Native American Love for the Land and Water

Fourth Grade - Science Curriculum / Environment
 

 

Love for the Land and Water

Parts of lesson provided from Wet in the City

Grade Level: 4th
 
Integrated Subjects: Science (Environmental awareness)
 
Objectives: Tell the students what they are going to learn! (Blooms Taxonomy)
-The students will...
          1. Identify the two types of river pollutions

          2. Describe how Native Americans cared for the land and water after reading Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Chief Seattle.       

          3. Classify different types of water pollutants that negatively effect rivers.

          4. Develop and draw a riverfront property

          5. Combine all the work to form one river and to simulate natural riverfront pollution problems today.

          6. Demonstrate how a riverfront can get heavily polluted from upstream by participating the role play activity.

          7. Make important environmental decisions that could enhance the quality of water in our environment.

 
TEKS met:

(4.10) Science concepts:

            (A): Identify and observe effects of events that require time for changes to be noticeable including growth, erosion, dissolving, weathering, and flow

(4.11) Science concepts;

            (B): Summarize the effects of the oceans on land
 
Multiple Intelligence: Howard Gardner
          -Verbal / Linguistic: The students will listen and participate in discussions throughout the lesson. The students will write in their science journal what they learned in the lesson.

          -Spatial: The students will develop their own riverfront property. The students will draw and share their properties.

          -Bodily / Kinesthetic: The students will participate in a river pollution role play activity in which the students will be moving around the room and using hands on types of activities.

          -Interpersonal: The students work together in groups of three or four to compare and discuss ideas in developing their own riverfront properties.

          -Naturalist: the students understand nature by learning how to demonstrate how every one contributes to the pollution of a river as it flows through a watershed and recognizes that everyone's "contribution" can be reduced.

 
Materials: paper, pencils, crayons, "piece" of property handouts", Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Chief Seattle, and chalk
 
Rationale: The teacher would provide instructional relevance by  stating the following: Math and water pollution are a lot alike. The students will be confused at first then the teacher will clear things up. In math class you add a list of numbers to get a sum. Have any of you ever attended a large gathering such as a baseball game or a concert? Have you ever noticed how much garbage is left behind? Yet each person in attendance probably did not leave very much trash behind however when you add each person (math) 500 or even 1,000 more people doing the same things is very harmful. Lets take a closer look at how we can positively and negatively contribute to our water quality.
 
 
Focus / Set
Introduction: To grab hold of the students attention the teacher would read aloud Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Chief Seattle. After the read aloud explain how the story told an important message. Can anyone tell me what message Chief Seattle was trying to express in this book? It is a message to people young and old to care for and preserve the environment.
"How can you buy the sky? Chief Seattle began. How can you own the rain and the wind?
My mother told me,
Every part of this earth is sacred to our people.
Every pine needle. Every sandy shore.
Every mist in the dark woods.
Every meadow and humming insect.
All are holy in the memory of our people."  (first page of Brother Eagle, Sister Sky)
 
Lesson Activities:
 
Instructional Input:
The quality of water in a river (or lake) is, to a large extent, a reflection of land uses and natural factors found in its watershed. When humans settle and develop land, water quality suffers such as cutting forests and building and expanding cities. The health of a watershed and the water systems. There are people who constantly investigate the condition of the watershed. If the watershed is polluted then the river will likely be polluted. Most watershed investigations help to determine the best method of protecting a river or lake from pollutants. The teacher will introduce the two type of pollutants by giving each student a card either saying ''point'' and "non-point". The teacher would then give an example of a pollutant and the students try to establish what the difference is between point source and non-point pollution. Point source pollution that can be tracked back to places such as factories or a sewage pipe. Non-point pollution occurs when the source of a contaminant is unidentifiable; that is, the pollutant can come from a number of sources. Discuss with the students what watersheds are by asking them to name several major North American rivers on a river map (write the names of the rivers on the board) Ask the students, Where do these rivers state and end? How many states does each river flow through? Discuss some the activities that might go one just in one state as the river flows through it. Do students think that people in states above could affect the river? What do you think the attitude is like from the people in states below down stream?
 
Cooperative Groups:
Together in groups of three or four the students will be working on a river pollution activity. Throughout the activity the students will be discussing their ideas and solutions to the problems presented.
Guided Practice: 
The teacher will show a teacher example of a "piece" of property and how she used the land and money to build a nice community. See independent practice for details.
 
Independent Practice:
As the students sit together in groups of three or four the students will be informed by the teacher that they just inherited a piece of riverfront property and a million dollars. The teacher will then have each student list the ways they could use the land and the money. The teacher will then pass out "pieces" of property and drawing pens and pencils. Each student will receive a piece of paper in which the teacher will explain that the blue is water and the blank space is the land they own. They have one million dollars to develop their land as they wish. They can farm or ranch; build resorts, homes, factories, or parks; plant forests, log, mine- whatever they would like to do. After twenty minutes and the students have completed their drawings, ask them to look in the upper left corner of their papers to identify what number they are. From that number the students will assemble their pictures from one to twenty displaying the river from start to finish. Have the students sit down in the order and one by one describe how they developed their land and how they used the water. Have the students represent each of their contributions to the river with an item from their desk (book, piece of paper, pen, or pencil).
Role Play Activity:
The teacher will then tell the students to grab their items from the desk and return back to their position in the river. The students will conduct a role play activity to see how non-point and point pollutants travel down stream. Before passing their pollution pieces the students will identify their pollution as either point source or non-point pollutants. For example items like paper, pencils, and pens are more difficult to claim where they originated therefore it is a non-point pollutant. They are going to pass their pollution pieces downstream. After all the items have reached the final number of students the teacher will lead a discussion. How did those students in the middle or at the end of the river feel? What about their property use plans? Could a student downstream be affected by the actions of a student upstream? Could upstream users alter the water quality of those downstream?
Closure:
The teacher will mention the book read aloud at the beginning of class (Brother Eagle, Sister Sky) and ask the following questions. How the Native Americans treat the land, animals and water around them? How did that story relate to what we learned today? I want to reread a part in the book again for you to really listen and think about.
"The voice of my ancestors said to me,
The shining water that moves in the streams and rives is not simply water, but the blood of your grandfather's grandfather.
Each ghostly refection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of memories in the life of our people.
The water's murmur is the voice of your great-great-great grandmother.
The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst.
They carry our canoes and feed our children.
You must give to the rivers the kindness you would give to any brother." Chief Seattle
Evaluation:
For this particular lesson the teacher will use a simple checklist as well as the students participation and completion of their riverfront property for assessment.
*This lesson incorperates the use of role-play