Transcript Lesson 13 PPT - Full

Tepee
By Roberto Wheaton
Math
Develop an understanding of the culture and historical
significance of the Native American tepee
Appreciate how an understanding of geometry and
trigonometry plays a role in Native American tepee
construction.
Analyze different configurations of tepee shapes and
designs.
Investigate the relationship between the height,
slant, angle, volume and surface area.
Historical
The word Teepee, Tepee, and Tipi(Lakota
Sioux) has varied spellings as the fraction of
design variations adopted by Native
American tribes of the Great Plains and
Plateau regions.
Story
The Northwest Plateau tribes lived in
villages of earthen structures
sometimes known as pit houses.
Contact with the plains Indian’s during
buffalo hunting trips introduced the
tepee as a portable housing during
hunting and gathering season.
Photo of Coeur d Alenes 1907
Traditionally mats, bear, deer, elk and
buffalo hides were used as tepee
coverings. By the 1840’s the arrival of
traders and missionaries introduced
canvass which became the favorite
covering as buffalo herd populations
diminished.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Couer_d%27Alene_people_and_tipis,_Desmet_Reservation
Scale
In tepee construction there is
always an overlap of 3-5 feet beyond
the covering.
Can you determine the height
of this tepee based on the
information you observe?
Explain how the tepee height
can be estimated.
The most effective Tepee height to get rid of smoke were between
15 and 18 feet tall with diameters up to 30 feet.
Tepee Poles
Loge pole pine grows abundantly in the
Plateau region and is ideal for tepee poles
because of its, long, light weight straight
trunk.
Traditionally three poles are used to
begin the construction. What happens
to the dimensions when a fourth pole
is used?
Pole Placement
Pole placement is important for the
tepee structure. A tripod is used in the
construction with three anchor poles
positioned at North, South and East.
E
South
North
://www.siouxstarknowledge.info/the-tipi.html
East
The number of poles used in
construction vary from 12 or more.
Door pole is always placed facing East toward the rising
Pole Data
Below is a list taken from a
modern day tepee company.
Tipi
Diameter
Number
.
of poles
Length
Diameter
at butt
Diameter
at Tripod
8 ft.
11
10-12 ft.
1.5 inch
1.0 inch
12 ft.
14
16 ft.
2.5 inch
1.3 inch
14 ft.
17
18 ft.
2.5 inch
1.5 inch
16 ft.
17
20 ft.
2.5 inch
1.5 inch
18 ft.
17
24 ft.
3.0 inch
1.5 inch
20 ft.
17
25-27 ft.
3.5 inch
1.7 inch
22 ft.
20
27 ft.
3.5 inch
2.0 inch
26 ft.
20
30 ft.+
4.0 inch
2.0 inch
Tepee slant
What are the advantages or disadvantage of a perfect conic
shape?
Crow Tepee images
Will slant affect the the surface are of the base?
Plains Indians often used a slant in construction for strength due to
the prevailing winds.
Tepee Slant
Right Cone or Oblique
Great Plains tepees are sometimes constructed with a
slight slant creating an oblique shape. What modification
in pole layout
is needed to create a slant like the tepees below.
How would this change the surface area or volume of the tepee
VOLUME
Is there a tepee pole configuration that
maximizes the volume and surface area?
The tepee size for each individual family was based on
need.
www.2crows.net
Surface
Area
The traditional tepee coverings were made
of buffalo hides.
When buffalo
herds diminished
small hides substituted
until the late 1800’s
when most covering
were replaced with
canvass.
Plains Indians often traded buffalo hides for canvass. Having
a canvass tepee was often a status symbol for more successful
hunters.
An average of 15 to 20 buffalo hides were required to
make a covering for an average tepee.
Surface Area
How would you layout the hides to minimize waste for a tepee
covering?
How many buffalo hides
would be needed to cover a tepee 15 ft. in
height and a 25 foot diameter?
6 ft.
Lay Out
This is a tepee layout using
buffalo hides. Can you estimate
how many are needed for this
template?
This is a 1870 photo of two
Cheyenne women preparing
buffalo hides. If you look close
enough you will see the tepee
coverings are canvass
Tepee Set Up
General steps used to set up a
tepee.
4
3
2
1
Tipi.com
Nezperce Tepee
Setting up a 150 year old
buffalo tepee at the Nezperce
National Historical Park
A man or women with many children has
many homes
Lakota Sioux