Last updated: December 19, 2024
Lesson Plan
Cultural Contact Lesson Plan
International trade partners made Bent's Fort a successful trading post.
NPS/D. Ocheltree
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- Common Core Standards:
- 3.L.4.a, 3.L.4.d, 4.L.4, 4.L.4.a, 5.L.4, 5.L.4.a
- State Standards:
- 4th Geography 2.2.d. Describe how places in CO are connected by movement of goods, services, and tech 4th Econ. 3.1.c. Give examples of kinds of goods and services produced in CO in different historical periods and their connection to economic incentives
- Additional Standards:
- 8th Geography 3.1.a. Give examples of regional, national, and international differences in resources, productivity, and costs that provide a basis for trade 8th Geog 3.1.b. Describe factors that lead to a region having a comparative advantage in trade
- Thinking Skills:
- Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience.
Essential Question
1. Other than animal furs and hides, name 3 common items traded during the fur trade era and the region they came from.
2. Why would a business or nation want to engage in international commerce?
Objective
By examining the origin of trade goods during the fur trade era, students will understand how commerce in early Colorado history served to increase settlement and westward expansion. They will also cite an example for how involvement in international markets have been and continue to be essential to the success of a nation’s economy.
Background
Bent’s Fort began as a trading post in the southern plains during the 1830s. People who visited the post were either from regional Native American tribes or were traders and merchants traveling along the Santa Fe Trail between Santa Fe (then Mexico) and Independence, MO. The trade at Bent’s Fort centered on the buffalo robe market. Cheyenne and Arapaho members hunted and processed the buffalo into large, warm robes to be exchanged for other useful goods like fabrics, cookware, tools, etc. However, the owners of the fort, Charles Bent and his friend, Ceran St. Vrain saw the potential to expand commerce by situating themselves in the Colorado territory between the two ends of the Santa Fe Trail. In fact, Bent’s Fort was the only establishment along the route when it began in 1833. The property was bounded by the Arkansas River to its south, which at that time served as the boundary to Mexico. The Bent, St. Vrain, & Company positioned itself close to the natural resources it needed such as water, game animals, cottonwoods, shortgrass prairie, and buffalo. As a Borderland post, the company had regular access and contact with both Mexico and various other Native American nations.
Preparation
Materials Needed:
- White board or chart paper
- Cultural Contact Narrative and Vocabulary
- Cultural Contact Activity Pages (Spanish available)
- Readable clothing or product tags (student and teacher chosen)
Materials
Main text, vocabulary and definitions for lesson plan featuring first and secondhand accounts during the 1840s regarding fur trade goods.
Download Cultural Contact Lesson Narrative and Vocabulary
Companion activity to lesson where trade goods will be linked to their place of origin.
Download Cultural Contact Activity Page
Spanish version companion activity to lesson where trade goods will be linked to their place of origin.
Lesson Hook/Preview
The day before the lesson, ask group to bring in either a favorite item of clothing or a packaged food with a manufacturing label. Don’t reveal how the label information will be used.
Activity –
- To start the lesson, ask group to look at the label for where the object/food is made or manufactured.
- Have a few extra items on hand for students who may have forgotten or have them look at the tags on the clothing they are wearing currently.
- Call on each person in the group to reveal the country listed.
- Tally these results on chart paper or white board.
- From the data, determine what countries were represented most. Consider why all items were not made in America even though that’s where we live. (Possible answers include – Americans don’t know how to make the item, Americans would rather buy the item cheaply from someone else, America isn’t close to the resources required for that item to be able to make it cheaply, No one in America wants to make that item or has tried to make it and failed.)
- Explain that the situation nearly two hundred years ago is the same as today. Items that were bought, sold, or traded in the 1830s and 1840s were determined by cost, resource availability, supply, and demand. Most societies are not completely self-sufficient. They usually need to look to other regions and people for things which improve their quality of life.
Procedure
1. Assign Cultural Contact Activity Page. Let the group guess without giving background knowledge. Answers will be checked after reading the narrative.
2. Read Background Information aloud to the whole group.
3. Pre-read vocabulary to Cultural Contact Narrative.
4. Assign reading of Narrative according to classroom needs (individual and silent, or paired, small group, or whole group aloud)
5. Encourage students to pause at vocabulary words to reinforce definitions.
6. After reading narrative, check for understanding key points.
7. Return to Cultural Contact Activity Page and check answers.
Answers to photos in row one are as follows: Northwest trade gun (E), Tea (C), Mexican reales (M), Cheyenne backrest (A), Retablo (M).
Answers to photos in row two are as follows: Navajo blanket (A), Chocolate (M), Buffalo robe (A), Trade beads (I).
8. Assign Exit Ticket.
Vocabulary
Textile – a type of cloth or woven fabric
Resource – a stock or supply of money, materials, or people
Economic – relating to production, distribution, or consumption of goods and services
Supply – in economics, the amount of a good or service
Demand – in economics, the buyer’s desire to purchase a good or service
Commerce/Commercial – the activity of buying and selling on a large scale/having to do with commerce
Food staple – a food or drink that is eaten so frequently that it makes up a large portion of the diet
Customs – a government authority which regulates the flow of goods into and out of a country
Assessment Materials
Cultural Contact Exit TicketAssessment Exit Ticket containing the Cultural Contact lesson's two essential questions.
- Other than animal furs and hides, name 3 common items traded during the fur trade era and the region they came from.
- Why would a business or nation want to engage in international commerce?
Assessment containing the Cultural Contact Lesson Plans two essential questions.
Rubric/Answer Key
Cultural Contact Exit TicketPossible answers to essential questions from Cultural Contact Exit Ticket.
Possible answers to essential questions:
1. Other than animal furs and hides, name 3 common items traded during the fur trade era and the region they came from.
- Tea and trade beads – China
- Silver, Mexcian reales, Beans, Chocolate, Tortillas, Chile peppers, livestock, Navajo blanket, retablo – Mexico
- Buffalo robe, Cheyenne backrest, or Navajo blanket – American Great Plains
- Northwest trade gun, calico fabrics, wool blankets – England
- Trade beads – Italy (also China)
- Coffee – South America (Brazil, Columbia, etc.)
- Sugar - Cuba
- A business might want to engage in international commerce because there are items which it needs that it cannot get locally.
- There may be items a nation has to sell which are in greater demand internationally.
- Particular nations have a limited supply of natural resources.
- Things which can be produced in one area cannot be produced in others.
- Establishing international commerce gives access to those resources and items.
- A business or nation may simply want to expand its operation beyond its boundaries to grow its profits.
Supports for Struggling Learners
During lesson hook, pair students to help each other locate their manufacturing label and information.Before reading narrative, pre-read vocabulary terms and definitions. Form small reading groups for the narrative text. Read narrative aloud as a whole group.
Enrichment Activities
Social/Emotional Enrichment
Hold a discussion regarding cultural mixing. Consider ways in which both Charles Bent and Maria Ignacia Jaramillo may have misunderstood each other on account of their cultural difference. Invite group to share experiences where they felt out of place and how they handled it. Give examples where meeting with people from other cultures has been positive and determine the conditions or attitudes which helped encourage understanding and connection.