Building Blocks Teacher Guide Nature's Building Blocks
Lesson 1: Teacher Guide
Lesson Overview
This introductory lesson helps students identify natural resources and understand that builders use what is nearby. Students will handle materials like clay, wood, and stone to predict where they come from and how they might be used in a home.
Essential Question: "How does the land change how we build?"
Skill Focus: Observation & Categorizing
Materials List
3-4 "Mystery Bags"
Samples of: Clay, Bark, Grass, Stones
Resource Sorting Worksheet
Environment Slides
The Hook: Mystery Bags (10 mins)
Goal: Engaged tactile learners and spark curiosity about natural materials.
Place natural materials in opaque bags (e.g., a lump of clay, a bundle of dry grass, a piece of cedar bark, smooth river stones).
Pass bags around. Students feel (but don't look!) and whisper a guess to a partner.
Teacher Prompt: "Is it hard or soft? Smooth or rough? Do you think this grew in the ground or on a tree?"
Finding Resources (15 mins)
Goal: Define "Natural Resource" and connect materials to specific habitats.
Key Discussion Points:
Deserts: High heat, very few trees, lots of dirt/clay and sun. (Show Slides 3-4)Forests: Lots of trees (wood/bark), shade, leaves, and vines. (Show Slides 5-6)Plains: Wide open grass, few trees, large animals (buffalo). (Show Slides 7-8)
Resource Sorting (15 mins)
Distribute the Building Blocks Worksheet .
Walk through the first item together: "A branch comes from a tree. Where do we see lots of trees?" (Forest).
Circulate as students draw lines or paste pictures to match resources to environments.
Discussion Questions
Thinking Big:
"If we lived in a place with NO trees, what could we use to build a wall?"
Making Connections:
"What is your house today made of? Is it made of things from nature?"
Differentiation
Support:
Provide physical material samples at the student's desk for matching during the worksheet phase.
Challenge:
Ask students to name ONE problem with each material (e.g., 'Grass might blow away' or 'Stone is very heavy').
Nature Blocks Slides Native Peoples of North America
Building Blocks of Nature
Lesson 1: Environments & Resources
Our Big Question:
"How does the land we live on change the way we build our homes?"
What is a Natural Resource?
A Natural Resource is something found in nature that people can use.
Wood
Water
Clay
🪵 Log
🪨 Stone
🌾 Grass
🛖 Adobe
The Desert
Very hot and dry sun.
Very little rain.
Not many trees!
Building Block:
CLAY & DIRT
🌵 🏜️ ☀️ 🌵
The Forest
Plenty of rain.
THOUSANDS of trees.
Bark and big leaves.
Building Block:
WOOD & BARK
🌲 🌳 🌲 🪵
The Plains
Building Block:
BUFFALO HIDE
🦬 🌾 🌬️ 🦬
Time to Explore!
Mystery Bag
Feel the materials without looking. What are they? Where do they belong?
Sorting Time
Match the resources to the environment on your worksheet.
Building Blocks Worksheet Nature's Building Blocks
Resource Sorting Activity
Name:
Date:
Directions: Look at the building materials below. Draw a line from each material to the environment where it is found!
Materials
🪵 Wood Logs
🪨 Large Stones
🏺 Wet Clay
🦬 Animal Hide
Environment
The Desert Hot, dry, and sunny.
🏜️
The Forest Many trees and rain.
🌲
The Plains Flat grass and wind.
🌾
Draw One More!
Think of one more thing from nature you could use to build a home. Draw it here!
Pueblo Teacher Guide Living in the Desert
Lesson 2: Teacher Guide (Pueblo Homes)
Adobe Architects
Students explore the Southwest region to learn how Pueblo peoples used adobe (clay and straw) to build multi-story apartment-style homes. These homes were perfectly designed for the hot, dry climate.
Concept: Adobe stays cool during the hot day and warm at night.
Culture: Pueblo peoples lived in permanent communities.
Simulation Prep
Brown playdough or real mud
Chopped straw or dried grass
Small rectangular molds (opt.)
Adobe Architect Worksheet
The Hook: "Why Doesn't it Melt?" (5 mins)
Show a picture of a Pueblo home on the slides.
Ask: "Does this house look like it's made of mud? If it rains, why doesn't it just melt away?" (Wait for guesses). Explain that the sun bakes it hard like a rock!
Making "Adobe" (25 mins)
Mix: Give students a lump of dough/clay. Have them knead in bits of "straw" (this makes the bricks stronger).Form: Show students how to roll and flatten the dough into small rectangles (bricks).Build: Can they stack two or three bricks? If they were a real Pueblo builder, they would stack hundreds to make a wall.The Ladder: Mention that they used ladders to get to the top floors and pulled them up for safety!
Pueblo Living (10 mins)
Compare these homes to modern apartment buildings. Multiple families lived in one big structure! Discuss how the thick walls kept the inside cool while it was 100 degrees outside.
Teacher Tip:
Focus on the word "ADOBE." Have the class chant it together: "A-DO-BE! Mud, straw, and sun!" This helps 1st graders remember the specific term.
