|
Where did people settle in New Mexico and why?
Why has water been important for New Mexico?
How have people adapted to their physical environment and allocated water over time?
In this activity, students will study maps of New Mexico examining settlement patterns over time and the location of water sources. They will research the history of their community and discover how cultural groups interacted, adapted to their physical environments, and allocated water for their needs. By conducting research, role playing, and constructing a three-dimensional clay model of land forms and the community, students will discover how people in New Mexico adapted to their environment and survived in this arid environment. |
Content Standard 1: Benchmark A, B, D (5-8)
Content Standard 2: Benchmark A, B, C, D, E, F (5-8)
Content Standard 4: Benchmark A (5-8)
Strand I, Content Standard 1: Benchmark A (5-8)
Strand II, Content Standard 2: Benchmark A (5-8)
Strand III, Content Standard 1: Benchmark A (5-8)
Content Standard 1: Benchmark A, B, C, D (5-8)
Content Standard 2: Benchmark A, C (5-8)
Content Standard 3: Benchmark A, B (5-8)
Content Standard 1: Benchmark Theatre A, B, C; Visual Arts A (5-8)
Content Standard 2: Benchmark Theatre A, B; Visual Arts A, B (5-8)
Content Standard 3: Benchmark Theatre B; Visual Arts A, B (5-8)
Content Standard 4: Benchmark Visual Arts A (5-8)
Content Standard 5: Benchmark Visual Arts A, B, C (5-8)
Content Standard 6: Benchmark Theatre A (5-8)
Students will:
- Explain how cultural groups in New Mexico and in their community adapted to their physical environment and allocated water to meet their needs over time.
- Identify interactions among cultural groups in New Mexico and in their community regarding water use and agricultural production throughout history.
- Research water use and settlement patterns to gain historical understanding about the development of New Mexico.
Maps of New Mexico
Map 1: New Mexico's Major Rivers and Groundwater ( pdf)
Map 2: Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Great Pueblos Sites of New Mexico ( pdf)
Map 3: Hispanic Villages and Missions of New Mexico ( pdf)
Map 4: Historic Forts of New Mexico ( pdf)
Map 5: Major Cities of New Mexico ( pdf)
Project Crossroads: The River Project
Early users of water in New Mexico ( pdf)
Early settlers and water use in New Mexico
Water History Timeline ( pdf)
Timeline of agricultural history in New Mexico (The Historian: click on Timeline)
Acequia photo history
Project Crossroads: The River Project
Maps of explorations of New Mexico (pages 3-5) ( pdf)
Acequias: the history and laws around acequias, State Engineer’s Office
A brief history of Acequias
The Rio Grande Project (8 minute video). College of Agriculture and Home Economics, Box 30003, MSC 3Al, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003, 505-646-5368 or 1-800-750-4156.
Acequias (NM 135), Museum of New Mexico, Office of Statewide Programs and Education, a Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, 505.476.5097 or
Salt Clay
2 cups sifted sand-box sand from building supply, 1 cup cornstarch, 1½ cups cold water
Julyan, Robert. The Place Names of New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996.
History Department at New Mexico State University, Time Traveling through New Mexico History: A Teacher’s Guide. The Spanish Colonial Period and life on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (1750–1800). 505.646.2490,
http://web.nmsu.edu/~publhist/
- Print Map 1: New Mexico’s Major Rivers and Groundwater (pdf) and have students examine it. Have them find their community on the map and identify the nearest water sources.
- Create transparencies for all maps: Map 1: New Mexico’s Major Rivers and Groundwater (pdf); Map 2: Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Great Pueblos Sites of New Mexico (pdf); Map 3: Hispanic Villages and Missions of New Mexico (pdf); Map 4: Historic Forts of New Mexico (pdf); and Map 5: Major Cities of New Mexico (pdf).
- Place the transparency of Map 1 on an overhead projector. Layer each map over Map 1 to see how the Archaic and Pueblo sites, Hispanic villages and missions, historic forts, and major cities are located relative to the rivers and aquifers in Map 1. Ask students to consider why people settled where they did. How did they get water if they were not near a river? Where did people who settled in and near their community get water?
- Have students read Early users of water in New Mexico (pdf) and Early settlers and water use in New Mexico. Define new terms. Consult the Water Glossary as needed.
- As a class, look at the Water history timeline (pdf) of the Middle Rio Grande. Discuss which cultures (Native Americans, Hispanic colonists and settlers, Anglos, or others) settled in your area. How does this timeline compare with your community's history? Have students create a water timeline to illustrate water history in their community. This may require some additional library or web research.
