HPCC Lesson Plan Series
“Florida’s First People:
A Visit to the Indian
Temple Mound Museum”
Lesson Plan: Lower Elementary Grades K-2
Using the ITMM and Fort Walton Temple Mound
as a Learning Environment
© 2008 Heritage Park & Cultural Center www.fwb.org/museum
WHAT WILL MY CLASS LEARN AT THE MUSEUM?
The Indian Temple Mound Museum (ITMM) showcases some of the finest prehistoric Native
American bone, shell, stone, and ceramic artifacts in the Southeastern United States left behind
by Florida’s First People. Through a presentation and accompanying tour of the gallery as well
as the actual Temple Mound itself, a National Historic Landmark, this program is designed to
introduce students, grades K to 2, to Florida’s First People, who migrated and settled in Florida
some 14,000 years ago and flourished until the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century
changed their way of life forever. An emphasis will be placed on how they lived in preColumbian time, with a concentration on the Mississippian Culture that once lived in this region.
COURSE OF STUDY
This lesson plan and accompanying tour will meet the following Language and Arts and
Social Studies Sunshine State Standards for students:
Grades K-2
LA.A.1.1.4 Increases comprehension by rereading, retelling, and discussion.
LA.B.1.1.2 Drafts and revises simple sentences and passages, stories, letters, and simple
explanations that: express ideas clearly; show an awareness of topic and audience; have a
beginning, middle, and ending; effectively use common words; have supporting detail; and are in
legible printing.
LA.C.1.1.3 Carries on a conversation with another person, seeking answers and further
explanations of the other’s ideas through questioning and answering.
LA.C.1.1.4 Retells specific details of information heard, including sequence of events.
SS.A.1.1.2 Understands that history tells the story of people and events of other times and places.
SS.A.1.1.4 Understands broad categories of time (e.g., past, present, and future: yesterday, today,
and tomorrow) and calendar time (Days, weeks, months, and years).
SS.A.2.1.1 Knows methods of communication from long ago and the technological
developments that facilitated communications (E.g., speaking by gestures; transmitting stories
orally; the use of pictographs, hieroglyphics and different alphabets; writing by hand and printing
with machines).
SS.A.3.1.3 Understands the cultural traditions and contributions of various societies since the
Renaissance (E.g., the role of folktales and literature in transmitting cultural beliefs and the
holidays and ceremonies of different cultures).
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TOUR OBJECTIVES
1. Students will be introduced to the Native Americans who first occupied Florida.
2. Students will understand how these Native Americans lived in the local area.
3. Students will explore the gallery and gain an appreciation for the cultural and historic
resources Florida has to offer.
MATERIALS PROVIDED:
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Overview of Florida’s First People
Extensions: The Clothes They Wore (Part 1: Pre-Visit and Part 2: Post-Visit Activities)
Prehistoric Native American Clothing Handout
TEACHER NOTES: Overview of Florida’s First People
Florida’s First People did not have a system of writing, thus they did not leave behind a
written record. Consequently, we do not know exactly how they viewed their own ways of life or
even what they called themselves. Yet evidence does exist that helps us to explain how they
came to America, who they were as a people, and how and why their societies and cultures
evolved over time.
On the one hand, written accounts from early European explorers who encountered Florida’s
First People at a late stage in their cultural development provide some detail on their society and
culture, but these are susceptible to exaggeration, predispositions, or outright fabrication for
varying motives. On the other hand, archaeologists have been able to piece together who these
people were by using various modern scientific methodologies and practices to interpret the
artifacts that they did leave behind for us to study, but are limited in the amount of information
they can gather that has been lost to the ravages of time. By corroborating these primary and
secondary materials, however, much has been discovered about these people.
These First People, or pre-historic Native Americans, are the ancestors of what became the
Native American tribes we know of today (Seminole, Creek, etc.). As abovementioned, we do
not know what these First People called themselves, so for clarity scientists have identified them
through specific cultural traits and developments through the scale of time.
Scientists have divided the pre-historic Native Americans into broad stages in order to make
it easier to know when something happened in relation to others. Our gallery follows these same
periods, beginning chronologically with the least complex cultural stage and ending with the
most complex cultural stage. Each cultural stage is “defined by changes in technology, material
culture, and sociopolitical organization.”1 Scientists have categorized these time periods as the
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Paleolithic Stage (13000 BC -8000 BC), Archaic Stage (8000 BC-1000 BC), Woodland Stage
(1000 BC-1000 AD), and Mississippian Stage (1000 AD-1500). Each case in our gallery follows
this same criterion and is labeled accordingly. Provided below is general information on each
time period in which the ITMM’s exhibit is based upon.
