OHIO SOCIAL STUDIES STRANDS

POWERPOINT

The First Global Age: The Characteristics of

the Mississippian Civilization

Grade Six

Matt CrapoJon Hutman

Ellen Rampelt

Table of Contents Strand One: History

Information: Slide 4 Activities: Slide 5

Strand Two: People In Societies Information: Slide 6 Activities: Slide 7

Strand Three: Geography Information: Slide 8 Activities: Slide 9

Strand Four: Economics Information: Slide 10 Activities: Slide 11

Table of Contents Continued

Strand Five: Government Information: Slide 12 Activities: Slide 13

Strand Six: Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Information: Slide 14 Activities: Slide 15

Strand Seven: Social Studies Skills and Methods Information: Slide 17 Activities: Slide 18

Strand Eight: Science Technology and Society Activities: Slide 19

Annotated Websites Slides 20-22

STRAND ONE: HISTORY

The term Mississippian refers to an urban civilization that flourished in eastern North America between the years c. 900 and 1400.

It was the last major prehistoric cultural development in North America

In the early 1400s, before the arrival of Europeans, the civilization mysteriously vanished.

ACTIVITIES Strand One: History

1. Students will go through a National Geographic and find pictures of artifacts. They will paste them on a poster board.

2. Students will create a time line of major events that took place in 1000 AD.

3. Students will create a family tree of their family. They will be expected to go back at least four generations but an incentive will be given to the furthest tree.

4. Students will write a story about how they would fight a battle if they were an Indian.

5. How did the tribes communicate? Come up with your own language and trade with a partner.

STRAND TWO: PEOPLE IN SOCIETIES

The culture spread along the rivers to many parts of what is now the central and eastern United States.

The Mississippian culture was the only known pre-Columbian urban civilization to develop in the Americas north of what is now Mexico.

They made human sacrifices remain unclear, said it appears the deaths were part of a theatrical ritual, and the roles seem to be mythical, possibly a retelling of the story of creation.

Population centers were found in river basins, as their culture was sustained by the cultivation of crops. Towns were subordinate to other towns with more powerful Chief Priests; thus confederacies were established

ACTIVITIES Strand Two: People in societies

1. We will have a tribe day. We will dress up as if we were Indians, discuss what they ate as well.

2. A guest speaker will come to the class. He will discuss the life of an Indian of that time.

3. What did they wear? You draw it on poster board!4. If you were their medicine man, what would you give a

guy with the flu?5. Vegetation patterns were not like they are today. If

you had to plant a field what would you put where?

STRAND THREE: GEOGRAPHY

The Mississippians are also known as the Mound Builders, due to the enormous flat-topped temple mounds they constructed in the centers of their large, well-organized cities.

Among the most important centers of Mississippian culture were Cahokia, Illinois; Moundville, Alabama; and Ocmulgee, Georgia

The Mississippian Culture spanned from Wisconsin and Minnesota in the north, through Georgia to the south, and westward into the Great Plains

ACTIVITIES Strand Three: Geography

1. The students will build mounds with play doe. They will look similar to what the tribes would build.

2. The students will map their territory. It will be done on a worksheet.

3. Draw plants that are unique now but at that time they were very plentiful.

4. The students will watch a movie on how they traveled from place to place.

5. Pretend you are a weather man, what was the average weather in each season. Chart this on a poster.

STRAND FOUR: ECONOMICS

The civilization engaged in trade with surrounding peoples as far away as the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic coast.

It was based on intensive cultivation of corn, beans, squash, and other crops.

Craftwork was executed in copper, shell, stone, wood, and clay.

The Mississippian typically lived along the banks of large rivers for both food, transportation and protection.

These areas provided diversity in plant and animal life, fertile soil, and fresh water.

ACTIVITIESACTIVITIES Strand Four: Economics

1. Students will create posters of different food that was grown and sold for other goods.

2. Students will use a barter system to trade with other classmates basic necessities. This is to show the importance of a plentiful crop.

