Bay Minette Elementary students in Starla Sellers and Merlyn Kittrell’s sixth grade classes have been learning about the Homestead Act of 1862 in social studies. They learned that the government encouraged Western migration in the United States by providing settlers with 160 acres of public land for a small filing fee as long as they lived on the land for five continuous years. The students learned that the pioneers suffered tremendous hardships and paid for the land with their blood, sweat, and tears. As a culminating activity, the students were instructed to build sod houses, typical of the period, from brownies, coconut, frosting, and pretzels.