The Peopling of the Americas
Although it is still a topic of considerable debate among some researchers within several
scientific disciplines, the migration of people into North America is essentially where the history
of Native Americans, and America, begins. The debate essentially centers on whether people
moved across land to occupy the America’s or traveled by sea along the coast. Additionally, the
chronology of when exactly people migrated is disputed as well. Some claim dates as far back as
40,000 years ago, while others cite evidence that suggests 25,000 years ago.2
Nonetheless, the most widely accepted view and what is considered to be without doubt is
that around 14,000 years ago small bands of Big Game hunter-gatherers from Siberia, or Eurasia,
followed Ice Age animals into North America in what is today Alaska via the Bering Land
Bridge, or “Beringia,” a land bridge that once connected North America and Eurasia but has
since been covered with water due to the melting of glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age.
Within a relatively short period of time, these nomadic hunter-gatherers quickly spread
throughout the Americas, eventually making their way to what is now Florida, and subsisted on
both large and small game as well as gathered plants along the way.3
Paleo-Indian Stage
Scientists call the descendents of these nomadic hunters who crossed Beringia and first
occupied the Americas Paleo-Indians, which literally means “ancient Indians.”4 The Paleo-Indian
is “the first recognized cultural stage” by scientists who study the First People, and spans from
roughly 13000 BC to 8000 BC respectively. 5 It is marked by the initial colonization of the
Americas by people who most likely originated from a Siberian cultural prototype.6
During this time period, Florida was physically and climatically much different than it is
today. This was a time when the world was at the end stages of the Pleistocene period, or Ice
Age, and large glaciers covered much of Europe and North America. As a result, sea levels were
much lower and the coasts were much farther out. Additionally, the low sea levels and massive
glaciers made Florida cool and arid, which “meant that a different array of animals and plants
were present,” such as Big Game species like mammoths, mastodons, Pleistocene horses, and
bison.7 These Big Game mammals were extremely important to the Paleo-Indians, and for a large
part accounted for their nomadic life ways as they were a main source of subsistence. However,
somewhere in between 10000 BC and 8000 BC these Big Game animals became extinct most
likely due to the impact of global warming on subsistence patterns, possibly disease, and over
hunting by Florida’s First People.8 This had a huge impact on their life ways and accounts for the
changes that took place later on.
Few concrete details exist about Paleo-Indians due to the fact that the population was not
large enough to leave behind large quantities of artifacts; much of the artifacts that were left
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behind have since deteriorated because it was such a long time ago, and many artifacts that do
exist are now under water as a result of the rising of the sea level over the past 14,000 years.
Based on the existing preponderance of evidence, archaeologists theorize that the tool-kit
these people carried “contained well-made portable and efficient tools” that were “designed
primarily for hunting and processing animals.”9 They probably traveled in small bands that were
“highly mobile” and “they had hunting and fishing based economy.”10 This allowed them to
“move easily and successfully into new environmental areas.”11 Traditionally, Paleo-Indians are
described as “hunting and gathering nomads, moving seasonably as the availability of game and
wild plant foods changed, settling only for brief periods when resources such as nuts or fruits
were temporarily plentiful.”12
Archaic Stage
As the climate began to change throughout North America and what is today Florida, so too
did the life ways of pre-historic Native Americans. These climatic alterations correspond to the
Archaic Stage, which began around 8000 BC and ended in 1000 BC. By 8000 BC global
warming caused the climate to become less cool and melted glaciers, resulting in a rising sea
level and led “to more rainfall and less arid conditions.”13 As a consequence, “water sources
were no longer in short supply,” and prehistoric Native Americans “had more places to camp and
they could stay longer at each camp.”14
In this time period large game animals such as bison and mammoth became extinct, which
made smaller game animals, nuts, seeds, and shellfish much more important to the diet of
prehistoric Native Americans and changed their old ways of nomadic hunter-gathering. During
this stage, people “greatly expanded their knowledge of resources” and “became experts in
tapping the wealth of resources in the forests, river valleys, and coastal areas.”15
The key developments in this stage include increased sedentism, earthwork building, and
large base camp settlements. Several key subsistence changes took place, such as the “inclusion
of aquatic resources in the diet, the cultivation of bottle gourds and squash for containers, and the
use of fired clay.”16 Technological developments in the Archaic Stage were the “invention and
improvement of the atlatl, ground and polished stone artifacts, and the use of shell for tools and
ornaments.”17 And finally, cultural developments included “the first construction of mounds and
earthworks, the formation of large settlements and sites, and establishment of long-distance
trade.”18
Woodland Stage
