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Lesson Collection

PNW Index

PURPOSE:
This lesson will help students recognize and critically analyze the influence nature/environment had on how Native Americans lived and survived.

OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:

1. work cooperatively in a group
2. locate, on a map, the Native American group's region
3. use photos & artifacts to compare and contrast various Native American cultures
4. examine the relationship between the Native Americans and their environment
5. generalize that Native Americans adapted to living in different physical environments

GEOGRAPHIC THEMES:
Region, Place, Human-Environment Interaction

GEOGRAPHIC STANDARDS:

#3 - How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, & environments on Earthís surface

#4 - The physical & human characteristics of places #5 - That people create regions to interpret Earthís complexity GEOGRAPHIC SKILLS:

#15B - Explain how the characteristics of different physical environments affect human activities.

#5A - Describe the relationship between the physical & human characteristics of a region.

LESSON CAN BE USED WITH A UNIT ON : NATIVE AMERICANS

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. artifacts and/or pictures that represent the culture of various Native American groups(can be borrowed from The Honolulu Academy of Arts Lending Library)
2. 6 boxes to hold artifacts for six different groups:
   • Plains
   • Northwest Coast
   • Eastern Woodland
   • Southwest
   • Basin & Plateau
   • California
   (Try to get a good representation of various arts/crafts items, clothing, games/toys, tools, or any other items that are important to the tribe.)
3. Also place in the artifact box, pictures of the physical landscape of the area the group lives.
4. chart paper for each team
5. marking pen for each team
6. Observation Sheet for each team (see Appendix)
7. U.S. Map(enlarged with an overhead)-(See Appendix)
8. Social Studies Book - U.S. and Itís Neighbor
9. Reference Books(See References)

PROCEDURE:
Teacher Preparation:

1. Place artifacts and pictures of artifacts collected into appropriate groups artifact box. Also include landscape pictures.
2. Enlarge a simple U.S. map, using the overhead, for students to mark the location of their Native American group.
3. Run off one copy of "Observation Sheet" for each team
4. Break class into groups of 4-5 students

Student Instructions:

1. Tell students not to touch the Artifact Box until all instructions are given.
2. First, each group member should have a role:
   
   • Facilitator-not the "boss", but a person that makes sure everyone understands what to do
   • Materials Manager/ Encourager - gets needed materials/ encourages teammates efforts
   • Recorder - writes what group needs recorded
   • Reporter - shares information recorded by group
   (If there are 5 members in a team, the 5th person can take the Encouragers role)

3. Remind students about the careful handling of all items in the artifact box. Students must make sure that their hands and area around them be clean.
4. Then, have Materials manager get a chart paper, marking pen, & Observation sheet for their team.
5. Tell class that they will be learning about a Native American group's culture in North America. Tell the class that their job is to carefully examine the items in their artifact box. They may take them out of the box and place them on the table.
6. Then, as a team, answer the questions listed on the "Observation Sheet" on a large chart paper. Have the recorder record the teams answers.
7. Tell students that added information can be found in their Social Studies book pages 95 - 117. (Note: Use whatever Soc. St. textbook your class is using)
8. On the large U.S. map, mark & label the location of the Native American group they studied.
9. After each team records the answers to the questions, they will take turns sharing their findings.
10. After sharing, debrief as a class.

Debriefing Questions: (Guided by teacher)

1. What are the differences between the different Native American groups?
2. What are the similarities between each group?
3. What did each group use to make things?
4. How did the area they live influence their lifestyle?

ASSESSMENT: Written Paper
Students will be asked to write a paper about everything they learned about the Native American culture. They will also need to include differences & similarities between tribal groups, how location influenced their lifestyles, type of tribal groups and their locations.

EXTENSIONS:

1. Each student can do independent research on specific tribes.
2. Native American Games & Arts/Craft Day. Each group can be given the responsibility to teach the rest of the class the game or arts/craft.

APPENDIX: (see "Observation Sheet")

REFERENCES: (see "Reference Sheet")