A Look at Lifestyles
What aspects of modern life would you be willing to live without? Your television? Your video games? Electricity? When pioneers settled in America they did not have electricity, running water or televisions. They lived a lifestyle of subsistence that would be considered difficult by modern standards. Likewise, Native Americans relied upon the land to provide them with the natural resources they needed. Both cultures survived and thrived without the modern conveniences and luxuries that we often take for granted. Admittedly, living without electricity and running water would be very difficult in our modern world, but what about the other luxuries that we enjoy? What could you live without? Use Project Learning Tree’s “A Look at Lifestyles” to examine the historical attitudes of Native Americans and American Pioneers towards the land and our natural resources. Then explore your own modern lifestyle by defining your needs and deciding what is essential, what maintains our modern lifestyle and what things are luxuries. Finally, identify where all these things come from and the natural resources needed to produce and provide them.
Book List
Grades PreK-2
Aliki. 1986. Corn is Maize: The Gift of the Indians. HarperCollins Publishers.
Bruchac, J. 1998. Earth under Sky Bear's Feet: Native American Poems of the Land. Penguin Young Readers Group.
Carlson, L.W. 1994. More Than Moccasins: A Kid's Activity Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life. Chicago Review Press, Incorporated.
Deedy, C.A. and L.L. Seeley. 1994. Agatha’s Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story. Peachtree Publishers.
Englar, M. 2005. The Great Plains Indians: Daily Life in the 1700s. Capstone Press Inc.
Hennessey, B.G. and L. Cravath. 2001. One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims. Penguin Young Readers Group.
Orie, S. 1996. Did You Hear Wind Sing Your Name? Walker & Company.
Osborne, M.P. and S. Murdocca. 1999. Buffalo Before Breakfast (Magic Tree House Series #18). Random House Childrens Books.
Grades 3-5
Cherry, L. 2002. A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History. Harcourt Children’s Books.
Englar, M. 2005. The Great Plains Indians: Daily Life in the 1700s. Capstone Press Inc.
Erickson, P. 1995. Daily Life in a Covered Wagon. Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.
Goble, P. 2005. All Our Relatives: Traditional Native American Thoughts About Nature. World Wisdom Books.
Greenwood, B. and H. Collins. 1998. Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Henry, J.L., J.A. Zarins, and C.E. Henry. 2002. Log Cabin in the Woods: A True Story about a Pioneer Boy. Guild Press/Emmis Pub.
Mayo, G.W. 1989. Earthmaker's Tales: North American Indian Stories about Earth Happenings. Walker & Company.
Osborne, M.P. and S. Murdocca. 1999. Buffalo Before Breakfast (Magic Tree House Series #18).
Petersen, C. 2004. Conservation. Children’s Press (CT). Random House Childrens Books.
Petersen, C. 2004. Land Preservation. Scholastic Library Publishing.
Terry, M.B.H. 1999. Daily Life in a Plains Indian Village 1868. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Wade, M.D. and H. Dunn. 1997. Homesteading on the Plains: Daily Life in the Land of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lerner Publishing Group.
Warren, A. 1998. Pioneer Girl: Growing up on the Prairie. HarperCollins Publishers.
Wilder, L.I., R. Graef and G. Williams. 1995. Winter Days in the Big Woods. HarperCollins Publishers.
Grades 6-8
Boekhoff, P.M. and S.A. Kallen. 2003. Native Americans of the Great Lakes. Cengage Gale.
Greenwood, B. and H. Collins. 1998. Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Harvey, K.D. and L.D. Harjo. 2006. Indian Country: A History of Native People in America. Fulcrum Publishing.
Kavin, K. 2006. Tools of Native Americans: A Kid's Guide to the History and Culture of the First Americans. Nomad Press VT.
Lindeen, C.K. 2007. Natural and Human-Made. Pebble Books.
Marsh, C. 1996. Iowa Indian!: A Kid's Look at Our State's Chiefs, Tribes, Reservations, Powwows, Lore and More From the Past and the Present. Gallopade International.
May, R. 1987. American Pioneer Family. Rourke Enterprises, Incorporated.
Morgan, S. 2009. Natural Resources. Black Rabbit Books.
Spilsbury, R. and L.A. Spilsbury. 2006. Earth’s Resources. Chelsea House Publishers.
Stille, D.R. 2005. Natural Resources: Using and Protecting Earth’s Supplies. Capstone Press, Inc
Tunis, E. 1976. Frontier Living. HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Warren, A. 1998. Pioneer Girl: Growing up on the Prairie. HarperCollins Publishers.
Grades 9-12
Desonie, D. 2008. Geosphere: The Land and Its Uses. Facts on File, Incorporated.
Parks, P. 2004. Global Resources. Cengage Gale
Pendleton, L. 2003. Native Americans (Discoveries Series). Barnes and Noble.
Tunis, E. 1976. Frontier Living. HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Waldman, C. 1985. Atlas of the North American Indian. Facts on File, Incorporated.
Winters, A. 2006. Destruction of Earth’s Resources: The Need for Sustainable Development. Rosen Publishing Group, Incorporated.