Dr. Judith Bense, a professor of archaeology at the University of West Florida and founder of
its Archaeology Institute, has perhaps best described the next stage of prehistoric Native
American cultural development with the word “more.” As Dr. Bense explains:
There were more people concentrated in river valleys and along the coastal strip, more
pottery was used throughout the region, more earth mounds were built and used for
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burial, more elaborate mortuary rituals were conducted, more trade developed and more
plants were cultivated and stored.19
People in this period “practiced horticulture, made pottery, used the bow and arrow, buried
their dead in cemeteries marked by mounds of earth, and lived in permanent villages.”20
During the Woodland Stage, 1000 BC to 1000 AD, people became even more sedentary. As
an effect of people living together in large groups, not as many people were needed to collect
food. This resulted in some individuals becoming specialized in certain crafts, such as pottery
making. Before this time period, specifically in the Archaic Stage, containers were
predominantly made out of soft, workable stone. However, the Woodland period people began to
use clay more widely. In our gallery, you will see that the ceramic pieces in the Woodland
display are very intricate in design and detail. In fact “pottery was employed for a wider range of
purposes” during the Woodland stage and innovations in pottery technology increased rapidly.21
A major technological innovation during the Woodland Stage was the bow and arrow, which
over time replaced the use of the ataltl. Mound building became a major hallmark during this
time period as well. Most mounds, however, “were singular and the majority of settlements did
not have mounds.”22 For the most part, mound centers served as focal points for “social,
political, and religious events, while the general population was dispersed in the countryside in
relatively small settlements.”23
Mississippian Stage
The last and most complex cultural stage in the development of pre-historic Native
Americans is called the Mississippian Stage, which lasted from 1000 AD to 1500. This period of
time was named Mississippian by scientists because its primary features were first identified by
researchers along the Mississippi Valley. It began when prehistoric Native American culture
became extremely complex and ended with the arrival of the Europeans who changed their life
ways drastically. Key features of this period include “the development of chiefdoms and the
Southeastern Ceremonial complex, and Platform Mound Centers.”24
People in this time period relied heavily on agriculture, but also collected food from the sea
and continued hunting to supplement their diets. A wide variety of crops were cultivated, which
included “maize, beans, squash, sunflower, marsh elder, and gourd.”25 The Southeastern
Ceremonial Complex marks another major development during the Mississippian Stage, and
encompasses the belief system of the people of the Mississippian Stage. Its “main themes were
ancestor worship, war, and fertility, and these themes were expressed in a myriad of symbols and
objects.”26
Rituals and mounds were the primary means of political control over large chiefdoms.
Settlements were permanent, and came to be more like primitive cities, with large populations
and specialization in the work force. Unlike the other stages, which were egalitarian in nature,
the social hierarchies of the Mississippian chiefdoms were quite rigid, with a leader who had
both political and religious control over the people. Several smaller chiefdoms spread out across
a wide area would normally be under the rule of a much larger chiefdom, or paramount
chiefdom. Trade was widespread throughout the entire North American continent.
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Social status was inherited, and warfare between contending chiefdoms became
commonplace as warfare replaced ceremonialism as the primary means of control over large
regions of territory. Instability, violence, and reorganization of complex chiefdoms became
widespread at the end of this stage due to environmental and political catastrophes. This stage
came to an end with the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century.
VOCABULARY LIST
Artifact- Any object made by human beings, such as a tool, garment, dwelling, or ornament.
Also, any marking in or on the earth indicating the previous existence of such an object. The
artifacts generally found by archaeologists may have been lost or deliberately left behind
History- Anything that happened in the past that was recorded
Mound- A large earthen construction built by pre-historic American Indians as a substructure for
a public building or to contain human graves
Moundbuilders- The prehistoric builders of earthen mounds, once thought to be a lost race but
now known to be the ancestors of modern American Indians
Museum- A building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study,
exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value
Pre-Columbian Of, relating to, or originating in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus
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GETTING STARTED:
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Teachers wishing to utilize this lesson plan will need to arrange a tour of Indian Temple
Mound Museum for their classes. You may call the City of Fort Walton Beach Heritage Park
and Cultural Center at (850) 833-9595 to make arrangements for available days.
There is an admission fee of $2.00 per student/ chaperone for tax-exempt schools and a fee of
$2.12 for non-tax-exempt schools. Bus drivers and teachers are always free.