3. Did they get along with their neighboring tribes? Find out some economic contributions and chart them.

4. If you lived in 1200 AD, what would you have if you were considered rich.

5. There were no manufacturers at this time. Were did they get their necessities from, label this on a poster

STRAND FIVE: GOVERNMENT

It is now generally believed that a form of chiefdom government operated within the Mississippian period.

These chiefdoms, operating out of temple mound complexes, such as Moundville or Etowah, apparently controlled specific territories usually associated with a defined floodplain environment.

Chiefs were responsible for the redistribution of food between outlying communities and the major community.

In all probability, Mississippian chiefdoms controlled only small geographical areas and were in constant states of change because their power rested on fragile agricultural adaptations.

ACTIVITIES Strand Five: Government

1. We live in a democracy. Create a venn diagram that compares and contrast our government and theirs.

2. Women can vote in Americas, cold the always vote? What role did women play in society?

3. Were all men hunters? Create a chart that shows the various jobs of men in the tribe.

4. We know they were mound builders. Why did they create these large piles of earth? This will be done in groups and you will have to give a 4min speech.

5. Have a debate over who killed the deer. You and another tribe member both shot at the same time. You have to act out a debate that could have taken place during those time periods.

STRAND SIX: CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS and

RESPONSIBILITIES Each large town dominated a group

of satellite villages. Monks Mound was a large building

that once stood atop the mound and is believed to have been the ceremonial home of the city’s ruler or an elite clan.

A social hierarchy was present in the Mississippian culture.

Common people were simply buried while people of importance such as chiefs or gods were buried in great mounds.

ACTIVITIES Strand Six: Citizenship rights and

responsibilities. 1. What were the jobs of children? Compare them to the

jobs you do.2. How did they get ready for winter, summer? Show on

a poster the work that was needed.3. You cannot consume alcohol until you are 21. It was

not always like this. What role did alcohol play for the tribes? Show on poster board.

4. Many games were played. Re-create one for the class.5. Dress up like a chief, tell characteristics of a chief.

STRAND SEVEN: SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS and

METHODS Students learn from various methods. It is

our jobs as educators to make sure we reach every student.

Throughout this presentation we have hit every learner style and incorporated exciting activities for each and every student.

ACTIVITIES Strand Seven: Social studies skills and methods

1. Lecture- I tell the students facts. 2. Field trip- we all go to an Indian cite, they get hands

on information.3. Group presentations- the group will teach the class4. Dress up day- we learn their culture and heritage

through their dress.5. Movie day- we learn through the movie

representations and on cite viewing.

STRAND EIGHT: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

Technology should be incorporated in every classroom. It is our job as educators to teach the students the importance of technology in the every day world.

Our activities used different formats of technology while keeping it interesting for the students.

ACTIVITIES Strand Eight: Science technology and

society1. Students will create a Power Point over

mound formations.2. Students will copy and paste pictures of

artifacts.3. Students will create a bibliography for

educational websites based on Mississippian Civilizations.

4. Students will create a group video, choosing one part of the civilization to recreate.

5. Students will tape record a Native American.

ANNOTATED WEBSITES Title: Mississippian Civilization (900-1750

A.D.) Southern region http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/up/upj.html

This website provided great pictures and information on artifacts from the civilization. It could be used for useful research in the classroom.

Title: Definition of Mississippian civilization  

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Mississippian_civilization

This website provides great information about the history of the civilization. It is a great website to start the students learning about the Mississippians.

ANNOTATED WEBSITES Title: Workin' on a mound gang

http://whyfiles.org/135salv_arch/3.html This website provides great descriptions and visual

representations of how the different mounds looked like during the Mississippian era. The students can use this website to help them create their own mounds.

Title: The Mississippian Culture: The Mound builders at Ocmulgee http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/amtours/ocm

ulgee400X200/400X200S/ocmwciv.htm This website provides virtual tours of the mounds, while

also providing great details about each different type of mound.

ANNOTATED WEBSITE Title: Webquest for the Mississippian

Civilization http://www.webinstituteforteachers.org/

~jloredo/web_quest.html This website offers numerous resources and links for

students to research about this culture.