Lesson 1 - Local Environment and Native Cultures

Goal:

Students learn about local place names and the environment/habitat near native villiages.

Time: 3 days

Objective:

A. Students will make a map of their local area using a topographic/quadrangle map of the area.

B. Students label their maps with place names (marsh, lake, streams, slough, bog, etc) in both the English language and in the local Native language.

Standard: A15 - Use science to understand and describe the local environment.

A3- Use elder knowledge and oral or written stories to identify the native culture and lifestyle in the defined area.

Materials/Resources: Elders , teachers, books, quadrangle map, journal, books, appropriate technology.

Procedure: As one group, students brainstorm and draw a bubble map on what they know about the environment, ecology, geography and native culture.. Students choose a nine square mile rectangle area adjacent to the city or village that they live in and draw it to scale on drawing paper by folding the paper into nine sections. Maps are colored with colored pencils. Teacher invites elder(s) to share the place names and pronunciation in the local Native language. Assisted by the elders, teacher and students learn how to write and pronounce the place names. Place name learning is videotaped by student(s) in class. Students also gather information from books. Students write 1/2 to 1 page in a journal on the information gained.

Assessment: Teachers check student journals and give feedback.