In this four part lesson plan, teachers will lead the students in discussions and explore Aboriginal perspectives on respecting the environment; how individual and collective behavior affects the environment; and the role of community engagement in maintaining healthy and sustainable ecosystems.
Activity #1 - Students will read the dual language poem "Water/El Agua" and participate in a whole group discussion about the work.
Activity #2 - Students will watch the online video "The Story of Bottled Water" and then create a group summary of the video in a format of their choosing.
Activity #3 - Students will organize a school wide screening of "The Story of Bottled Water" video and then create an action plan to reduce the amount of bottled water used in their school.
The final activity has the students participating in a simulated group interview of a bottled water corporation executive.
Explicitly teaching a skill is not the focus of this resource. Rather, it focuses on the development of an appreciation of the Aboriginal views of the importance of water as well as the necessity to protect our environment.
This resource is easy to implement with prompting questions and some background information for the teacher when leading the whole group discussions. It also does not require a considerable amount of instructional time; therefore, the outcomes can easily be adapted into an existing curriculum or plan without requiring a large time commitment.
The resource does not provide concrete assessment strategies; rather a list of suggestions. It also provides an article that is referenced in the resource list but is not used in any of the activities.
This resource could easily be added to an existing unit on water as a method of including the perspective of the Aboriginal people to help broaden the students' understanding of the issue.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Good | Students are presented with the Aboriginal perspectives with regards to the importance of water as well as the cooperate perspective for selling bottled water and the environmental impact of the commodity. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Good | All three dimensions of the water issue are examined within the four activities in the lesson plan. |
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
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Respects Complexity | Very Good | |
Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
Acting on Learning | Good | In the third activity the students work on a campaign to reduce/eliminate the amount of bottled water used in their school. |
Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
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Values Education | Very Good | Within the class discussions and activities the students will be able to develop their own values and beliefs with regards to the issue of the importance of water. |
Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
Empathy & Respect for Humans | Poor/Not considered | This resource does not focus on this outcome. |
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
Personal Affinity with Earth | Good | |
Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
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Locally-Focused Learning | Satisfactory | The resource has a broad and general focus that is not specific to a local learning. |
Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
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Past, Present & Future | Good | |
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. |
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Open-Ended Instruction | Good | Throughout the activities, students are encouraged to develop and share their thoughts by discussing the topic in class discussions or as reflective questions |
Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
Integrated Learning | Satisfactory |
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Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
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Inquiry Learning | Satisfactory | |
Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
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Differentiated Instruction | Satisfactory | |
Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
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Experiential Learning | Poor/Not considered | The lesson plan activities in this resource are not structured for hands-on experiences. |
Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
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Cooperative Learning | Satisfactory | |
Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
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Assessment & Evaluation | Satisfactory | The resource suggests a number of assessment ideas without any support other than a list. |
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
Peer Teaching | Satisfactory | |
Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
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Case Studies | Poor/Not considered | This resource does not contain a case study but does suggest teachers can find information about water quality on First Nations reserves via the Canadian Dimension article on the Council of Canadians at http://canadians.org/water/issues/First_Nations/index.html |
Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
Locus of Control | Satisfactory | The activities present opportunities for the students to discuss and explore the topic of the importance of water and how the Aboriginal culture values water; however, there is not a lot of flexibility for the students in terms of choice of topic or content. |
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. |