Curriculum Resources for the Alaskan Environment
Subject Areas:
communications, ecology, science, oral history,
journalism
Timeline: ongoing; one to
three years
Grade Levels:
9-12
Purpose: to use local
information, resources, and informants to teach
students basic skills
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Sherie
Steele
Traditional
Hunter's
Manual
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Activities
- Compile a list of the most common
game animals in your community. Make life-cycle charts of
each animal. Label the charts with English, Native, and
scientific names for each stage of an animal's
life.
- Divide the class into groups, each
to research one species of animal. Let the group record
as much as they themselves know about the animals: where
they live, what they eat, how they spend their seasons,
changes in coloration, size, relative value to humans,
etc.
- Compile lists of questions, based
on areas where students lack knowledge. Find answers in
books and by interviewing hunters, cooks, sewers, and
elders. (Book research and interviewing skills must be
taught first. Let students practice on each other and on
school personnel before interviewing outside of school.)
Students may write for written material on their
animal.
- Compare traditional knowledge to
book knowledge. Do they always agree? Which will you
trust more when hunting? Why?
- How have animal habitats and
habits changed over the years according to local
informants? How does this alter human lifestyles? How
have changes in human lifestyles affected animal
populations?
- After researching and discussing
information gathered, each group should write up a final
report using similar formats for each group. These
reports will be compiled into chapters of a
manual.
Resources
- Foxfire publications for
ideas, methods
- Chamai: A Curriculum Guide to
Community and Culturally Based Communications Skills
Development-7-12, Department of Education
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Variations
- Write a series of short articles
to publish in the school or community newsletter. These
articles would give informants and students intermittent
feedback and keep interest up, and after two years, they
could be compiled in the larger
booklet.
- Concentrate on one or two animals
and divide the work according to a method of research
(book, interviews, report writing), research topic (life
cycle, historical perspective, human consumption, etc.),
or some other division of labor.
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