- Divide students into three groups, representing three cultural groups in your community, such as Pueblo Indians, Spanish Settlers, and Anglos (or Latest Settlers). You may want to have six groups, two of each kind. Have each group research types of water use for those people. Consider how their water users adapted to the physical environment. Have students document how they collected, diverted, allocated, and conserved water.
Use the following websites as resources: Acequia Photo History, Timeline of agricultural history in New Mexico (Go to The Historian under Learning Roles and click on Timeline), Acequias, and A Brief History of Acequias. Library research is also an option.
- Have groups representing water users report their findings. Students should create charts, maps, diagrams, or other visual aids to support written or PowerPoint reports.
- Have each student group assume the role of their water user. Have the groups interact with one another explaining and discussing how they collected, diverted, allocated, and conserved water.
- Ask students to analyze and discuss how the groups interacted. What influence did the Pueblos have on the Spanish settlers and vice versa? What influence did the ‘Anglos’ have on the other two groups and vice versa? Who controlled and allocated water? How did this compare among the groups? How did this change over time?
2 cups sifted sand-box sand from building supply
1 cup cornstarch
1½ cups cold water
Combine ingredients in an old pot. Mix with a wooden spoon. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 5–10 minutes until mix is very thick. Turn onto a plate and cover with a wet cloth. Cool. Knead a bit to improve texture. Keep in tightly sealed bag in refrigerator.
- Find a worksurface such as a table, floor, plywood, etc. to create the landscape model. Cover the area with plastic sheeting.
- Give each group their own slab of clay (use groups from role-playing activity). Later, you may want to piece the models together.
- Each group will model an area of New Mexico where their water user lived. Include and identify the rivers, landforms, and other water sources.
- Collect sticks, leaves, bark and other natural or recycled materials to construct the villages, towns, and surrounding environment.
- Construct major land forms and channels to irrigate fields (if applicable). Create villages or towns, and indicate their water sources.
- Have students compare their models. Describe similarities and differences in the physical environments, housing, water technologies, and other features?
- Invite family and community members to the school for students to share their reports, models, and displays about their water user groups. Their projects should demonstrate their knowledge about how water was obtained and used during that time and by their particular water user group.
- During the presentation, students assume the role of a member of their water user group. They act out a brief encounter between two or more of the groups. Their performance should represent an understanding of the different points of view between the historic water user groups in their community.
- To what extent did students to explain how communities in New Mexico adapted to their physical environments and allocated water resources over time?
- How well did students identify interactions of water user groups and agricultural production throughout history?
- How effectively did students gain historical understanding about developments in New Mexico through researching water use and related settlement patterns?
- Study the early Spanish explorations into New Mexico. How did their routes relate to waterways? Where did they settle and why? Consult the Maps of Explorations of New Mexico.
- Study Spanish land grants in New Mexico. What laws governed how Spanish colonists claimed rights to land and water? Which, if any, of these laws are still in effect today? How did these compare to principles American Indians in New Mexico lived by?
- Explore place names in New Mexico. How did cities, towns, mountains, rivers, and geographic features in New Mexico get their names? Does water have anything to do with some names? Consult The Place Names of New Mexico to find out more about how your town or nearby land features got their name.
- Look at historic photographs of water images in New Mexico from the Picture Gallery. Talk with students about how water technologies have changed over time.
- View one or both of the videos from the resource list, The Rio Grande Project or Acequias, to learn more about irrigation technologies in New Mexico. Research and discuss farming and irrigation technologies in your community. Have students trace an acequia or irrigation ditch to its source. Where does the water come from? Where does it flow to? How is the water used? What technologies are used to channel and divert water?
- Work with an artist to create a mural or dramatic performance representing life in the community during a particular time in New Mexico’s history. What is the setting or physical environment? Who are the characters? What are their roles? What emotions and attitudes do they have about water? How do they interact?
- Conduct a time traveling exercise in which students play characters during an historical period. Consult with the Public History Department at New Mexico State University, Time Traveling Through New Mexico History: A Teacher’s Guide: the Spanish Colonial Period and life on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (1750-1800), 505-646-2490, http://web.nmsu.edu/~publhist/.
Agriculture Made New Mexico Possible
Sharing the Rio Grande
References ( pdf) on New Mexico history, acequias, water history, and water use in New Mexico
Hispanic Folk Arts and the Environment, Museum of International Folk Art, a Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs
Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments of New Mexico
New Mexico Museum of Natural History, A Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs; U.S. Geological Survey; and U.S.D.A. Forest Service
Project Crossroads: The River Project, A Seventh Grade Interdisciplinary Curriculum for the Rio Grande
 |
Maps and Models 