Pueblo Homes Slides Sun & Clay
Living in the Desert Southwest
How do you build a home where there are no trees?
What is a Pueblo?
A Pueblo is a multi-story home made of dirt, clay, and straw.
"It's like a big apartment building made of sun-baked mud!"
The "Adobe" Recipe
🏺
Clay & Mud
Found in the ground.
🌾
Straw
To make it strong.
☀️
Hot Sun
To bake it hard.
MUD + STRAW + SUN = ADOBE!
Why Adobe?
In the desert, the sun is very strong. Thick adobe walls act like a refrigerator !
Keeps the house cool during the day.
Keeps the house warm at night.
🌡️
OUTSIDE
100° HOT
❄️
INSIDE THE PUEBLO
70° COOL
Climb to the Top!
Many Pueblo homes did not have doors on the bottom floor.
How did they get in?
They used wooden ladders to climb through holes in the roof!
They could pull the ladders up to stay safe.
Adobe Architect Worksheet Adobe Architects
Southwest Desert Building
Builder Name:
Step 1: The Adobe Recipe
What three things do you need to make an Adobe brick? Trace the words below.
🏺
CLAY
🌾
STRAW
☀️
SUN
Step 2: How to Build
Put a 1, 2, and 3 in the boxes to show how Pueblo people built their homes!
🏘️
Stack the bricks to make high walls.
🧱
Mix clay and straw to make bricks.
🪜
Add wooden ladders to reach the top.
Step 3: My Desert Home
Draw your own Pueblo apartment. Don't forget the ladder !
Tipi Teacher Guide Traveling the Plains
Lesson 3: Teacher Guide (The Tipi)
Homes on the Move
Students learn about the Great Plains and why nomadic tribes (like the Lakota and Cheyenne) used Tipis . The lesson emphasizes portability and the use of the buffalo as a primary resource.
Engineering: The cone shape is strong against wind and easy to pack.
Geography: The Plains are flat, windy, and full of grass/buffalo.
Tipi Model Kit
Wooden chopsticks/skewers
Large rubber bands or twine
Felt or brown paper (the "hide")
Tipi Tech Worksheet
The Hook: "Pack Up and Go" (5 mins)
Challenge students to see how fast they can "move."
Give each small group a blanket or a large sheet of paper. Tell them: "The buffalo are moving! We have to move too! How fast can you fold your 'home' and be ready to walk?" Time them. This introduces the need for portable homes.
The Gift of the Buffalo (10 mins)
Use the slides to show how every part was used.
Skin (Hide): Used for the tipi cover, clothes, and blankets.Bones: Used for tools and needles.Horns: Used for cups and spoons.
Building a Tipi Model (25 mins)
Guide students through the "tripod" method:
Cross 3 sticks at the top and secure with a rubber band.
Spread the feet out into a triangle (the base).
Lean extra sticks against the tripod.
Wrap the "hide" (paper/felt) around the outside.
Discussion: "Why is the bottom wider than the top?" (Stable in wind).
Teacher Tip:
The word "Nomadic" might be new. Define it simply as "people who move from place to place." Use the analogy of a turtle carrying its home, or a family going camping in a tent!
Tipi Tech Slides Homes that Move
Traveling the Great Plains
Imagine living in a house that you can pack up in minutes!
The Buffalo
Native peoples of the Plains followed giant herds of buffalo.
When the buffalo moved to find fresh grass, the people moved too!
New Word: NOMADIC
🦬
The Tipi
Cone Shape: Wind blows right over it!
Portable: Can be taken down in 20 minutes.
Chimney: Flaps at the top let smoke out.
Nothing Went to Waste!
The Hide
Used for the tipi cover and warm blankets.
The Horns
Carved into cups, spoons, and tools.
The Bones
Used for needles to sew clothes together.
Your Turn: Tipi Tech!
We are going to build a model tipi using sticks and "hides" (paper).
📐
Stable Base
🧵
Wrapped Tight
💨
Wind Proof
Tipi Tech Worksheet Tipi Tech
Great Plains Engineering
Explorer:
The All-In-One Resource
Draw a line from the part of the buffalo to how it was used!
Horns
Hide (Skin)
Bones
🦬
Tipi Cover & Clothes
Spoons & Tools
Cups & Ladles
Tipi Design
Why is the tipi shaped like a triangle or cone ?
A. It looks like a giant ice cream cone.
B. It helps the wind blow right over it.
Tipis were portable . That means they are...
A. Easy to pack up and carry.
B. Made of heavy brick and stone.
My Tipi Decoration
Plains people often painted symbols on their tipi covers. Draw your own symbols below!
Find and Circle: BUFFALO
B X U F F A L O Z P
Woodland Teacher Guide Forest Life
Lesson 4: Teacher Guide (Longhouses & Wigwams)
Communal Living
Students explore the Eastern Woodlands, focusing on the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) and Algonquian tribes. This lesson highlights the use of wood and bark and the concept of "Extended Families" living together.
Longhouse: A permanent home for many families (up to 60 people!).
Wigwam: A smaller, dome-shaped home for one family.
