American Prehistory: 8000 Years of Forest Management

For Day 1 activity: Make copies of the essay "American Prehistory: 8000 Years of Forest Management" for each student in your classroom. Next make copies of Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2 for each student.

Set the stage for this activity by leading a group discussion answering the following questions:

• Who were the first people to live in North America?
• What types of evidence do we have of their existence?

Distribute the essay, Worksheet 1, and Worksheet 2. Students should read the essay in order to complete the 2 worksheets.

Pre-class preparation: Arrange four tables or four clusters of desks within the classroom. Place one 8"x12" colored category topic card on or above each table or desk cluster. The category topic cards, each a different color, are entitled: Archaeologists, Anthropologists, Geographers, and Historians. Print each of the category topics on 4"x6" unlined note cards. (The total number of 4"x6" cards represents the total number of students in your class). The 4"x6" note card color for each category topic should match that of the larger 8"x12" card. For example, if the 8"x12" anthropology topic card is blue, the 4"x6" anthropology cards also should be blue.

As students walk into the room at the beginning of class hand them a 4"x6" category topic card and ask them to look for the table or desk cluster that matches their card. Distribute Detecting Prehistory and as a class read the first section of the sheet entitled “Background” together. Ask students to complete the section entitled “Before you Begin.” After students have finished this section (10-15 minutes) read the final section of the sheet (“The Case”) together. Distribute Worksheet 3, go through the completed example together, and instruct students to use the reverse side of the worksheet if more room is needed to answer the questions about artifacts 2, 3, and 4. Upon completion of the worksheet each group should make a short presentation to the class explaining more about their designated profession (archaeologist, anthropologist, geographer, or historian) in addition to revealing their answers to the “mysteries” and the reasons for making such inferences. Finally, after all groups have presented their answers to the class “solve the case” by revealing the real identity of the objects. Optional: Award the group with the most correct answers a prize.

Day 3 activity: Make copies of Eyewitness Accounts and Worksheet 4 for each student.
Write the word evidence and the corresponding definition on an overhead sheet or on the board: “A thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment.” As a class compile a quick list of professions that use evidence (based on the definition) on a frequent basis. Take a few moments to discuss how and why the listed jobs use evidence. If no one mentioned historians take this opportunity to ask how and why members of this profession might use evidence. Next, develop a list of the types of evidence a historian could use (artifacts, manuscripts, eyewitnesses, etc).  Distribute Eyewitness Accounts and Worksheet 4. Since this activity targets student understanding of the uses of evidence in supporting a historical argument, students are asked to prove a specific statement rather than draw their own conclusions.

Day 4 activity: Make copies of "The Legend of the Cedar" for each student and Worksheet 5 for each student group (groups of 3-4).
Begin class today by asking your students to brainstorm about the ways a group of people who have no written language could record their beliefs, history, and culture. Explain the significance of oral tradition in the lives of prehistoric people and then as a class compose a list of different forms of oral tradition that might have been used by Native Americans (for example, songs, stories, legends). Tell your class that for the next 2 days you will be focusing on legends. Write the word legend and the corresponding definition on the board or an overhead sheet:  “a story coming down from the past; especially: one popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable.” Mention that Native Americans used legends for a variety of reasons: to teach lessons, explain the origin of an object or animal, and remind people of the importance of things such as nature. Distribute “The Legend of the Cedar Tree.” Remind students that although such a story now has been transcribed originally it would have been spoken aloud. Ask for a volunteer or volunteers to read the legend aloud to the class. Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 and distribute Worksheet 5. When students have completed Part I. of the worksheet review the answers to the questions as a class. Next, allow students time to complete Part II.

Begin class by allotting time for the groups to finish the preparation of their skits.  The remainder of the time should be devoted to the performance of the skits.  Encourage the class to ask questions of each group to ensure that all students have thought about the importance of legends and the link between their stories and the environment.

Choose from one of three types of activity assessments:

• Application and Integration Exercise (Correlated to National Standards for Social Studies) ~Teacher Explanation~ If you choose to use this activity there are several possible variations. First, you may want to have students complete the exercise in the same groups formed on Day 2 when they first studied artifacts. If not, the activity also would work fine in random groups you select. Second, Part II of the activity asks students to examine five modern artifacts that you provide. Here are some suggestions: baseball, pad of paper or notebook, CD, soda can, book, hat or shoes, key, computer mouse, cell phone, pet toy, trash bag, or sunglasses. You can either fill boxes with the same 5 objects or supply each group with different artifacts to analyze.
• Test (Correlated to National Council for History Standards)
• Reflective Exercise