by: Dane Sweeny & Sioned Seeley-Cavers
Introduction
This unit will focus on grade 4 curriculum and introduce students to multiple curricular components including, but not limited to; Science, English Language Arts, Social Students, and local Indigenous cultures and their traditional ecological knowledge. The main focus of this unit is to teach students about the interconnectedness of our local ecosystem by examining black bear, salmon, eagle, and cedar trees. This focus will be taught through the lens of seasonality and how each of these species responds and adapts to the earth position around the sun.
Ideally, this unit would take place over the course of the entire year, revisiting these lessons as the seasons change. This way students learn about animals and seasonality as they experience these changes for themselves, making the content more relevant to their lives. By introducing these topics throughout the year, students are also learning through Indigenous pedagogy, focusing on place-based learning and creating connections with the land they live and learn on.
Indigenous community members will help to ensure these teachings are appropriate and that students understand that many of these lessons being taught have been held by the local indigenous peoples since time immemorial. It is important the teacher remains flexible with this lesson plan and that they alter and adjust their lessons to best meet the needs of the students within the classroom.