1. Geography affects culture.

 

2. Indian tribes had their own histories, cultures, systems of government and law, and understandings of how to live in the world.
3. Historians use a variety of methods, tools, and techniques to find out about the past.

 

4. Pre-Columbian Indians had cultures worthy of respect.

This unit, like all those in this curriculum, is rooted in the belief that schools and curriculum should be learner centered. The content and concepts for Unit I provide a framework that is developmentally appropriate, offers interdisciplinary opportunities, and allows for the interrelatedness of content and skills. Methodology that emphasizes cooperative learning and the pursuit of individual interest provides students with the opportunity for in-depth study and research. In addition, the content and concepts chosen encourage students to employ higher level thinking and problem solving skills in order to research, re-enact, or re-create the past while utilizing the tools of an historian.

Students should realize that the people and the happenings in America prior to the 1500s were important and are relevant to both subsequent units of instruction and to ongoing changes in American society today.

Please note that this curriculum refers to native people as "Indians," a term widely used today by native people themselves as well as those who study their cultures and histories.

This unit should encourage students to think about geography, culture, and history; how we learn about them; and how they are interrelated.

Question/Problem 1 : Describe the geographic features of the United States.

Question/Problem 2 : What was life like for Indians before the arrival of Columbus? (note: students will research a specific Indian tribe.)

Question/Problem 3 : Prove that Pre-Columbian Indians had cultures worthy of respect.

Enrichment/Activity 1 : Character Simulation.

Enrichment/Activity 2 : Change and Indian Society Today.