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for Cultural Standards in Practice.
Winds
And
Weather
by Jonas Ramoth and Sidney Stephens
Activity 1 - Traditional Forecaster
Summary |
This unit hinges on students spending field time repeatedly with a traditional
forecaster (TF) for the purposes of: exploring weather from the perspective
of that elder/expert; learning to recognize specific weather signs, changes
and patterns that are important for the area; and coming to understand
how the local culture and environment have affected the development of
scientific weather knowledge. Such a TF might be an elder or a younger
hunter, trapper or other cultural expert with traditional knowledge to
share. Observations about weather or climate change over the years, advice
about safety and travel, or more subtle understandings, aesthetics, or
values might also be shared by the expert.
Such field time is intended to be at least monthly for every student
and the knowledge gained in class; and used as a basis for developing
local weather studies.
|
Getting Ready |
Finding someone who is willing to work with your
class on a regular basis may well be the most difficult part of your
job. Is there a person who
is known for his or her weather knowledge - who knows when storms are
coming, or when it's a good
time to set snares, or when it's
not safe to travel, or what changes have occurred in weather patterns
over time? Is this person also known as a teacher - someone who is willing
or could be willing to share what they notice, know and think about with
the students and with you? Seek him or her out and explain that you want
to do a weather study with your class in which students learn traditional
(and contemporary) ways of understanding the weather. Explain that you
want the students to regularly spend time with an elder/cultural expert
so that they can learn to observe their world carefully, come to recognize
significant local weather signs, and understand the significance of these
signs within a larger, cultural context. Talk with this person about how
this can best be done realizing that different people are comfortable
in different settings. Some might prefer a camp setting initially followed
by classroom visits whereas others might prefer simply walking through
the community with students on a regular basis, and still others might
want students to visit them in their home. The critical thing is to arrange
a regular exchange between the Traditional Forecaster (TF) and students
in a way that is comfortable and meaningful for all. Some days, observable
weather signs may be abundant and occupy the bulk of discussion whereas
other days, attention may settle more on historical knowledge or on aesthetics
or values - things known through culture. All are important aspects of
understanding local weather, and the Elder/culture expert will help students
see how it all fits together.
Remember that in the field, groups of 4-6 work best
so set up a rotation schedule that accommodates the Elder's time and
allows each team of children to work with the Traditional Forecaster
as much as possible. All students
should have a chance to spend time with the Forecaster before any of
the other lessons are done for each student
|
Materials
|
« Chart paper
« Class weather journal
|
Procedure
Gear-up: |
1. Read or describe a weather scenario like the following to your students.
Pretend that it is December and you would like to go ice fishing on
Selawik Lake. It is very cold and calm with a few clouds. You wonder if
the weather is going to warm up and notice that an east-southeast wind
has begun to blow. Would now be a good time to go ice fishing? Why or
why not? (Note - it would not be a good time to go fishing because
this situation is predictive of a severe storm.)
2. Have students think about this a bit and then
do a fast-write in their weather journals. Once the students have written,
have a class discussion
around this problem, trying to elicit as much student knowledge about
weather as possible and creating a class concept map of their ideas.
(Embedded
Assessment (EA) - prior knowledge of weather signs)
3. Explain that they are about to begin a winter long study of weather
as described in the overview and summary above, and that the local traditional
forecaster is going to help them by working with them outdoors. Encourage
students to be especially tuned into weather information and tell them
that they will be responsible for recording thoughts from their walk in
their weather journals when they return.
|
Explore |
4. Time with expert. |
Generalize* |
5. When the students return, give them some time
to reflect on their experience. Ask them to record their thoughts in
their weather journals
using words, pictures, or diagrams in as much detail as possible. What
did the TF notice? Talk about? Explain? What weather signs did he notice?
What signs did he link together as important weather indicators? What
patterns? What stories did he/she tell? How did it feel to be there?
What
would you especially like to remember? What do you wonder about now?
Tell them that you will be reading and responding to their journals
on a weekly
basis. (EA- journals and Observational Checklist)
6. Ask students to discuss some of this information with the class as
a whole. Record weather observations, patterns, and questions on concept
map, chart or in class weather log.
7. This procedure is repeated throughout the
unit with a goal of continuously compiling and clarifying student knowledge
about local weather
signs and patterns.
|
Apply/Assess |
8. Students design a local weather study based on information gained
from the TF as described in the next several lessons
9. Students create a story, poster, report, painting, video, computer
project, song, dance, or dramatic performance representing such things
as: the most significant things they have learned about weather from the
TF; how weather affects people and how people have learned to respond
to various weather conditions; the three or four most significant weather
patterns/indicators for their area; how to behave responsibly given certain
weather conditions.
|
* Note - The goal here is to help students think about their
experience with the TF. This includes focusing not only on weather information,
but also on what was noticed or not noticed, discussed or not discussed, gradually
building an understanding of what was perceived, talked about and explained
by the TF. Depending upon the situation, this might well reveal a whole new
perspective on weather including ways of observing, perceiving and interacting
with weather as well as the aesthetic regard in which weather is held.
Standards
Section I - Observing Locally
Section II - Understanding Wind
Section III - Connecting
Globally
Appendix A - Selawik Weather Information from
Jonas Ramoth
Appendix B - Assessment
Appendix C - Weather Resource
List
Appendix D - Interdisciplinary Integration
Handbook
for Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum by Sidney Stephens
Excerpt: "The information and insights contained in this document will be
of interest to anyone involved in bringing local knowledge to bear in school
curriculum. Drawing upon the efforts of many people over a period of several
years, Sidney Stephens has managed to distill and synthesize the critical ingredients
for making the teaching of science relevant and meaningful in culturally adaptable
ways." |