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A Sense of Land

Elementary, Middle

Description

A Sense of Land allows students to explore the question of how citizens interact with their environment by reflecting on the question "Whose responsibility should it be to ensure the preservation of national and provincial parks as well as protected areas?".

The lesson begins by analyzing contrasting images of parks from a slideshow as a full class activity.  Students then are asked the question of who is responsible for taking care of the areas.

The lesson continues with slides that develop an understanding of how national and provincial parks came to be and the actions currently being taken to reconcile with First Nations groups. The video "People of the Land" is then shared. It explains Indigenous peoples relationship to the land and how that relationship shapes who they are and their place in the world.

After watching the video the students will explore the school grounds or a local park to identify issues that affect not just humans but all of nature in general. Afterwards they will brainstorm strategies to help make those issues better. 

Students will then create signage for a park that respects Indigenous values along with a list of 3 to 5 rules to guide park preservation. Students must demonstrate how these rules represent an Indigenous  perspective. 

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

The focus of this resource is to develop an awareness of indigenous perspectives in protecting national and provincial parks and protected areas.  The focus is not on teaching skills. 

Strengths

  • engaging activities that students will enjoy
  • variety of instructional tools used
  • all links and materials provided
  • easy to use and implement

Weaknesses

  • lack of accommodations for learners who may struggle with the material

Recommendation of how and where to use it

A Sense of Land is best suited for the upper elementary Social Studies classroom.  With its engaging activities and relevant discussions, students will develop a sense of the importance of protecting our national and provincial parks, and protected areas.  The resource helps to attain the curriculum outcomes in Social Studies related to recognizing the importance of First Nations' knowledge of connectedness to the land and the relationship that humans have with their environment.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

  • Step 1Select a province
  • Alberta
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Citizenship: Understanding local, national, and global issues empowers individual and collective action toward an inclusive society
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Citizenship: Understanding local, national, and global issues empowers individual and collective action toward an inclusive society
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Citizenship: Understanding local, national, and global issues empowers individual and collective action toward an inclusive society
  • Manitoba
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Habitat and Communities
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Manitoba, Canada, and the North: Places and Stories: Living in Manitoba
  • New Brunswick
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • My Province, Exploration, History of the Atlantic Region: Wabanaki
  • Newfoundland & Labrador
  • Northwest Territories
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Our Northern Land and Its People: The North's Resources
  • Nova Scotia
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Science 4: Habitats
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Social Studies 4: Physical Environment
  • Nunavut
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Provinces and Territories: Our Places, Stories, and Traditions: Identity
        • Provinces and Territories: Our Places, Stories, and Traditions: The Land: Place & People
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Our Northern Land and Its People: The North's Resources
  • Ontario
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • People and Environments: Political and Physical Regions of Canada
  • Saskatchewan
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Saskatchewan: Interactions and Interdependence
        • Saskatchewan: Resources and Wealth

Themes Addressed

Ecosystems (2)

  • Appreciating the Natural World
  • Interdependence

Human Health & Environment (1)

  • Quality of Life

Indigenous Knowledge (2)

  • Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing
  • TEK -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives Very Good

This resource allows students to explore their own views on preserving protected areas but to also be exposed to the views of First Nations and their attachment to the land. This allows the students to further develop their perspectives for the final activity of creating a list of rules to preserve parks. 

Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Good

With the inclusion of the video the students can get a complete picture of the need to protect the areas while also being respectful of Indigenous beliefs and ties to the land. The indigenous perspective promotes the connection between human society and the environment. 

Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity Very Good

By providing the opportunity to create an awareness of the issue with the images from the slide show and the video of Indigenous beliefs, the students can develop a sense of the importance of caring for and protecting the national and provincial parks and protected areas.

Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Satisfactory

The final activity of creating a list of rules for a park that is in line with Indigenous beliefs takes the students' learning from the abstract to the concrete.

Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Very Good

The final activity in which the students create a list of rules for a protected area that are inline with Indigenous beliefs allows the students to demonstrate their understanding and values related to the issue at hand.

Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Good

This resource helps to develop an appreciation of Indigenous beliefs and of their connectedness to the land.

Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Very Good

The activities in the resource allow the students to develop a sense of stewardship toward the protected areas.

Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning Very Good
Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Very Good

The information provided in the slides allows the students to gain an understanding of what has occurred through the colonial history of the parks, how the government is currently taking steps toward reconciliation and the need to continue to consider the First Nations' relationship to the land as we move forward.

Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction Very Good

This lesson is structured so that the students explore their own thoughts and ideas on the issue of protecting land.  They then are exposed to the importance of land to Indigenous people via an enlightening video. As a culminating activity, the students create a list of rules for a park based on their learning and their own ideas.

Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Satisfactory
  • Social Studies
  • Geography
  • Nature
Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning Satisfactory

The students work to address the problem of protecting national and provincial parks and protected areas. They are provided with the problem presented in the slides and asked to solve it by creating a list of rules for a park.

Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction Good

The activities within the lesson are engaging and varied so as to address the learning styles of a diverse group of students. There are no suggestions for learners who may experience difficulties with the material.

Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Good

The activities provide the students with a learning experience that has an authentic context by allowing them to create a list of rules based on Indigenous beliefs.

Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning Satisfactory
Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Good

In the lesson there are some suggestions for the assessment of learning.

Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Satisfactory
Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Very Good

By providing information and examples taken from Alberta parks, the students can get an appropriate feel for the need to have rules that protect and conserve parks.

Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Satisfactory

The lesson is not structured to provide a lot of options or choices but this is not a detracting factor from the lesson's effectiveness. 

Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.

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