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Winds
And
Weather
by Jonas Ramoth and Sidney Stephens
Activity 6 - Community Memories I
| Summary |
This lesson is a combination of a community weather
night and weather fair, hosted by the students for the purposes of: sharing
what they have
learned to date about local weather; and learning more from the community
as a whole by listening to weather stories. In this way, it's
both a celebration of what students have learned so far and an invitation
for the community to join in. It should take place once the students feel
well grounded with their local studies and have sufficient information
to
share. Diverse representations of understanding are encouraged.
|
| Materials
|
« Personal weather journals for each student
« Class weather log
« Any posters, stories, poems, paintings etc. that
students have created
(see Apply section from previous lesson and Interdisciplinary Suggestions
in Appendix)
« Food
« Invitations/flyers
|
| Procedure
|
1. Talk with students about the idea of hosting a
community weather night both as a way of sharing what they have learned
and of further tapping
the weather knowledge of the community by listening to stories shared
by others.
2. Help them select the place and time for this event, decide on a format/agenda,
create invitations, organize the food and so forth. The format should
be flexible enough to accommodate multiple and varied representations
of understanding from story telling to artistic displays and essays. Following
student presentations, students and community members alike could gather
in a central spot and be invited to share their memories and knowledge
about weather. This would be a good time to publicly thank the Traditional
Forecaster and anyone else who has worked with your group. Videotaping
such a session would make it easily accessible later.
3. Be sure to follow-up the next day in class with a discussion of the
community weather stories. It is likely that new information will have
been shared and students might want to incorporate that into their work.
It is also possible that some conflicting ideas about weather might surface
and need discussion.
|
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." |
