In this unit, students from grades 4 through 12 study the cultural areas, traits, and life-styles of the North American Indians before settlement by the white man. Students examine the cultural traits of the Indians who live in 12 cultural areas to note the cause-and-effect relationship of traits to the environment and to make comparisons between cultural areas. The materials consist of 12 student booklets and a teacher's guide which contains learning activities, library research topics, discussion questions for each cultural area, and a six-page selected bibliography of student and teacher books. There is a student booklet on each of the following 12 areas: arctic, subarctic, northwest coast, california, plateau, great basin, southwest, plains, prairie, northeast, southeast, and meso-American. Short readings provide students with background information on the area's geography and climate and on the area's Indian society, including a description of its food, clothing, shelter, arts and crafts, and leaders. Responding to questions asked by the teacher, students discuss and examine their findings. They also participate in many class activities such as writing short stories, drawing maps, making sketches of Indian artifacts and jewelry, drawing a floor plan of the inside of a longhouse, and doing library research. Although the teacher's guide and student booklets are available on microfiche, 12 portrait drawings for display and a chart which outlines the cultural traits of each area are available only in hard copy from the publisher. (Author/RM)