and every Alaskan resident receives an annual dividend check from the Alaska Permanent Fund. But here's the real question: Russia didn't own Alaska in any moral sense — Indigenous peoples had lived there for 10,000 years. Was this 'purchase' a bargain or a theft? Write an evidence-based essay taking a position.
Steps
- Research the Alaska Purchase: Why did Russia sell? What did Seward argue? What were the main criticisms? What resources were later discovered?
- Research the Alaska Permanent Fund: How much do residents receive annually? What does it tell us about who benefits from natural resources?
- Research Indigenous land rights in Alaska: What is the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971? Did it resolve the question of who the land truly belonged to?
- Create a 3-column chart: 'Russia's perspective,' 'US Government's perspective,' 'Indigenous peoples' perspective' on the 1867 purchase.
- Write a 4-paragraph essay: Was the Alaska Purchase a triumph of American strategic vision, a recognition of Indigenous land, or both? Defend your position with at least 4 specific facts.
- Closing question: If you were designing the Alaska Permanent Fund today, would you make any changes to who gets the money and how much? Why?
- Alaska pays residents a yearly Permanent Fund Dividend from oil money (recent checks have been around $1,300–$1,600, estimate). If a family of 4 got $1,500 each, that's $6,000. List three ways the family could spend it and three ways they could invest it. Which choice grows the money over 10 years?
- Alaskan crab fishers haul pots that weigh 700+ lbs using hydraulic cranes. Draw a crab pot and label the bait jar, escape ring (lets baby crabs out), and buoy line. Then design one safety upgrade to keep a deckhand's foot clear of a swinging pot — explain the problem it solves.
Learning objectives
- Explain the Alaska Purchase, key figures, and the resources later discovered
- Analyze the purchase from three distinct stakeholder perspectives
- Evaluate historical decisions using evidence-based reasoning and moral argument
- Write a structured persuasive essay with a clear claim, evidence, and a counterargument
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
Related social studies activities
Advanced Map Skills
Learn what maps are! Follow a simple treasure map around your house or yard. Maps show us where things are.
Alabama's Story: Cotton, Civil Rights & Red Hills
Did you know that one woman sitting down on a bus helped change America forever? Rosa Parks sat down in Alabama — and the whole country stood up. And Alabama is also home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville — where scientists designed the Saturn V rocket that sent people to the Moon! Ten years after Rosa Parks's bus protest, thousands of people marched together across a bridge in Selma, Alabama to ask for the right to vote. Let's draw that bridge!
American History Timeline
Color an American flag together — count the 13 stripes and 50 stars! Then wave it and sing a patriotic song.
Ancient Civilizations Quest
Travel back in time to when people lived in caves, built pyramids, and rode horses. Explore ancient life through play and crafts.