Make a list of significant geographic features that have influenced how people live on the land in North Dakota. Start with what students already know. Why do you live where you do? What do we know about the earliest people who lived on the northern Great Plains? Where did they live? What resources were available? What types of tools and equipment did they use? What were some of the bigger issues and trends they faced? How did the landscape impact the Europeans and Americans who settled here? Where did they live? What resources were available? What types of tools and equipment did they use? How do students know what they already know? Talk about what their knowledge is based on. Did they grow up in North Dakota? Have they traveled to or lived in places that were different? How so? Have they read about it before, or saw it in a movie or television show?