Instructions: Contaminants in the Environment as a Threat to Biodiversity 1. Students learn about the impact of contaminants on biodiversity by familiarizing themselves with the following study, using the summary provided in Biodiversity and Contaminants.pdf. Patterson, S. A. (2019). The toxic effects of oil sands contaminants on developing amphibians [Master’s thesis, Queen’s University]. QSpace Library. …
We recommend inviting an Indigenous language speaker into the learning space when teaching about Indigenous languages. Instructions: 1. Teacher discusses with students how the English language separates us from the land while Indigenous languages connect us to the land. For instance, in the English language many words, phrases, idioms and sayings with negative connotations are …
How Does Language Mirror and Shape Our Relationship to Land? Read More »
Students are each given a card with a phrase on it (Found in Minds On Statements.pdf). Students circulate and share phrases with one another. While circulating students try to figure out what the unit is about. KWL Brainstorm KWL Chart: Teacher records all the class knows about water- students can copy chart into their Outdoor Learning …
If possible, we recommend inviting an Indigenous community member into the learning environment to help teach about the important role of Water Walkers. Ojibwe and Odawa Knowledge Keepers Liz Osawamick and Shirley Williams originally from Wiikwemkong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island shared with QUILLS the important role Indigenous women play protecting water for future generations. …
This activity shows the interconnectedness of water to everything else. This belief is held in common with a Western scientific perspective. This activity, therefore, point to the similarities that exist between the two ways of knowing.
1. Teachers show students video segment embedded in ten-minute video accompanying the Water Bundle of Ojibwe and Odawa Knowledge Keepers Shirley Williams and Liz Osawamick discussing the relationship the Anishinaabe have to the water. 2. Teachers display images and passages around the classroom or outside that depict both the Indigenous and Western scientific understanding of …
An Indigenous community member must be invited into the learning space to deliver beadwork teachings.
An Indigenous community member should be invited into your classroom to help provide the cultural teachings surrounding beadwork. Extension:
We recommend inviting a Knowledge Keeper or community member into the learning environment to help students understand the spirited epistemology of local Indigenous groups. Image taken from commoxvalleyschools.ca Abiotic Elements: Water: Spotlight on Language: Note that students can go onto the online QUILLS dictionary to hear these word. The way the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe view …
Students reflect on the following questions in an exit ticket or other reflective writing piece. In Western culture things are made to be broken ie: to fuel capitalism.
We recommend inviting an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper or community member in to help communicate holistically what Indigenous Knowledge is to your students. Instructions: Teacher discusses with students how, like Western Scientists, Indigenous peoples also often examine bodies of water to understand the impacts of climate change on their communities. Indigenous ways of knowing are often …
An Indigenous Knowledge Keeper or community member should be invited in to help you deliver this learning activity. Spotlight on Language: Students learn the names for The Three Sisters, Corn, Bean, and Squash in Kanyen’kéha and are encouraged to add them to their Outdoor Learning Journal use them these throughout the Bundle. Students can also go to the …
Instructions Activity: Optional Extension Activity:
PPT content: Importance of Land Acknowledgements Chances are, you’ve seen or heard a land acknowledgement at some point in the past few years. But maybe you don’t totally understand why land acknowledgements are so important. They are not about placing blame. Land acknowledgments are about our collective connection to and relationship with the land. Indigenous …
We recommend inviting an Indigenous community member into the classroom to tell the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Creation stories and talk about the significance of Indigenous languages. Storytelling Language and Language Revitalization Grammar: Indigenous languages are polysynthetic. Polysynthetic Indigenous languages, by being comprised of longer more complex words with each word containing many morphemes, reflect the …
Instructions: 1. Students come up with a class definition of biodiversity. (This should be a review from Grade 6) 2. Teacher can show video segment from the Gifts of the Earth video accompanying this Bundle of Dr. Stephen Lougheed explaining what biodiversity is. 3. Class Discussion (Formative Assessment):
Instructions: Students support a local pollinator garden. Follow link below for a pollinator garden document developed by Kanyen’kehá:ka community member Kelly Maracle. Resource is also available in the Pollinator Garden pdf. Class One: 1. Students asked the following question(s): 2. Students are given 10-20 minutes to find out as much information out about this topic as possible. 3. …
Culminating Activity: Living in Reciprocity: Contributing to a Pollinator Garden Read More »
