Browse: Keyword: Prairie

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No Strings Attached

The Battle of Prairie Grove: Civilian Recollections of the Civil War

Abstract:: helps students place the Battle of Prairie Grove in the context of Arkansas' role in the Civil War. Photos and readings from eye witness accounts of the battle depict the harsh realities of Civil War and its effects on both soldiers and civilians.

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Chicago's Columbus Park: The Prairie Idealized

Abstract:: presents the story of Jens Jensen, who immigrated from Denmark to the U.S. in the 1880s, took a job as a Chicago street sweeper, was promoted to gardener, and rose to renown as a landscape architect. Jensen aimed to portray the soul of the landscape and developed the Prairie style, incorporating regional trees and flowers in idealized settings of groves, streams, limestone outcroppings, and flat fields.

Read the Fine Print

Abstract:: Grazing by large herbivores has profound effects on both the structure and function of shortgrass prairie ecosystems. In this exercise a grazed section of prairie on a working cattle ranch is compared to a less grazed section on an adjacent wildlife refuge. The Daubenmire canopy-coverage method is used to measure percent cover by plant species and bare ground. Vegetation within the Daubenmire quadrat frame is clipped and weighed to assess biomass by species. In addition, relative soil compaction and cowpie frequency are measured to characterize grazing intensity. Calculations of plant biomass diversity are made using the Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H). Sampling methods and hypothesis testing are introduced.

No Strings Attached

Abstract:: examines a once common feature on the American West landscape: the one-room schoolhouse. This particular one-room school, originally known as the Red-Brick School House, served the community of Blakely Township, Nebraska, from 1872 to 1967. When closed, it was the oldest continuously used one-room school in Nebraska. It served not only as a school, but also as a church, meeting hall, polling place, and social and political center of the community.

Read the Fine Print

Abstract:: This site illustrates the story of settlement on the Great Plains. Family letters of one homesteader express personal insight into the joy, despair, and determination in his struggle to establish a home on the prairie.