Native Americans
Essential Question
How did "place" impact the lifestyle and cultures of the original americans?
Place greatly affected how the Native Amricans lived, and their cultures. Tribes were spread out all through America and Canada, all of them having different lifestyles and cultures. Like in the Cheyenne tribe, they lived in the plains which had a lot of animals grazing and so they were nomadic to follow the herds since most of their foods and materials came from animals. Also in the plains there can be sudden changes of temperature so the were rivers near them they adapted and made rafts to travel down them. And since they were always surrounded by nature they started to believe in Animism, the beief that everything around us (animals, rock etc.) have souls. Cheyenne wore layers to be able to accomadate the weather at all times. That's why in different areas in the world people live certain ways, here in Hong Kong we have tall skyscrapers because we have a dense population but a small area, so we adapted to make space. But in America thay have lots of land so they have houses, pools, and lawns etc.
Learning Reflection
A. What are you currently learning about in Social Studies? Give some examples of what you have learned this unit.
At the beginning we worked on getting to know the USA; its geographical features, and relative areas in America such as its states. Later we started to research about Native Americans. We each got assigned a geographical area and we chose one tribe that live in that area. We then proceeded to research about that tribe, then we presented about them, we aslo made a poster with relevant pictures to help bring our tribe back to life.
B. What do you enjoy about this particular SS unit? Explain.
I liked learning about the history of the USA and how people used to live there and how the geography affected them. I liked doing this because now I understand why their are differences inbetween how things work in the USA, like in the middle of the plains the people dont each fish as much as people on the coast, because there is no Ocean or Sea near them.
C. What do you find challenging about this particular SS unit? Explain.
I thought that making connections about the geography to their culture was diffcult, because you are not able to just search up the answer so to be able to do that I had to research a lot to see what their geography was and think about how that could affect their everyday life (culture, food, housing).
D. What is something you have done well in this SS unit? Explain.
I feel that I did well on my content of the presentation, because I worked hard on it and I got a grade for it. I made sure I had everything I needed that was said on the rubric, and researched a little bit further also.
E. What is something you would like to improve? Explain on how you plan to make improvements.
I would like to improve on my presentation skills, because when I went to present I was not completely prepared. I had too much to talk about in not enough time to talk about it, so I should of known and cut down. Also I wanted to be able to memorize my speech better so I could intrigue the audience more.
Word Wall
Native American - a member of any of the indigenous peoples of North and South America and the Caribbean Islands.
Culture - a people’s way of life, including beliefs, customs, food, dwellings, and clothing
Enviroment - all of the physical surroundings in a place, including land, water, animals, plants, and climate
Natural Resources - useful material found in nature, including water, vegetation, animals, and minerals.
Temporary - for a limited, often short-term, period of time
Migration - movement from one part of something to another.
Cultural Region - an area in which a group of people share a similar culture and language
Adapting - to change in order to adjust to a new condition or environment
Vegetation - plants considered collectively, especially those found in a particular area or habitat.
Nomad - a member of a people that travels from place to place to find fresh pasture for its animals and has no permanent home.
Geography - the nature and relative arrangement of places and physical features.
Other Projects
My Land My Culture
At the start of this unit we had a few extra projects, this being one of them. We had to think of what makes reminds us of our homes and turn it into a poster filled with memories. We also had to present to the whole class.
USA Map
Also at the start of this unit we worked on the geography of America, and locating where the states are. This is a map we had to complete ourselves that included the states, capitals, rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, and oceans.
Google Tours
Among the other projects completed before learning about the Native Americans, we worked on some google tours (attached above). We made a google tour about Jane Goodall to learn how to work google tours. Then we made a google tour about different places in America that represents Cultural, Historical, and Geographical significance.