The Native Americans and Their Environment  The students will research Native American groups and relate how the environment affected their lifestyles and cultures.  The students will create a slideshow presentation depicting this relationship.  The students will compare Native American groups in order to observe the differences in their lifestyles and cultures.

Move the Cherokee People  Students will explore facts about the Cherokee people, their history, their culture, and their future.  This lesson will help students begin to realize how the actions of our predecessors affected people in the past and today.  The Internet will be used as a research tool to help students learn more about the Trail of Tears.  Students will also have the opportunity to produce a slideshow presentation to share their new knowledge about the Trail of Tears.

A Look at Our Natural Environment  During this lesson students will have the opportunity to research, analyze, and collect data on how the natural environment influenced the Native Americans long ago, and how it still influences us today.  Using information gathered from the Internet, each student group will create a multimedia presentation and share it with the class.

Infectious Disease
Students will be able to define infectious disease, and re-emergence, describe symptoms, mode of transmission, and causes of the disease cholera, explain the destruction cholera had on the people living in and traveling through the West in the 1800's, compare the cholera outbreaks of the 1800's to the 1990's, and examine the symptoms of, modes of transmission, and causes of several (selected) infectious diseases.

What They Left Behind - Early Multi-National Influences in the United States
Students will be able to map 18th-century Europe's impact on what is now the United States, list remnants of European influence that remain today, and connect marks of European influence with specific explorers.

The Creek War - Return to Nativism or International Pawn? Religious War or International Conflict?
Students will identify political issues associated with the Creek War, identify the countries involved in the Creek War, identify the branch of federal government having jurisdiction over Indian affairs as authorized under the U.S. Constitution, analyze the multiple sides of this event: traditional Creeks, "friendly" Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Seminoles, Americans, Spanish and British, evaluate (compare) universal concepts of war: the power of leaders, symbolism, religion, slogans and fear, and understand the complex relationships between American and European settlers and the native Alabamians in the early 19th Century.

Geography Determines History
Upon completion of this lesson, students should be able to describe the geographic location of the Creek War, name the rivers where the battles took place, analyze the importance of geographic features in planning battles, describe the importance of mapping roads through the wilderness, analyze the importance of maps in planning military strategy, and debate the relevance of the statement: geography determines history.

DeSoto Midwestern Conquest Trails - Alabama: A synopsis.

DeSoto's and Vaca's main trail through Florida: A synopsis.

Desoto's SouthEastern Trails: A synopsis.

The Chickasaw Historical Research Page:  A resource about the Chickasaw Nation.

Alabama Department of Archives & History: Timelines, activity sheets, teacher resources.

United States Expansionism:  Includes a look at the formation of the first 13 colonies, the French and Indian War, The Revolutionary War, The Louisiana Purchase, Florida and the Seminole Indians, etc.  United Streaming.

Suggestions for English Language Learners: 
(E/B=Entering/Beginning, D=Developing, E=Expanding)

(E/B, D, E) Students draw pictures to represent their understanding of natural resources.
(E/B, D, E) Students use above examples of literature to find out how land use affects the land and its inhabitants.
(E/B, D, E) Students study a map where Native Americans lived and identify the natural resources   located in the area.
(E/B, D, E) Students use a picture map of how the different groups of Native Americans lived to answer questions asked by teacher.
(E/B, D, E) Students list areas of early settlement and natural resources located in each area.
(E/B, D, E) Students look at pictures of elements of geography in Communities, Adventures in Time and Place to learn about early Native Americans. Students make a picture collage to show their understanding.
(E/B, D, E) Students listen to stories to describe land use by Native American and European Settlements.
(E/B, D, E) Students find out where they originated and then tell why they came to America.
(E/B, D, E) Students copy Venn Diagram that compares Europeans and Africans during the exploration and settlement of America.

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