Education Resources
(Teachers' main page)

The Escalante Pueblo Curriculum
(A guide to teaching with AHC exhibits and archaeological sites)

Suggested Learning Goals for Students

Each year, thousands of students enjoy field trips to the Anasazi Heritage Center. Admission is free for school groups who arrange visits in advance. Museum galleries encourage discovery learning through many interactive exhibits. School groups enjoy adequate bus parking, picnic tables, and facilities for up to 100 students per group.

Leaders should contact us by e-mail or by phone at (970) 882-5600 to discuss your plans as far in advance as possible.

What can you expect to learn? Your field trip will probably focus on:

• The Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) people and other Native American cultures of this area.
• The science and practice of archaeology.
• People's relationship with our environment and landscape.
• Topics related to changing special exhibits on art, history, or regional culture.

HOW TO PREPARE:

PLAN AHEAD:

• Try to visit the museum beforehand. The Escalante Pueblo archaeological site is at the end of a ½ mile interpretive nature trail. The Dominguez Pueblo site is directly in front of the museum building.
• Make sure students understand the field trip’s objective and the product(s) expected of them.
• Several miles west of the museum is Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, a 164,000 acre preserve that includes Sand Canyon Pueblo, Lowry Pueblo, and Painted Hand Pueblos. CANM offers a variety of ecology and archaeology experiences. 

SCHEDULE CAREFULLY: May is our busiest month for school groups. We suggest you consider any other month to avoid crowding. For a complete experience, arrive at the time you scheduled. Call us if you must cancel or are delayed.

ORGANIZE YOUR GROUP: Groups of more than eight students should divide into smaller groups. Plan to provide at least one adult for every eight students. Hold a pre-trip meeting with the other adults. Share management strategies and any trip guides or assignment sheets before the trip. We recommend that:

• Each group should have an adult chaperon who rotates through activity stations along with the group.
• Additional adults should be assigned as facilitators, adults who stay at each station to enhance learning with each group. Teachers make good facilitators. Museum docents may help if staffing is available.

BUILD AN IDEA: Place the field trip in the middle of a larger unit with pre- and post- field trip activities. Establish a learning theme on one specific aspect of archaeology or Puebloan life for the field trip. Have children build on this concept as they move through the museum using their senses, reading displays, and asking questions. (One student-generated question is worth ten staged by a teacher).

ENCOURAGE USE OF THE SENSES: Beside the hands-on activities, other exhibits can also appeal to the five senses through the student's imagination. Even objects behind glass can be appreciated as rough or smooth, hard or soft, complicated or easy to make.

ENCOURAGE ANALYSIS & PERSONAL EXPRESSION: Students should synthesize their learning experience into a picture, story, poem, essay, or some other form.

WRITING SURFACES:. Help students avoid using exhibits as props for writing. Clipboards are available at the front desk.

HANDLE WITH CARE! The museum has many hands-on exhibits, including genuine prehistoric artifacts. Some are fragile, and all should be treated with respect.

SUPERVISE YOUR GROUP: You are responsible for your group's behavior and for keeping groups together in the museum. Discipline problems are rare, but we will contact the group leader should any occur. Continued problems may result in individuals or an entire class being asked to leave the museum. No food or open beverages are allowed inside the galleries. Backpacks and water bottles may be stored in the lobby or multiple use room.

ILLNESS / INJURY: If a student becomes ill or is injured, notify a staff member immediately. One of the group’s adult supervisors must stay with that child for the remainder of the museum visit.

top

GOALS

Plan to use the Anasazi Heritage Center as a resource to reach your overall teaching goal. Define your objectives, and make them measurable. Decide what your students should be able to discuss, demonstrate, or produce as a result of this study unit.

Correlation to Colorado Model Content Standards appear in the Escalante Pueblo Curriculum (Appendix A).

Here are some examples of measurable objectives you might use, depending on the learning level of the class:

Suggested Goals for Elementary School Students.  You might expect elementary-level students to:

• Correctly say the common name of the prehistoric culture which occupied this region.
• Name the group(s) of modern people who are descendants of this culture.
• Identify three building materials the Ancestral Puebloans used.
• Name two wild animals they hunted for food.
• Name the domesticated crops and animals they raised.
• List ways that we are similar to, and different from, these ancient people.
• Write a short story about a day in the life of an Ancestral Puebloan child. (Details about clothing, shelter, food etc, should be accurate as far as what archaeologists know.)
• Suggest three possible reasons why the early inhabitants moved away from this area.
• Identify two reasons why places like the Dominguez and Escalante pueblos are important to preserve.
• Name two ways we can help to preserve them.
• If you need help answering these questions yourself, try looking at our page Who Were the Anasazi?

Suggested Goals for Secondary School Students. You might expect secondary-level students to:

• Explain how and why the name "Anasazi" was applied to this prehistoric culture.
• Name the group(s) of modern people who are descendants of this culture.
• Compare and contrast the environmental challenges of the first farmers with those facing modern residents of the same area.
• Also compare responses to these challenges.
• Write a short story about a day in the life of an Ancestral Puebloan person.(Details about clothing, shelter, food etc, should be accurate as far as what archaeologists know.)
• Identify the following features at Escalante Pueblo: kiva, doorway, Chaco-style architecture, Mesa Verde-style masonry.
• Suggest three possible reasons why the first farmers moved away from this area.
• Identify two reasons why places like the Dominguez and Escalante Pueblos are important to preserve.
• Name two ways we can help to do this.
• Explain two ways that archaeologists determine the age of an artifact or an archaeological site.
• Describe three changes in the people's lifestyles between early and later times (AD 750 vs. AD 1250).

  top