PREINSTRUCTIONAL

Objectives:

• Students will gain knowledge in one area of the Southwest United States and desert environment through research.
• Students, given one measured area of the room, will plan and design a museum display.
• Students will be representatives of this area, becoming the experts in the topic they choose.

Materials:

• Research books on topic for students (provided by both the student and the teacher).
• Journals for recording planning and development
• Art materials:
  • paint
  • glue
  • construction paper
  • markers
  • dough
  • student choice and need
• Research folders, one for each group

Procedures:

1. Students will choose from the following topics, or propose topics, by ranking their first, second, and third choices on index cards:
   Topics -
   1. American Indians: Navajo, Apache, Pueblo...)
      • Adobe:
        • One clean and empty 8 ounce milk carton
        • A plastic spoon
        • One-half cup dry dirt
        • One-half powdered plaster of paris
        • One-fourth cup water
        • 1 small amount of dry grass or straw clippings
2. Combine dirt and plaster of paris in milk carton
3. Stir in water
4. Add grass clippings until thickened
5. Use spoon to smooth top
6. Put on sunny shelf to dry (overnight)
7. Tear milk carton away from project
8. Irrigation
   (Plant seeds, {radish seeds} don't water one (labeled desert), water one (irrigated))
9. Art
10. Cattle Ranching:
    • Branding stock
    • Famous Ranches
11. How the Spanish settlement changed the Southwest
    • History of the Southwest - Who owned it first?
    • vocabulary (padre, mission, rancho, vaquero...)
    • develop farming
    • introduce farming
    • differences in farming
    • positive and negative effects
12. Clothing in the Southwest (desert)
13. Present-day Arizona
    • Map of state in relation to the United States
    • State flag
    • Travel Brochure (location, environment, sites)
14. Present-day New Mexico
15. Present-day Oklahoma
16. Present-day Texas
17. Animals of the Southwest
18. The teacher will place the students into groups according to interest (groups of two to three).
19. The students will visit the library to find books on their topic, and begin research during allotted time each day.

1. Students will complete research, and begin planning and sketching for their display and presentation, as well as the materials that they will need.
2. The area of the room sectioned for the museum will be measured during math time, and the students will decide what an equal arrangement will be. Each student's ideas will be shared and voted on. This will fit in with the unit on measurement that will be taught during this time.
3. Plans will be approved by the teacher, and material will be gathered.

1. Emphasis will be on the construction of the museum.
2. On Friday, the students will present their museum to invited classrooms. They will be in charge of the presentation and display of material. After the visits, one group at a time will tour the museum in order to gain information from their classmates.

Evaluation:

1. Did the students complete research on their topics? Was this research documented?
2. Were the students able to plan the displays for the museum and arrange them in one measured area of the room?
3. Were the students the representatives of their areas during the presentation of the museum?

Reteaching or Follow-Up:

• The class may discuss what they learned from their classmates after the museum is presented.
• Students may use any research that is possible, including the internet. For students who find research difficult, suitable materials can be checked out from the library.