Woodland Kit
Twigs or popsicle sticks
Strips of brown cardstock
Glue or masking tape
Forest Life Worksheet
The Hook: "The Giant Room" (5 mins)
Ask: "Imagine if your house was as long as our whole school hallway! And imagine if your aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all lived in that one big room with you. What would that be like? Quiet? Noisy? Fun?"
Explain: This is how families in the Eastern Woodlands lived in Longhouses !
Wigwam vs. Longhouse (15 mins)
Use slides to compare the two structures.
Longhouse: Rectangular, very long, permanent (made of wood/bark). Multiple families.Wigwam: Dome-shaped, smaller, sometimes portable. One family.Both: Made from the forest! They used bent saplings (young trees) for the frame.
Extended Families (15 mins)
Discuss the roles within a longhouse community. Each family had their own sleeping area (bunk), but they shared fires down the middle for cooking.
Question: "How do you think they decided who does what chores in such a big house?"
Woodland Homes Slides Forest Life
Longhouses & Wigwams
Building with the giants of the forest—Trees!
Resource: Trees
In the Eastern Woodlands, there was wood everywhere !
Logs: For the heavy frame.
Saplings: Flexible baby trees for bending.
Bark: Like shingles for the roof.
🌲 🌳 🪵 🍃
The Longhouse
Living Together
A Longhouse could be 100 feet long !
Up to 20 FAMILIES lived in one home. They were all related—aunts, uncles, and cousins!
Sharing is Caring
Inside, families had their own "bunks" or sleeping areas along the walls.
Families shared cooking fires down the middle of the hall.
Holes in the roof let smoke out from the fires.
Extended Family
"Many families, One Roof!"
The Wigwam
Some tribes used smaller, dome-shaped homes called Wigwams .
🛖 For ONE family.
🪵 Made of bent trees and bark.
Wigwam Shape
Longhouse Shape
Woodland Home Worksheet Forest Home Match
Woodlands Living
Name:
1. The Right Word
Read the sentences. Circle the correct house name!
This big house could hold 20 families.
Longhouse Wigwam
This smaller dome home was for one family.
Longhouse Wigwam
2. Who Lives Here?
Families in the Eastern Woodlands lived with their Extended Family .
Check the boxes of people who might live in a Longhouse with you:
Grandma
Cousins
Aunts
Uncles
🔥
Families shared a fire for cooking.
Draw what they might cook over the fire!
3. Same or Different?
🌵
Pueblo
Southwest
Made of mud & clay .
🌲
Longhouse
Woodlands
Made of wood & bark .
"Both are homes built with things found in NATURE!"
Building Project Teacher Guide Building for Environment
Lesson 5: Teacher Guide (Culminating Project)
Design Challenge
Students apply what they've learned by building a model shelter for a specific environment. They must choose materials that make sense for their assigned "weather report."
Assessment: Can the student explain WHY they used specific materials?
Soft Skills: Design thinking, oral presentation, problem-solving.
Project Stations
Desert (Clay/Dough)
Plains (Paper/Sticks)
Forest (Twigs/Bark)
Design Plan Sheet
The Hook: "The Weather Report" (5 mins)
Put on a "reporter" hat. Call out: "Breaking News! Table 1 is seeing high winds and very few trees! Table 2 is facing 100-degree heat! Table 3 is deep in the woods with lots of rain!"
Assignment: Students must build a home to survive their table's weather.
Plan & Build (30 mins)
Plan: Students draw a quick sketch on their Design Plan Sheet and list 2 materials they will use.Build: Using craft materials, students construct their model. Encourage them to think about height, stability, and "keeping the weather out."
Presentation (15 mins)
Instead of formal speeches, do a Gallery Walk . Half the class stands by their models while the other half rotates.
Prompt for students: "Tell your friend ONE reason why you chose your building material."
Quick Rubric
Criteria Ready (3) Learning (2) Material Choice Matches environment perfectly. Matches partially. Explanation Gives a clear "Why." Needs teacher help to explain.
Shelter Design Slides Design Challenge
Building for the Environment
Are you ready to be an Architect?
Breaking News!
We have three different environments. Listen for your assignment!
🏜️
Team Desert
Hot sun, no trees, lots of dirt!
🌾
Team Plains
Windy fields, herds of animals!
🌲
Team Forest
Rainy woods, thousands of trees!
Your Mission
1
Pick the best material for your weather.
2
Build a model that stands up on its own.
3
Explain WHY you chose that resource.
Architect Tip
"Think like a Native American builder! Use what is nearby."
Choose Your Resources
🏺
CLAY
🪑
WOOD
🧶
TWINE
📄
"HIDES"
🌾
STRAW
🌳
BARK
🖇️
FASTENERS
🎨
PAINT
Gallery Walk
When we finish, we will show our work!
"I used ________ because ________."
Shelter Design Plan Worksheet My Shelter Plan
Design Challenge
Architect:
My Assigned Environment
🏜️ DESERT
🌾 PLAINS
🌲 FOREST
(Circle yours!)
Step 1: Sketch My Home
DRAW YOUR DESIGN HERE
Step 2: My Materials
Write two things from nature you will use for your model:
My Reason
"I chose these because they..."
"Good builders use what they find in nature!"
