LessonPlans

Prehistoric Indian Village Lesson Plan


Understandings: I.	We can learn from artifacts about cultural similarities and differences.

Essential Questions:	1. What’s in an archeological dig for me?
	2. What kind of things would the Indian Village people have used in their daily struggle to survive?
	3. What tool, toy, and gift would you take back to the past if you could? Why?
	4. Why might you have to move or why have your friends/classmates moved? How does that compare to why the Indian Village people moved?

Understandings: II.	Archeology uses artifacts to tell the story of the past.

Essential Questions:	5. How does archeology help us learn about people in the past?
	6. How do archeologists uncover the past?
	7. What’s the big deal in digging old bones and stones?
	8. What happened to those who lived at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village.

South Dakota Social Studies Standards:

History:	1. Explain the impact of people and geographic location on the growth and expansion of South Dakota, emphasizing Mandan, Arikara, Sioux, and other historic tribes.
	2. Trace the history of South Dakota
Geography:	3. Evaluate the impact geography has on the inhabitants of South Dakota


National Educational Technology Standards:
	1. Use keyboards and other common input and output devices efficiently and effectively.
	2. Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information, communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning, and pursue personal interests.
	3. Use telecommunications and online resources (e.g., e-mail, online discussions, Web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities for the purpose of developing solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
	4. Use technology resources for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.

Day	Activity	Materials	Website Link	Procedure	Under- stand- ings	Essen- tial Ques- tions	SD Stan- dards	Tech Stan- dards
Day One	Read the story on the website to the students.	A fictional story of two children who inhabited the village is on the website.	Click here for the story. (Note: all Hyperlinks are listed at the bottom)	As an introduction to the site, have the students go online and read the story about the people who lived there then and the student archeologists who work there now.	I, II	1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	1	1, 2, 4
	Develop questions to ask the prehistoric Indian children	Large chart paper	NONE	On a large sheet of paper, develop a class list of questions that students would like to know about the Prehistoric Indian Village. Focus the students questions on differences and similarities between cultures.	I	2, 3, 4	1	3
	Tool Toy and Gift (Used with post assessment)	Paper and pencil	NONE	Conduct a review Ask the students to think of the Prehistoric Indian People and their culture. Ask the students that if they were able to go back in time from today to the Prehistoric Indian Village, what tool, toy, and gift would you take along to give to the people that would benefit them? Have students write the items on a piece of paper and explain why they would give the Prehistoric Indian Village People these things.	I	2, 3		3, 4
	Study the map of the movement of the people from the Prehistoric Indian Village	Website map of the migration of the Prehistoric Indian Village People from Illinois to the Mitchell site. Real Audio for listening to the archeologist’s comments.	Map Page Link Add link for archeologist comments	As individuals or as a class, go to the website and view the map of the migration of the Prehistoric Indian Village people as archeologists think it may have occurred. Listen to the archeologist’s comments regarding the migration.	I, II	4, 5, 8	1, 2, 3	1, 2, 4
	Assessment 1	Venn Diagram	Venn Diagram	Have the students complete the Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting movement in today’s culture and the Prehistoric Indian Village culture.	I	4	1, 2, 3

Day Two	Read about the work of an archeologist.	Computer to display website and Real Audio.	Student archeologists and comments	Explain to the students that they will view and hear comments by three archeologists who work at the Prehistoric Indian Village. View the appropriate pages from the website and listen to the comments.	I, II	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	2	1, 2, 4
	Virtual tour of what an archeologist does to learn about the past. Listen to the archeologist’s comments about his job.	Computer with Internet access.	The student archeologist at the dome.	Explain to the students that the work at the Prehistoric Indian Village is conducted under a dome to accommodate year round excavating. The student archeologists are interns working for the summer. The regular archeologist supervises the work at the dig site. This part introduces the student to how the past is uncovered.	II	5, 6, 7, 8	2	1, 2, 3, 4
	Learn from the website about the archeologists’ tools that are used in excavating.	Computer with Internet access.	Tools	Have the students locate the tools used by archeologists. Each tool has an explanation of how it is used.	II	6		1, 2, 3,
	Assessment: Crossword Puzzle: Archeologists’ Tools	Hard copy of crossword puzzle: Archeologists’ Tools	Crossword Answers	Give each student a copy of the crossword puzzle: Archeologists’ Tools.	II	6
	Assessment: Sift Through Artifacts	Sandbox with artifacts hidden by the teacher.	NONE	The teacher prepares a sandbox or something comparable) with artifacts hidden in the sand. Students “excavate” the materials and make assumptions about the people who lived there.	II	5, 6, 7
	Alternate Assessment: Write a paragaraph on the subject “How do archeologists learn about the past?”	Paper and pencil	Insert a link to the website with a rubric for grading the paragraph.	Have the students write a paragraph on the subject: “How do archeologists learn about the past?”	I, II	5, 6, 7	2

Day Three	Tour the Prehistoric Indian Village Lodge. Listen to the comments from the archeologist concerning the lodge.	Computer with Internet Access	Lodge Tour Archeologist comments about the lodge	Explain to the students that there is a replica of a lodge at the Prehistoric Indian Village. The lodge is based upon the excavations on this site. Students can take the virtual tour of the lodge.	I, II	2, 3, 7, 8		1, 2,
	Tour the cache pit. Listen to the comments by the archeologist concerning the cache pit.	Computer with Internet Access	Cache Pit comments by the archeologist about the cache pit.	Explain to the students that a cache pit is a pit in the lodge where the people would store food. After the pit became bug infested, they used it for a garbage pit. The archeologists have found many artifacts from the cache pits in the lodges. Take a virtual tour of the cache pit.	I, II	2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8		1,2
	Word Search	Hard copy of a word search of items found in the cache pit.	Cache pit word search		II	2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8
	Assessment: Toy, Tool, and Gift	Paper and pencil.	Rubric	Conduct a review session of the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village site. Ask the students to think of the Prehistoric Indian People and their culture. Ask the students if they were able to go back in time from today to the Prehistoric Indian Village, what tool, toy, and gift would you take along to give to the people that would benefit them? Write the items on a piece of paper and explain why they would give the Prehistoric Indian Village People these things.	I, II	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,	1,2