Virtual Field Trip of Hidden Cave/Grimes Point

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AUTHOR: Revae Henry

 

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: Lovelock Culture/Prehistory

 

GRADE LEVEL(S): 4-6

 

TIME REQUIRED: One 45- minute class period

 

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: The earliest people to reach what is now Nevada came to this region more than 10,000 years ago.  Living in the wave-cut caves and shelters formed by the ancient Lake Lahonton, the Lovelock Cave people lived along the edges of lakes and marshes in western Nevada.  One well-known site is the Grimes Point/Hidden Cave area just east of Fallon.  This site contains petroglyphs that have been dated from 1,000 to 3,500 years ago.  Believed to be following the seasonal migration routes of deer and antelope, the ancient cultures that passed through here literally left their mark by carving ‘glyphs into the rocks and boulders that litter the area. The ancient artifacts excavated from Hidden Cave suggest that these ancient cultures used the cave more for a cache site than for shelter.

 

NEVADA STANDARDS:

Nevada History Standard 3.5.5 Locate Nevada’s earliest Native American inhabitants, known as the Desert Archaic People

Nevada History Standard 3.8.5 Describe the lifestyles of Nevada’s Desert Archaic people.

 

 

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

Students will experience and develop a “sense of place” for Grimes Point and Hidden Cave through a virtual tour. They will identify and define a petroglyph and later create their own petroglyph using methods similar to those of the ancient cultures.

 

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:

Nevada, Our Home, 4th grade textbook pg. 33 and Chapter 3, Lesson 1

Nevada Online www.onlinenevada.org

Carson City Museum www.ccmuseum.org/Programs/hiddencavetour.htm

Grimes Point www.cmdrmark.com/grimes.html

 

 

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

Pre-Requisite:  As a previous lesson, students will read from Nevada, Our Home.  Page 33 discusses the geologic history of Nevada that helped to create the caves.  Chapter 3, Lesson 1 introduces the ancient cultures that populated the Great Basin and introduces the vocabulary Desert Archaic People, prehistoric and petroglyphs.

 

The teacher will narrate the virtual field trip and will facilitate group discussion within the class.  Background and historical information can be accessed through the sites listed above.

 

1.      Access www.onlinenevada.org

2.      Click on Peoples of Nevada

3.      Click on Native American History

4.      Go to the article on Lovelock Culture.  Scan and summarize the article with the students.  Define the Lovelock Culture and relate it to the term “desert archaic people” from their text.

5.      Hit Media Gallery to begin the virtual tour

6.      Begin with the Dry Lake group panoramas.  Discuss the geologic history of the area, emphasizing that this area was once covered by the ancient Lake Lahonton and was later a marshy wetlands.  Explain that the petroglyphs were created 1,000 – 3.500 years ago by ancient Native Americans as they followed and hunted herds of antelope and deer.  Zoom in on the petroglyphs and discuss what they might represent.  Explain how it is believed the symbols are related to hunting and bringing luck to the hunt.  Discuss how the natural resources of a wetland environment could support small groups of Native Americans.  Additional petroglyphs are seen on www.cmdrmark.com/grimes.html.

7.      The next stop is Grimes Point Picnic Cave.  Click on it and see the full view of this shelter.  Explain that the roof of the cave is made up of tufa.  It is a mineral that is created under water, again emphasizing the change this landscape has undergone over millions and thousands of years.

8.      The final stop is Hidden Cave which is located nearby.  A timeline of the cave is on www.ccmuseum.org/programs/hiddencavetour.htm.  Point out that the cave is believed to be a cache point for the ancient peoples as they migrated, rather than as a permanent shelter.

 

 

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:

Students will complete a 3-2-1 of their virtual field trip.  They will list 3 facts they have learned.  Sketch 2 petroglyphs they saw and write what they think it might represent, and write 1 question they have about the Great Basin’s Prehistoric Peoples.

 

Extension:  Create their own petroglyph.  This activity is described on page 51 of the student text Nevada, Our Home.

 

 

 

 

 

Name _____________________

Grimes Point/Hidden Cave

Virtual Field Trip

 

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