Once your trip has been confirmed, a package with information will be sent to you. Please be
sure to read over the material in your package before your trip. You will find helpful parking,
payment and behavior instructions.
Discuss the Pre-Visit Activity with your students to prepare them for their visit to the
museum. Students may also find the time post information useful for recognizing the
changing times in the panhandle. There are also associated vocabulary words. Discuss what
your students will experience at the museum and the behavior expected of them. See exhibit
rules.
EXHIBIT RULES:
The Indian Temple Mound Museum Exhibit Rules to make your experience an entertaining and
educational field trip experience.
•
Please remember that adult supervision is required inside the museum at all times.
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The museum exhibits are fragile and require that students appreciate that the building they
are in has a commitment to preservation and protection.
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There will be no running or horseplay inside the museum.
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There will be no food or drinks inside the museum. (Please inform your chaperones as
well)
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Please use common classroom courtesy and instruct the students to use their inside voices
when discussions are taking place inside the museum. Chaperones should refrain from
talking to one another during the presentation and cell phones should be silenced.
•
Remember to have fun!
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TIMEPOSTS:
Time posts are designed to help students orient themselves with the time period being
discussed. The time post below will assist in taking the class back through the ages to the period
they will encounter at the museum.
2008 The Summer Olympics are held in Beijing. U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps wins the most
gold medals for a single person in history.
2000 George W. Bush elected into office as President of the United States of America.
25 Years ago (1980s) E.T. the Extraterrestrial released in theatres (1982).
50 Years ago (1950s) Explorer 1, the United States first satellite launched into space from
Florida, successfully orbits the earth (1958).
150 Years ago (1840s) Florida admitted into the Union and becomes 27th state of the United
States of America (1845)
230 Years ago (1770s) 13 British colonies in North America declare independence from Great
Britain and eventually become United States (1776)
400 Years ago (early 1600s) Pilgrims land on Plymouth Rock (1620)
500 Years ago (early 1500s) Christopher Columbus discovers the New World (1492). Ponce de
Leon lands in Florida and gives Florida its name (1513).
1,000 Years ago (1000 AD) Viking raider Leif Eriksson becomes first documented European to
discover North America, calls it Vinland. Native Americans from Mississippian Stage living on
and around Fort Walton Temple Mound.
5,000 Years ago (4000 BC) Sumer, the oldest known ancient civilization in the Middle East,
arises out of modern day Iraq.
10,000 Years ago (8000 BC) Native Americans, or “First People,” arrive in Florida.
14,000 Years ago (12000 BC) Nomadic people from Siberia cross Bering Land Bridge and enter
North America. For the first time North America is occupied by mankind.
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SETTING THE STAGE: (students will receive this information during presentation
at ITMM)
Who first lived here?
Native Americans first lived at this site. They made all the wonderful things inside the Indian
Temple Mound Museum.
When did they first get here?
They first arrived in Florida around 10,000 years ago, and started to live in this area over
1,000 years ago.
Why did they choose to live here?
They chose to live here because they were attracted to this area because of the excellent
living conditions. The climate was mild, with much rain. Forests provided deer and rabbit and
other animals to eat, and numerous rivers and lakes as well as the ocean yielded many kinds of
fish.
What was their town like?
Native Americans did not build towns the same way we do today, with paved roads, tall
buildings, stores, restaurants, banks, churches, etc. They built some of their towns in a very
special way. They built a small village spread out all around a large mound. There were no tall
buildings or paved roads. Most people lived in small huts made from local materials usually tied
together with some sort of cordage available to them. They made everything from the
environment around them.
Where is the mound?
The mound is right outside of the ITMM. Native Americans built it in the center of their
town. The mound is a large hill that the Native Americans made by carrying one basket of dirt at
a time to create it. It was a special place where they built a building on top that the most
important person lived in. This was the chief. He was very important to the people of the village.
The chief was the lawyer, the judge, the doctor, the leader, and the priest of the village. He was
one busy person!
What type of jobs did they have?
Everybody had to work. Fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, children, and even the
teenagers had jobs. Everybody helped around the house. Men were in charge of the hunting and
building homes, as well as fishing; while women and children were in charge of planting,
gathering, and food preparation.
What types of food did they eat?
They ate all types of food, both plant and animal. They ate deer, rabbit, squirrel, bear, fish,
corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, nuts and many others.
How did they dress?
The Native Americans that lived here did not wear much clothing at that time. But both men
and women wore necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, and even anklets. They wore feathers in
their hair and sometimes even tattooed their bodies!