1. Students read the following news article: https://www.uleth.ca/unews/article/little-bear-plays-role-bringing-bison-back-banff#.YMF60y0ZNQI 2. Teacher leads class discussion focused on the manner in which Indigenous leaders, through regenerating land-based practices, came together to preserve and promote biodiversity. Links to guide discussion on Indigenous led initiatives promoting biodiversity: 3. Students choose an Indigenous leader to learn more about. A preliminary list …
Culminating Activity: Snapshot of Resistance: Showcasing Indigenous Leadership Read More »
A Knowledge Keeper or community member should be invited in to consult with students as they create their videos. Instructions: 1. Students review video series depicting Ra’nikonhrí:io Lazare and Katsenhaién:ton Lazare from Kahnawake Quebec providing teachings about Mullein, Staghorn Sumac, Plantain, and Milkweed. Videos were developed in partnership with the Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawénna Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural …
Culminating Activity: Entering into Relationship with our Plant Relatives Read More »
Instructions: A Knowledge Keeper or community member should be present. 1. Ideally a Haudenosaunee community member can be invited to share the Ohèn:ton Karihwatéhkwen with the students. 2. Alternatively, students listen to a song containing the Ohèn:ton Karihwatéhkwen (in language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PztCBgXxio ). (This is review from the Indigenous Knowledge Bundle). Students then read the address in English. https://mbq-tmt.org/ohenton-karihwatehkwen/ 3. Students can also …
A Knowledge Keeper or community member could be present. Instructions: Students take part in an activity that demonstrates the concepts of the Honorable Harvest. The Honorable Harvest is a mindful way of harvesting and using gifts from the land. The actions of the Honorable Harvest stem from a collection of Indigenous principles and practices of living …
Looking Inward: How Do We Impact the World Around Us? Read More »
Instructions: Part 1: Understanding “All Our Relations” 1. Teacher reads the story All our Relations from Leanne Simpson’s book The Gift is in the Making: Anishinaabeg Stories found in The Gift is in the Making.pdf. If possible, invite a Knowledge Keeper or community member into the classroom to assist with storytelling. 2. Teacher leads a discussion with students regarding the …
Instructions: Climate Change as a Threat to Biodiversity 1. Students explore the impact of climate change on biodiversity by examining frog spring emergence. Students can learn about the following study by studying the infographic in the Climate Change and Frogs Study Summary pdf: Klaus, S. P., &Lougheed, S. C. (2013). Changes in breeding phenology of eastern Ontario …
Biodiversity and Climate Change: What do Frogs Have to Say About It? Read More »
Instructions: Invasive Species as a Threat to Biodiversity 1. Teacher leads a class discussion regarding how invasive species harm biodiversity. Guiding information for discussion: 2. Teachers starts by discussing invasive species in general and then eventually focuses the discussion on garlic mustard. 3. Students can draw garlic mustard or another invasive species (of their choice) to …
Biodiversity and Invasive Species: A Garlic Mustard Case Study Read More »
Instructions: 1. In pairs, students are assigned 2 pages from the PowerPoint titled Land Changes Over the Years (1 page from the past, 1 page from the present). Students discuss any changes they notice in the circled areas. Students reflect on what changes they see and how these changes might impact the local ecosystem. Students can then share …
We recommend inviting an Indigenous community member into the learning space to help students weave cattail mats. A gift of the earth that provides for the spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing of both the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe locally is cattails. Cattails Spotlight on Language: Overview of the Gifts of Cattails from Robin Kimmerer From …
We recommend inviting an Indigenous community member into the learning space to help facilitate this learning activity. Teachers explain that throughout the learning in the Bundle, the class should all try to see the best in one another, hear the best in the words of others, say kind things, and have an open heart.
Instructions: Worksheet will be made available in the Logo/Plant/Animal Flashcards that lists 16 corporate logos, 16 local plant species, and 16 local animal species. 1. Teacher reviews the worksheet with students asking them to identify as a class what they see. Most classes can identify many more corporate logos than plant/animal species. 2. After activity teacher asks …
Can you Recognize your Relatives? Why Does it Matter? Read More »
Instructions Introducing Classification: 1. Teachers will use the following activity to introduce the concept of sorting and classification. Instructions will be included on a worksheet for teachers found in the Junk Box Sorting Activity. JUNK BOX SORTING (Adapted from a lesson by Prof. Joan McDuff, Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario) 1. Using a handful of junk: buttons, shells, …
Instructions Students will focus on learning about the plant they chose to develop a relationship with, in Activity One: Language Scavenger Hunt. Teachers can choose to do one or more of the following activities with their students: a. Students think creatively to record Western scientific knowledge of the plant (name, habitat, description; etc.), the history of the …
