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Indigenous Communities and Climate Resilience

What roles can Indigenous communities play in developing climate resilience?

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Description

This thought starter activity provides an opportunity to open the discussion regarding Indigenous communities' roles in developing climate resilience. Students make predictions, discuss statements and use clues from the article to guide their thinking. They select one statement that best captures the main idea of the article. To conclude the activity, students suggest what important roles Indigenous communities can play in helping create climate resiliency.

These materials were created with guidance from Indigenous educators, subject matter experts and thought leaders to help draw upon important teachings, learnings, and Indigenous perspectives.

General Assessment

Strengths

Throughout the activity, teachers can consider how well students:

  • Apply their understanding of the words and phrases to make sense of the main idea in an article
  • Recognize the importance of Indigenous science in adopting meaningful climate actions
  • Are able to self-correct and extend their thinking from the beginning of the lesson to the end
  • Pay close attention to appropriate details
  • Use relevant scientific terminology correctly to support their conclusions—emissions and greenhouse gases, sustainable practices, causes of climate change, habitat/ecosystem loss

Recommendation of how and where to use it

This activity provides an excellent starting point to open the discussion about Indigenous Peoples' perspectives and knowledge as sources of valuable information in climate resilience. The resource supports Science outcomes related to Earth and its Climate and applying First Peoples' perspectives and knowledge as sources of information. To enhance the learning, invite an Indigenous Elder or Knowledge Keeper to speak to the class about their connection to the land and the effects of climate change they have seen. Students could research more about the impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples in their community.

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.

Themes Addressed

Air, Atmosphere & Climate (1)

  • Climate Change

Indigenous Knowledge (2)

  • Rituals, Spirituality and Worldviews
  • TEK -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge

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