 Adirondack
Curriculum
Project - www.adkcurriculumproject.org
NYS Content Area Standard
Social Studies 1. History of the U.S. and N.Y. Demonstrate
understanding of major ideas, eras,
themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United
States and NY.
Key Idea 1: Analysis of the development of American
culture, its
diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by
many values, practices, and traditions.
PI: Analyze the development of American culture,
explaining how ideas, values, beliefs, and traditions have changed over
time and how they unite all Americans
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Title:
Indian and Colonial interrelationship using diverse plants and animals
Grade Level: 11th/Am. History
Author: Cynthia Casey,
Peru CS
Email: ccasey@perucsd.org
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Adirondack Curriculum Content Area
_X_ Natural History
_X_ Human History
___ Culture & the Arts
___ Government & Civics
___ Economy
___ Health, Recreation &
Life Skills |
Investigative Question or Issue: How did Native American
knowledge and use of the diverse plant and animal species aid the
survival of the early European colonists?
Challenge:
Context for this Challenge:
This project is presented as an individual challenge within the context
of a larger class challenge.
The Challenge:
Before the occupation of the North American east coast by European
colonists, many Indian nations thrived in the areas around Lake
Champlain, the Adirondacks, and farther south. These peoples were
sustained by an intimate understanding of the many plant and animal
resources native to their region. The European colonists who came into
this territory lacked similar knowledge and suffered accordingly. In
what ways did Native Americans aid the European colonists in learning
what they needed to know to survive in the environment of the northeast?
Your challenge as a class is to create an engaging and informative book
suitable for an audience of 4th graders that addresses the
Investigative Question cited above. The completed book will be
placed in the school/local town library for display during the fall
season.
As a class, please come to a agreement regarding the following issues:
1. What will be the
title of your book?
2. What will be the cover design of the book? How
will it encourage the reader to read your book?
3. How will you introduce the focus and contents of
the book to the reader? Will you write a Foreward? How will you
organize a Table of Contents?
Each class member is expected to contribute at least one page of
content to the class book. Your individual page should share
information about one plant or animal of your choice that was used by
Native Americans of the northeast woodlands. Be sure your book entry
meets the following criteria:
1. Your choice
of plant or animal must be different from all others in your class
2. You must use at least two different
authoritative sources in your research and cite them properly using MLA
format at the bottom of your last page. We will discuss appropriate
sources in class
3. Your book entry must include:
a. The scientific and
common name of your plant / animal
b. A picture(s) or
drawing(s) relevant to the topic
c. A detailed
explanation regarding how Native Americans used the plant /animal. This
explanation should include whether the plant/animal was gathered,
farmed, domesticated, hunted/fished, or trapped. It should also include
information about how the resource was used - medicine, food, shelter,
etc. and what preparation was typically required for its use.
d A detailed
explanation regarding how Europeans learned to use the resource. Were
Europeans taught directly by the native people? Did they observe and
copy native practice?
e. Work must be word
processed using 14 font with correct spelling and grammar.
f. The format of your
entry may be in paragraphs or in bullet form
You will have approximately two class periods to work on this project
in the computer room.
We will agree in class on a due date for this challenge.
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Quality Standards:
Criteria for the class book
- It has an a title appropriate to the audience
and content
- It has a cover lay-out that is engaging to a
prospective reader and appropriate to the content
- It contains a Foreward or some other
appropriate way of introducing the book to the reader
- It contains a Table of Contents
- It is suitable for public display
Criteria for individual entries
- The entry is completed by the agreed due date
- The entry is word processed using 14 font on
standard computer paper
- The entry employs correct spelling and grammar
- The entry is formatted using either paragraphs
or bullet points
- Citations in the entry are in MLA format and
are located at the bottom of the last page
- The entry is about a plant or animal different
from other entries in the book
- The entry contains information that is
accurate and addresses the investigative question directly
- The entry identifies both the scientific and
common name of the plant/animal used by northeastern Native Americans
- The entry includes an appropriate drawing(s)
or picture(s) that is relevant to the topic
- The entry includes a detailed explanation
regarding how native people used the plant/animal
- The entry includes a detailed explanation
regarding how European colonists learned from the native people how to
use the plant/animal themselves
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Adapted for the Adirondack
Curriculum Project from
the work of Education By Design TM and Leading EDGE, LLC
©ACP 2002
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Product of
the 2008 ACP Biodiversity Workshop, funded by a grant from the New York
Biodiversity Research Institute.