Lesson Plan

Native American Lithic Tools

Different examples of tools
Grade Level:
Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject:
Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
60 Minutes
Common Core Standards:
3.RL.2
State Standards:
Colorado Academic Standards for Social Studies:
• 5th grade: 1.2.b
• 4th grade: 2.2.a
Colorado Academic Standards for Visual Arts:
• 3rd grade: 3.2.c 4.2.a
Thinking Skills:
Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.

Essential Question

How did Native American use their resources in their daily life? How does it compare to modern day life? What is the difference between an Archaeologist and a Paleontologist?

Objective

Native Americans used the natural resources available to them to develop tools. Students will use natural materials to create their own tools in similar ways that Native Americans did and continue to do.

Background

Indigenous people of the Americas have used natural resources available to them for tools, food, shelter and clothing for thousands of years. In North America, many indigenous people even mined minerals such as turquoise, copper and silver for decorative use. In the southwest region of the United States, the Utes (which inhabited the Florissant valley) depended heavily on their tools and weapons in everyday uses. Tools were used as a means to sustain daily life, while weapons were used as a means of protection and for hunting purposes.
  Interestingly, both Ute men and women played important roles in using/creating weapons and tools. Women often made woven baskets for gathering food, nets of fibers for fishing and hunting rabbits, and pottery out of natural materials. Men made grinding stones, bows and arrows, knives and shields, also out of natural materials. Some of the materials that the Utes used to construct their tools and weapons include: stone, clay, and plant material. Here at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, a Ute lithic tool was recently discovered. The tool was most likely used as a scraper and is made out of Wall Mountain Tuff material.
People who study ancient human artifacts and remains, such as weapons and tools of ancient peoples, are called archaeologists. On the other hand, those who study fossils are called paleontologists. Although both studies involve studying ancient remains and careful collecting techniques, their focuses are completely different. Through archaeology, people look to understand ancient civilizations, whereas through paleontology, people look to understand life on Earth and how environments changed over time.
 

Preparation

Materials:

  • Self-hardening clay
  • Clay sculpting tools
  • Rocks (pebble-sized)
  • Sea shells
  • Beads
  • Leather string
  • Scissors
  • Newspaper
  • Markers
  • Pencils
  • Journals

Materials

Lesson Hook/Preview

The students will get to use their hand to recreate tools that Native Americans could have used for their daily life. The tools will be made using as much materials that can be found outside or easily obtained in a forest, meadow, or other outdoor area.

Procedure

  1. Lay out all materials on a table for display so students can become familiar with the natural resources available to them.
  2. Next, tell the students to observe what materials are abundant and scarce. Inform them that they must be frugal with the scarce materials, but they can be a bit more generous with the abundant materials.
  3. Rather than provide the students image handouts of lithic tools, tell the students they must use their imagination and creativity to design a tool they feel would be useful to them and their family. Get them started on their imagination by posing the following question: What are tools used for? Examples include: food prep, cleaning, personal hygiene, gathering food and plants.
  4. Discourage the students from making weapons. Explain to the students that although weapons were incredibly useful to indigenous people, we do not want to create a safety hazard to the group.
  5. Encourage students to first make a sketch of their lithic tool. They can use paper, or a journal to make a sketch of what they would like their tool to look like.
  6. Have students include notes in their journal about what their tool is, what it is used for, and the materials required to make it.
  7. Once each students tool sketch has been approved by you, instruct them to begin their tool sculpting using the materials available to them on the table.
  8. If clay is dry, add a little bit of water to soften it up.
  9. Once the students are done sculpting, tell them they have the option to decorate their tool using markers. Have the students write their name on their tool as well for identification purposes.

Vocabulary

  • Lithic - Of the nature relating to stone
  • Archaeology - the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.
  • Paleontology - the branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.

Assessment Materials

Reflection/Discussion

Here the students can work in small groups or partners for the assessment.

  1. Inform the students that each of them must make a guess as to what their partners’ tools are and what they are used for. At the end, have each student present to their group what their own tool is and what it is used for.
  2. Are there natural resources in the area you live in that could be useful in creating tools? If there were certain materials you needed but didn’t have available how would you go about obtaining them?
  3. Can you explain the differences between archaeology and paleontology? Which do you find more interesting? Why?

Supports for Struggling Learners

Examples of some tools:
https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-indian-weapons-tools/native-american-tools.htm

Video of a Native American showing examples of what they use with modern day examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIoAfXArWx4

Contact Information

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Tags: native american tools resources archaeology

Last updated: December 1, 2018