The Home stead Act
In 1867,Congress passed the Free Homestead Act. This Act, which was signed by Abraham Lincoln, offered 160 acres of land on the American Frontier to any settler willing to farm it. Many thousands of pioneers rushed to claim free land under the law. Newcomers to the prairies found that there were not enough trees in the area to build wooden houses. Borrowing a trick from the Indians, they built their houses out of prairie sod. This sod was cut into blocks to form walls and roofs. The thick walls of the soddy provided insulation to make it cool in summer and warm in winter. The sod house was dark because it did not have many openings. The first windows had no glass and seldom had even oiled-paper. Sometimes families would plaster the walls to help lighten the room. Other families used old newspaper to paper the walls. Often the roofs blossomed with wild flowers. The sod roofs usually leaked and few soddies had floors other than tampered earth. Settlers referred to their building material as Nebraska Marble.
Our next stop on the Great Platte River Highway is Cozad, Nebraska. It is 15 miles from Lexington to Cozad. You will need to jog 7 miles. We will meet you at Cozad!
Lexington 
Cozad 15 miles
Before students participate in the jogging, their medical
status should be reviewed. Health problems should be
considered prior to participation in any physical
activity.
Fitness
Reminder!
To improve or maintain your aerobic endurance level your heart and lungs must work a little harder than the last time you exercised. This is called the overload principle. Overload is established by increasing the frequency, intensity, and time of exercise. To make your heart and lungs stronger, you must start slowly and work harder than you did the last time you exercised.
Fitness concepts review
Warm-up and cool-down
Taking your pulse
Heart rate
Aerobic endurance
Frequency of exercise
Intensity of exercise
Time (duration) of exercise
Overload Principle
Nebraska
Platte River History Jog
Fort
Atkinson
Fremont
Columbus
Central
City
Grand
Island
Kearney
Lexington
Cozad
Gothenburg
North
Platte
Ogallala
Oshkosh
Bridgeport
Scottsbluff
Morrill
Teacher
Information
References
