Iowa
About the Iowa Lesson
Summary
A lesson on the state of Iowa. The reading is accompanied by true/false questions.
Objectives
• To introduce students to salient features about the state of Iowa and its history.
Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade
Excerpt
Iowa is at the center of the American Midwest, and is called one of the Midwestern States. It is surrounded only by other Midwest States: Minnesota to the north; Wisconsin and Illinois to the east; Missouri to the south; and Nebraska and South Dakota to the west. The eastern boundary of Iowa is defined by the Mississippi River and the western boundary is set by the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers.
Early History
Some of the earliest Native Americans to live in Iowa are identified with the Hopewell culture of the Woodland Period which spanned two thousand years, from 1000 BCE to 1000 CE. The Hopewell culture is dated from 100 BCE to 700 CE and included settlements in the Mississippi Valley. Hopewell settlements contained large mounds that were built by the local people as ceremonial areas as well as for burial. Effigy Mounds National Monument near McGregor, Iowa contains over two hundred mounds. Thirty-one of these mounds are an effigy, an effigy means that it was constructed in the shape of an animal. The largest is Great Bear Mound.
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