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Grade 3 Social Studies · World 3: First Nations · Level 20
The Plains
The grasslands: bison, tipis, and earth-lodge villages.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 20
- The Plains: wide, flat grasslands with few trees, and huge herds of bison.
- Huge herds of bison roamed the grasslands. Plains peoples used every part of the bison: meat for food, hides for clothing and tipis, and bones and horns for tools.
- Many nations, like the Lakota, followed the herds and lived in tipis of poles and bison hides that could be packed up and moved. Some, like the Pawnee, also farmed and lived in earth lodges near rivers.
- Later, after the Spanish brought horses to North America, many Plains nations became expert riders.
- Nations of the Plains include the Lakota, the Cheyenne, and the Pawnee. They are still here today, keeping their languages and traditions alive.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:
- SS3H1.a — Locate the regions where American Indians settled in North America: Arctic, Northwest Southwest, Plains, Northeast, and Southeast.
- SS3H1.b — Compare and contrast how American Indians in each region used their environment to obtain food, clothing, and shelter.