Grade 3: Traditional Uses of California Native Plants

• Learn about different tribes of Native Americans throughout California, with emphasis on the local Patwin people
  
• Hands-on experience with acorn grinding, cordmaking, and uses of plants
  
• Enjoy traditional stories and games

Tour Theme and Teaching Points

Explore the diverse ways in which Native Americans from different regions of California traditionally use plants and animals for survival.

Cognitive Teaching Points. Students will understand that:

1. The Arboretum is an outdoor museum that grows plants from different California environments and is home to wildlife.
   
2. Native Americans from different environments in California traditionally use plants and animals in their daily lives.
   
3. The cultures of California Native Americans vary depending on the region in which they live.
   
4. Today, California Native Americans continue to use plants and wildlife to define their culture.

California Department of Education Curriculum Standards

The school program tours at the UC Davis Arboretum are designed to be relevant to particular California State Standards for 3rd Grade History-Social Sciences:

Students learn more about our connections to the past and the ways in which particularly local, but also regional and national, government and traditions have developed and left their marks on current society, providing common memories. Emphasis is on the physical and cultural landscape of California, including the study of American Indians. As a basis for understanding these concepts:

Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past, including national identities, religious beliefs, customs, and various folklore traditions.

Students discuss the ways in which physical geography, including climate, influenced how the local Indian nations adapted to their natural environment (e.g., how they obtained food, clothing, tools).