Description of lesson/activity
1. locate specific landforms and water bodies in what is now the United States.
2. identify culture areas of the major Indian groups in what is now the United
3. describe the climate, vegetation, animal life, and natural resources of a particular
4. make inferences about the relationship between geography and culture.
1. A blank map of the United States and a "List of Major Landforms and Water Bodies" should be given to each student. (See resource section of this Unit.) Directions for completing this activity are given at the top of the list. Teachers may wish to incorporate additional directions; for instance, students could color landforms and water bodies and add a key. The teacher should decide if this part of the lesson will be completed individually, with a cooperative group, or teacher directed for the entire class.
Other commercially produced maps may be used, and the list of landforms and water bodies may be changed or supplemented in any way that is appropriate to the resources available to students. The purpose of the activity is to familiarize students with the geographic features needed for the next part of the lesson.
2. Teacher should make a transparency of the accompanying "Culture Area Overlay Map." Teacher can then use the transparency on an overhead projector and direct students to divide their maps into five culture areas. Another option is to make copies of the transparency for use in small cooperative groups. After the United States map has been divided into five culture areas, each cooperative group will be assigned one of the culture areas to research. Culture area refers to a geographic region which was occupied by native people who had common lifestyles. (For example, they realized their basic needs for food, shelter, clothing, and ways of living together in similar ways).
3. Students should be given the accompanying "Geographic Worksheet" with directions for gathering information on their culture area as it was found before Columbus. Space is provided at the top of the Worksheet to write the name of the culture area that will be researched. It is expected that sufficient detail of information can be gathered so that students can develop a good understanding of the geography of the culture area being studied. Atlases, textbooks, encyclopedias and other resources can be used to complete this activity; teachers should gather these resources prior to assigning this activity.
4. The completed geographic worksheets should be used by students to make some inferences. If students are not familiar with this term, teacher should instruct them in how one can draw conclusions from reasoning about something already known. The inferring is being done to allow students the opportunity to think at a higher level and to make sure the student understands the concept that geography affects culture. Be certain that students realize their inferences should be made solely on what they know about Pre-Columbian geography. They should be instructed that historians do not make inferences about the past based on what they know about the present.
An "Inference Worksheet" with student directions is provided. Students are directed to begin each inference with "We infer that . . ." and include a statement beginning with "because" so that the inference is connected directly to evidence from the map or Geographic Worksheet. Students will be able to use the information from the map and Geographic Worksheet to complete the Inference Worksheet. This Inference Worksheet should be kept as a reference; the teacher should make students aware that it will be used at the end of lesson two.
Below are some examples of appropriate inferences. Students researching the Northeast and Central Plains area might come up with the following inference.
Food: We infer that fish might be a part of Indian diet because tribes could be located near rivers or lakes.Clothing: We infer that deerskin and animal furs were used for clothing because these were available and probably needed during the cold winters.
Transportation: We infer that they might have developed some sort of snowshoes because of the snowy winters.
Shelter: We infer that wood or bark may have been used in shelters because trees were plentiful and strong homes would be needed, especially in the winter.
1. Blank map of the United States
2. List of major landforms and water bodies