Mesa Verde is located in the southwestern United States in a desert.  A desert is a very dry environment where little rain falls.  On a summer day, the temperature in the desert can get extremely hot, but at night, the temperature drops and it's much cooler.   



Mesa Verde is located in a desert at a spot called the "Four Corners".  This spot is called the "Four Corners" because four states meet at their corners.  These four states are: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.  Long ago, there were no states. Instead, there were just communities.  The people who lived in these communities were called the Anasazi.



The Anasazi made the best of their dry environment and used the natural resources around them in order to live.  The Anasazi were mostly farmers.  They grew corn, beans, and squash.  They also raised turkeys, which need little water.  They used plants to make shoes and clothes.  They also made pottery from the clay of the dry ground.



The Anasazi also used landforms to live, since these are also great natural resources.  Many Anasazi communities were built along the walls of canyons.  A canyon is a deep river valley with steep sides.  Some Anasazi made buildings and homes in cliffs.  A cliff is the steep face of a rock.  Sometimes, the Anasazi built their homes in the steep sides of a mesa.  A mesa is landform made of rock that looks like a high, flat table.  Mesa Verde is an Anasazi community that was built into the side of a mesa.  Mesas, canyons, and cliffs were good places for Anasazi communities because they kept the Anasazi people protected from the weather and from enemies.



The Anasazi also used technology to help them in different ways.  Technology is the use of tools and materials to serve peoples' needs.  Pointed sticks were made to dig ditches for collecting the little rain that fell at Mesa Verde.  The water was then used to grow crops.