Iowa History Course

Map of early Iowa Territory
Image credit:
"A new map of Iowa: accompanied with notes by W. Barrow," Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington D.C., 20540-4650 USA Digital Id: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4150.ct002299Links to an external site.

Overview

This Iowa History professional development is designed to equip teachers to teach a year-long Iowa history course and is connected to a companion student course hosted in the Iowa Department of Education's Iowa e-Learning Central. 

Under each unit, teachers and life-long learners will find an overview of the unit, compelling and supporting questions, suggested topics of study, major figures, historic sites in Iowa, photo, document and object highlights from the State Historical Society of Iowa's collections, expert reflections on thinking like a historian, videos, and further reading. 

Possible course projects and specifically designed classroom materials are also available for teachers using this content in their classrooms.

Semester 1

Units

Chronology

Compelling Question

Unit 1

Native Iowa

10,000 BCE to 1833 CE

Who were the first inhabitants of the land that would become Iowa?

Unit 2

Iowa Territory

1833 to 1846

How did the arrival of white settlers in the Iowa Territory change the cultural landscape?

Unit 3

Iowa Statehood

1846 to 1857

How did Iowa become a state?

Unit 4

Iowa Before the Civil War

1857 to 1861

How did Iowans respond to the national debate over slavery?

Unit 5

Iowa and the Civil War

1861 to 1870

How did Iowans contribute to the Civil War?

Unit 6

Industrial and Economic Growth in Iowa

1870 to 1920

How did Iowa develop?

Unit 7

The Progressive Era 

in Iowa

1870 to 1920

To what extent did Progressive Era reforms improve the lives of Iowans?

Semester 2

Units

Chronology

Compelling Question

Unit 8

Iowa During and After World War I

1914 to 1929

How does war influence American values?

Unit 9

The Great Depression in Iowa

1929 to 1939

How did the Great Depression change everyday life for Iowans?

Unit 10

Iowa in World War II

1939 to 1945

How did Iowans contribute to the war effort at home and abroad?

Unit 11

Postwar Society and Economy in Iowa

1945 to 1965

How was life in Iowa transformed after the end of World War II?

Unit 12

Iowa and the Cold War

1950 to 1975

How did the Cold War affect Iowans?

Unit 13

The Farm Crisis in Iowa

1975 to 1989

How did the Farm Crisis affect Iowans?

Unit 14

Iowa in the Modern Era

1990 to 2020

How do our lives today compare to Iowans of the past?