The First Americans

You just found out that your ancestors have lived in the Americas since 30,000 B.C. You are very interested to see how they lived, what they ate, and where they went. In a group of three or four students, you will work together with your classmates to describe the life of one of five groups listed below.

• The First Americans (hunter-gatherers and early farmers)
• The Olmec and Maya
• Mound Builders and The Anasazi
• The Aztec
• The Inca

Your job is to find out as much as you can about the group of people you are studying and present your findings to the class. Each group will be given 1 piece of white poster board to decorate with pictures and/or words to help describe the life of someone in your group. In your presentation, you must provide your classmates with the following information.

• When did the people live?
• Where did they live?
• What did they live in?
• What did they wear?
• What did they eat?
• What religion did they practice?
• What did their art look like?
• What did the typical male do in a day?
• What did the typical female do in a day?
• Who were their rulers?
• What technologies did they develop?

You will present your findings to the class beginning Monday, October 5th. The presentations will be aided by a poster board that you will need to create with your classmates showing important parts of the culture that you are researching.  You may research outside of school if you wish, or if you can complete all of your research in class that is acceptable. You will also need to develop five test questions about your people to be submitted to Ms. Vancura prior to your presentation. The groups are as follows:

Group 1                  Group 2                  Group 3                      Group 4                        Group 5

Kelsey                      Noah                        Landon                    Dylan                          Lilly

Austin                      Jackson                     Carter                      Jake                           Zane

Alex S.                     Brody                       Matthew                    Ivy                            Alex T.

Mark                        Kennedy                                                                                  Daymon

Here are sites for each group to find information at. The best way to locate the sites is to copy and paste the address into a new tab. 

The First Americans:

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsc/3/f/cricket/cktcontent_3f142.shtml

http://www.livescience.com/43329-prehistoric-boy-may-be-native-american-missing-link.html

http://www.livescience.com/46790-elephant-ancestor-clovis-site.html

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1406/segments/1406-2.htm

http://www.livescience.com/27565-did-comet-kill-clovis-culture.html

The Olmec and The Maya

http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0273-olmecs.php (use the navigation on the left to learn about the Mayan people on this page)

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/southamerica/before1500/history/olmec.htm

http://www.ducksters.com/history/maya/daily_life.php

http://www.livescience.com/41781-the-maya.html

https://kidskonnect.com/history/ancient-mayan/

http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_maya_inca.php

The Mound Builders and Anasazi

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/mound-builders.html

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/climate-change-civilization1.htm

http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-houses/mound-builders.htm

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Adena_Culture?rec=1287

http://www.livescience.com/27360-mesa-verde.html

http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_ana.html

http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/ind_new/ind11.html

Aztec

http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_empire/daily_life.php

http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_maya_inca.php

https://kidskonnect.com/history/ancient-aztec/

http://www.livescience.com/34660-tenochtitlan.html

Inca

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_maya_inca.php

http://www.ducksters.com/history/inca/daily_life.php

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/lost-inca-empire.html

http://www.livescience.com/41346-the-incas-history-of-andean-empire.html

http://www.livescience.com/22869-machu-picchu.html

Each member of your group will be graded on participation in the project by their group members and will also receive a grade for the overall project (this will be the same for each member of the group). 

The rubric for the project can be found at the following site:

http://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=QX3A4W9&sp=yes

What have you learned about the group you spent time researching? 

How well do you think your group worked together?

What was your favorite part of this project?