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EXTENSIONS
The Clothes They Wore
Overview:
Prehistoric Native Americans used the environment around them to make all the objects they
owned. They utilized a variety of stone and plant and animal species to manufacture their tools,
construct their homes, and create their clothing. The type of clothing they wore depended on
many factors, such as the local climate conditions as well as the types of animals and plants that
were available to them (ecosystems). These classroom activities are designed in two parts. The
first part is to be completed in class before students visit the ITMM. The second part is to be
concluded after students have visited the ITMM.
Purpose:
This activity is designed to spark student’s interest in Native American culture and life ways.
Students will understand that prehistoric Native Americans were limited in what they could
make by their surrounding environment.
Learning Objectives:
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Students will understand that Native Americans could not buy their belongings at stores
like we do today, but had to make everything from the world around them.
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Students will compare and contrast the clothing we wear in our society with what
prehistoric Native Americans in the local area wore.
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Students will understand that not all Native Americans wore the same types of clothing;
but that it depended on the types of materials they had access to as well as the type of
climate around them.
Materials Needed:
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Copies of Prehistoric Native American Clothing handout
Paper and pencils
Blackboard or Eraser board with chalk or marker
Crayons or markers
Pre-Visit Procedure:
1) Tell your students that Native Americans wore much different clothing than we do today.
Explain to them that even Native Americans dressed differently depending on where they lived
and what materials were available to them. Tell them that Native Americans lived in Fort Walton
Beach a long time ago, and they had to make all their clothing by themselves.
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2) Ask students to look around the room and observe all the different clothing everyone is
wearing. Tell students to get out a sheet of paper and write down the different types of clothing
and objects (glasses, necklaces, watches, etc.) they observe. Have a class discussion on the
different types of clothing they have identified around the classroom. Ask questions such as
where they got their clothing and objects (from a store). Also ask them if they wear the same
type of clothing all year round (winter, spring, and summer).
3) Next, have your students make a list of what clothing they think Native Americans wore.
Students will probably describe Native American clothing from the 19th century particularly of
the Sioux Tribe (headdresses, moccasins, long leather dresses with fringes, bow and arrow, etc.).
Write down on blackboard or dry erase board different responses.
4) Tell your students that they will visit the ITMM and they will see the type of clothing Native
Americans from a very long time ago wore in Florida. Explain that they need to pay attention to
the presentation because it will show them what they looked like. Ask your students to submit
their lists.
POST-Visit Procedure:
1) Hand students list back to them. Ask students to compare and contrast their lists with what
they learned on their field trip to the ITMM. Instruct students to write down new list of what prehistoric Native Americans wore based on what they learned.
2) Have a classroom discussion on why they think Native Americans in Fort Walton Beach did
not wear much clothing (the climate was warm). Ask them questions such as how people who
live in cold climates might dress differently than people in warmer climates. Use Inuit’s
(Eskimos) as an example of Native Americans who live in very cold climates dressing differently
from Native Americans that dress in tropical climates. Ask students to name some materials that
Native Americans living in Florida might be able to make their clothing out of. Write responses
on board.
3) Pass out copies of Native American Clothing handout. Emphasize to them that this is the type
of clothing that Native Americans a very long time ago wore in Florida, but not all Native
Americans looked like this. For higher grade level, have students write an expository paragraph
that describes what Native Americans living in the Fort Walton Beach area looked like and based
on handout to compare and contrast male and female attire. For lower grade level, have students
color Native American Clothing handout.
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Native American Clothing
Endnotes
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Endnotes
1
Judith A. Bense, Archaeology of the Southeastern United States: Paleoindian to World War I, Academic Press,
San Diego, 1994, 3.
2
Brian M. Fagan, The Great Journey: The Peopling of Ancient America 2004 Edition, viii, University Press of
Florida, Gainesville, 2004.
3
Jerald Milanich, Florida’s Indians from Ancient Times to the Present, University of Florida Press, 1998,
4
Ibid.
5
Archaeology of the Southeastern United States, 38.
6
Archaeology, 47.
7
Florida’s Indians, 3.
8
Archaeology, 24.
9
Ibid., 58
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
The Paleoindian Historical Context, Nina Borremans, Florida Department of State, Office of Cultural and
Historical Programs, http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/facts/reports/contexts/paleo.cfm.
13
Florida Indians, 12
14
Ibid.
15
Archaeology, 105
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid.62
19
Archaeology 110.
20
Dean R. Snow, The Archaeology of North America, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, 1989, 139.
21
Archaeology, 110
22
Ibid., 182
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid., 184
25
Ibid., 252
26
Ibid.
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