1. To examine the lifestyle of a family who chose to homestead in the California desert; 2. To describe how the Keys family both adapted to and shaped their desert environment; 3. To consider Ralph Waldo Emerson's description of self-reliance and describe how it relates to the life of Bill Keys; 4. To discover the history of settlement in their own region and determine how settlers' experiences may have compared to the experiences of Bill Keys.
Recommended level: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
1. Life at Keys Ranch: Homesteading in the California Desert