Lesson #5
Lesson Title: Indigenous Cultural Landscape
Grade/Subject: High School/US History Length: 4 45-minute period
Objectives: A.12.8: Identify the world’s ecosystems and analyze how different economic, social, political, religious, and cultural systems have adapted
to them.
A.12.9: Identify and analyze cultural factors, such as human needs, values, ideals, and public policies that influence the design of places such
as an urban center, an industrial park, a public project, or a planned neighborhood.
A.12.13: Give examples and analyze cooperation and conflict in the establishment of cultural regions and political boundaries.
B.12.13: Analyze examples of ongoing change within and across cultures, such as the development of ancient civilizations; the rise of nation-states;
and social, economic, and political revolutions.
C.12.8: Locate, organize, analyze, and use information from various sources to understand an issue of public concern, take a position, and communicate
the position.
E.12.5: Describe the ways cultural and social groups are defined and how they have changed over time.
Materials:
1. Video: Four Lakes Cultural Landscape Streaming Video
2. Video: Lesson 5 Effigy Mounds
3. PowerPoint: What are effigy mounds, interactive
4. Lakeshore Nature Preserve Website (self-direction)
5. Cultural Landscape Lesson Terms Sheet
6. Cultural Landscape Lesson Terms Rubric
7. Effigy Mound Project Rubric
8. Effigy Mound Project Sheet
Procedure:
Opening- Ask: “What are effigy mounds?”
Say: The people that lived in the upper-Midwest or Western Great Lakes region created raised-earth works sometimes
in the shape of animals or other forms. It was common that they were used for burial purposes. They ranged over hundreds
of thousands of square miles, covering the southern half of Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. People
imprinted these sometimes massive images on the landscape. The largest effigy mound ever found was almost a quarter-mile wide.
Say: The First Americans lived in the Great Lakes for 12,000 years, and possibly longer, as we mentioned previously. We are going to
explore how we can see their impact on the landscape, and how there creations reflect aspects of their culture and worldview.
The lesson will lead up to a collaborative project for small groups to demonstrate their understanding of effigy mounds as they
present their findings to the class.
Development-
Say: Madison, WI, is situated in one of the two epicenters of effigy mound creation, and effigy mounds are only found in the upper-Midwest
of the United States. Madison remains a special place with this unique history. We are going to look at the UW Lakeshore Nature
Preserve interactive website that will help us understand more about the mounds:
--http://lakeshorepreserve.wisc.edu/index.htm
--Explore the “Interactive Map” section and the “Reading the Landscape” section
Say: This website will help us develop our projects for this lesson. I want you to explore the site in small groups and complete
your Cultural Landscape Lesson Terms Sheet.
--Handout: Cultural Landscape Lesson Terms Sheet
--Handout: Cultural Landscape Lesson Terms Rubric
Say: We are going to watch a video about the mounds that will help guide our projects.
--Show video clip: Lesson 5 Effigy Mounds (00:02:35min)
--Watch Video UW Cultural Landscape (00:25:00min): http://qtstreamer.doit.wisc.edu/doitcomm/CLFNhigh.mov
Say: We are now going to take a few minutes to check our understanding of what we have just learned. As a self-check, take a few
minutes to run through this review PowerPoint.
-- Have students work through Interactive PowerPoint: Effigy Mounds
Say: For or final projects we will be using our understanding of cultural landscapes to develop our own cultural landscape projects.
--Handout: Effigy Mound Project Rubric
--Handout: Effigy Mound Project Sheet
Closure-
Needed Ancillary Materials
1. Lakeshore Preserve Website
5. UW Cultural Landscape Video
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2. Cultural Landscape Terms Sheet
6. Effigy Mound Interactive PowerPoint ![]()
3. Cultural Landscape Rubric
7. Effigy Mound Project Sheet ![]()
4. Effigy Mounds Video
8. Effigy Mound Project Rubric ![]()
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