Ecological and Cultural Significance of Local Parks : Unit Plan
Week Three
Essential Questions
How do people interact with and utilize the land?
How can we collect, analyze, and visually display data to tell a story?
What are the health benefits of being in nature?
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During the third week students will go on a two-day field trip to a local park. On day one, students will learn of the contemporary methods of survival and land utilization. Day two of the field trip will have students look into the traditional Indigenous ways of subsistence. Students will use the data collected from questionnaires to determine trends and popular opinion in visual form.
Lesson 1
Sequence
Day one of a two-day field trip to a local park.
Students will explore the park under the guidance of wilderness and survival experts.
Students will be given access to a variety of activities throughout the day including: camping skills, plant identification, survival skills and hiking.
For homework, students will be tasked with answering a questionnaire themed, “In what ways do people interact with the nature?”
Resources
Questionnaires
Camping rope
Tents
Wilderness Experts
Survival Experts
Assessment
Formative
Questionnaires
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Interviews
Differentiation
Student will be given full autonomy in the activity(s) they wish to explore during the field trip. Students will also be given multiple ways to process the abundance of information that is presented to them, based on their unique learning style, personality, demeanour and curiosity. Activities by nature will be kinaesthetic, but links to various videos, text-based websites and podcasts will be available to students before and after the field trip.
Lesson 2
Sequence
Day two of two of field trip to a local park.
Students will learn from an Indigenous elder about traditional ways to live off the land.
Students will be given access to a variety of activities throughout the day including: starting a wood fire, teepee raising, lacrosse, berry collection, hunting techniques, and lacrosse.
For homework, students will be tasked with answering a questionnaire themed, “In what ways do the Indigenous people interact with the nature?”
Resources
Questionnaires
Teepee sticks
Canvas
Lacrosse sticks/balls
Indigenous Elders/Community Members
Assessment
Formative
Informal observation
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Questionnaires
Interviews
Differentiation
(See above)
Lesson 3
Sequence
As a class, students will discuss the biggest takeaways from the two-day field trip.
The big ideas/themes will be recorded on the whiteboard. The answers from the questionnaires will be tallied and compiled into data.
Data will be represented in various different forms including fractions, percentages, graphs and pie charts.
Resources
Whiteboard
Assessment
Formative
Data collection
Informal Observation
Differentiation
Students will be given the opportunity to express their impression of the field trip during large class participation, small group discussion, or anonymous submission. Class responses will be recorded using a Google Doc created by the instructor, and viewable to the entire class.
Students will be given additional online resources to supplement understanding on statistical analysis. E.g. tutorials, videos and worksheets.,
Lesson 4
Sequence
Students will learn about the health benefits of spending time outside and the various outdoor pursuits.
Students will be introduced to the children and nature movement, as well a video on a “nature prescription.”
For homework, students will be asked to complete a mini-project asking: What have you learned this week and how does that affect you?
Resources
Children and Nature Organization video
Assessment
Mini-project
Differentiation
Students will be given multiple modalities to answer the homework assignment. Students may make a short video, a written response, video/podcast self-reflection, or illustration. Students may submit the assignment in other forms at the approval and discretion of the instructor.