Last updated: September 4, 2019
Lesson Plan
Transportation
- Grade Level:
- Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
- Subject:
- Literacy and Language Arts,Math,Science,Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- State Standards:
- Social Studies:
Fourth Grade
4.1.1,4.1.3
Eighth Grade
8.1.1 ,8.1.2
Language Arts: (writing)
Fourth Grade
W.1,W.2,W.3,W.5,W.6,W.7
Eighth Grade
W.1,W.2,W.3,W.4,W.5,W.6,W.7
Essential Question
Why was transportation important to the Hidatsa?
Objective
The students will:
Discuss travel then and now.
Research design and build a bullboat.
Background
This lesson is part of Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site Teacher's Guide for Grades K-8: Guide to the Earthlodge People. It was written by members of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation for educators.
Lesson 3 integrates active listening and discussion as students learn about transportation from Good Bird The Indian: His Story. Then they research bullboats and design and build a bullboat using the Internet and materials provided by the teacher.
A set of instructions is included in the kit for use with lower grade levels.
Preparation
Transportation Background Information
Book- GoodBird the Indian:His Story
Instructions to build a bull boat
CD - Hidatsa Language
Procedure
Pre-visit
Step1
Tell students that today they will be learning about transportation during the Knife River Indian Villages Days. They will listen to the way Good Bird described bullboats, and research how bullboats were made in order to design and construct their own bullboats out of materials provided.
Step2
Spark student interest by asking them what they already know about bull boats and transportation used by the Hidatsa, Mandan andArikara. Answers will vary, accept all answers within reason.
Step3
Model reading to gain understanding by reading the following sections about bull boats from Good Bird The Indian: His Story:
pp. 7; 9-10; & 47.
Step4
Teacher lead discussion
You may want to provide the focus questions before reading the section and discuss them after the reading.
After reading the transportation background information, ask the students:
1. What materials were used to make bull boats and who made them?
2. What were some of the ways that Good Bird described using bull boats?
3. What other modes of transportation did Good Bird describe in these readings?
Step5
Research/planning
In the computer lab or in a classroom with Internet access.
Guide student inquiry by asking them what some things are that they would "Like to Know" about bull boats. List student responses on a whiteboard or in another place where all answers can beseen.
Instruct them to search the web for information about bull-boats that grabs their interest.
Tell them to pay particular attention to anything they find about bull boat construction and to come up with a plan about how they can construct a model bullboats with the materials provided.
Bullboats down the Yellowstone provides more information about bull boat construction.
Provide students a list of materials that will be supplied for their bull boat construction to facilitate planning. A suggested list of materials for building bullboats includes:
1 large brown paper bag poster board
1 large mixing bowl old newspaper
scissors tape
tape measure
Allow students time to plan their bull boat construction either on their own or as part of a team.
Step 6
Construction
Have the students build a model of a bull boat using information they found online, in books or in the kit. Below is an example on how to build a full size bull boat.
Two sticks of 1-1/4 inch diameter are tied together so as to form around hoop of the size you wish the boat to be, or as large as the skin will cover. Two of those hoops are made, one for the top or brim, and the other for the bottom. Then sticks of the same diameter are crossed at right angles and fastened with a thongs to each hoop, and also where each stick crosses the other. Then the skin, when green [fresh, that is, not tanned] is drawn tight over the frame and fastened with thongs to the brim, or outer hoop, so as to form a perfect basin.
Step 7
1. Ask students what are some of the most interesting things they learned about transportation.
2. Tell students that today they learned about transportation and how the Three Affiliated Tribes got themselves and the things they needed from place to place.
Vocabulary
Bull boat, willow, cottonwood, horses, travois, burden
Assessment Materials
Formative assessment:
Students ask questions during reading and discussion.
Students ask and answer questions during the research phase of their bull boat project.
Summative assessment:
Students answer discussion questions
Additional Resources
Situated on the Missouri River transportation corridor, the villages were an integral part of a vast trading empire; a crossroads of culture where trade goods, ideas, technology, spirituality, and world views were shared.
Bring in a large container, fill it with water and allow students to test their boats to see what kind of load they could transport.
Have a competition to determine who can transport the heaviest load. One suggestion would be to see how many apples their boat could carry and allow the students to eat a healthy snack after the competition.
Contact Information
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