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time for maintenance of your garden including watering and weeding. We have had success with this by dividing our class into smaller groups who are responsible for various elements of garden work along with support from family and community volunteers. Before starting this unit, it is assumed that students will be familiar with the topic of culture and able to discuss diversity appropriately. Some excellent resources for teachers to broaden their own knowledge are included in this unit. Learning should be framed by the idea that our country is made up of many different groups rather than European Americans being seen as the norm and other groups being seen as diverse. It is critical that the differentiation between Native life in the past and in the present be made clear, and that Native people are not seen as pieces of history but rather as living groups in present day society. Whenever possible use tribe names to identify people or stories rather than using the broad term Native American or American Indian. Unit Overview: Activity I: Meet the Sisters Activity II: Planting the Garden Activity III: Life Cycle of Pumpkins Activity IV: Amazing Corn Stories Activity V: More Amazing Corn Stories Activity VI: Anatomy of Corn Activity VII: Corn Yesterday, Corn Today Activity VIII: Corn Yesterday, Corn Today - Part II Activity IX: Whats in There? Activity X: Seed Germination Activity XI: All Dolled Up Activity XII: Thank You, Sisters Resources: Specific resources are listed within individual unit activities. Resource lists are also included as separate pages within this unit.
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Introduction to Three Sisters Garden Activity Duration: 45 - 60 minutes Activity Setting: Classroom
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Notes:
each other, covering anything that didnt come up through the childrens brainstorming. Cool Down This activity gives students some background information about the Three Sisters Garden as well as activating their prior knowledge and generating interest. To close out the activity and make connections back to the students real life; ask them to think of examples where people work together in the same ways the plants from the three sisters garden do. Like the three sisters, there are times where one person or one group cant do it alone, different people or different kinds of people working together can achieve a stronger result than working alone. An example to get them started might be to consider how a school needs many kinds of people to function. Teachers, students, and other workers like custodians, office staff etc., have to all work together. A school with just teachers or just students wouldnt be successful. There are times that one group is the one doing the helping and times that group is being helped. Each group has an important role to play. This can be done in a large group brainstorming or smaller groups where each group writes and illustrates an example of people working together. This is an important step to make connections about human interdependence and the benefits of diversity. This is a great time to finish with a song like Lean on Me. Allow enough time for discussion and presentation. Related Activities/Extensions Picture book and biographies of school staff created by students Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Planting the Three Sisters Garden Activity Duration: 60 minutes Activity Setting: School Garden or Outdoor Area
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aloud the Three Sisters Guided Journey (pp. 46-48 In the Three Sisters Garden) Cool Down Using the chart paper, make predictions about how many days it will take for the corn and squash seeds to germinate. Record predictions and track the results. Related Activities/Extensions Seed planting of any kind (floral, vegetable, herb) Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Life Cycle of Pumpkins Activity Duration: 45 minutes Optional ongoing weekly pumpkin journal; starts at planting and goes for at least 5 weeks. Pumpkins take 100 days to be fully ready so journal throughout that time would be optimal Activity Setting: Classroom School Garden or Outdoor Area
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comment. Explain the pumpkin journal. Tell the students that as scientists who are now growing your own pumpkin as part of the Three Sisters Garden, you will be monitoring your pumpkins and recording your observations in a journal. Give clear guidelines about what kinds of things scientists would include in an observation. Model drawing only what you see not what you wish was there. It can be helpful to have exaggerated examples of what NOT to do (like a picture of a pumpkin bigger than a kid with a rainbow and a horse and a pokemon). If there is only one small sprout, that is what you need to draw. Depending on the level of your students, set an expectation for what should be written in the notes section. Students can write their own notes or have an option of copying notes from a white board based on cumulative observations of the group. This activity works well by having small groups record on specific days of the week. For example, divide your class into thirds and one group observes and records on Mondays, one on Tuesdays, etc. If possible, observe over at least a five-week period starting with the week of planting. (The seed leaves are usually sprouted within 7 days and will provide you with wonderful changes to record each week). If possible, have a sharing time following the observations and recordings where students can show their work to one another and provide questions and comments. Cool Down If you complete the pumpkin journal activity, at the end of the process, give students the responsibility for compiling their pages into chronological order. Ask them to try it first without looking at the dates and trying to assemble it based on just their observations and notes. Make the journals into books to add to students portfolios, be displayed in the classroom, or go home to demonstrate learning. Related Activities/Extensions There are a wide variety of books about pumpkins and projects connected to pumpkins (See resource list) Comparing/Contrasting with other cycles, such as the water cycle Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Corn stories in Native Folktales Connection to modern uses Activity Duration: 45 - 60 minutes Activity Setting: Classroom
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Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Corn stories in Native Folktales Activity Duration: Two 30-minute blocks Activity Setting: Classroom
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Students get into small groups and complete the task. Student work is shared back to the larger group. Cool Down To close out the activity, compile the responses and Venn diagrams into a book for the classroom library or a display. Look through all three books and compare the styles used by the illustrators. If there is time, ask students to draw their own versions of what one of the characters from the legends would look like. Suggest legend writing as an option during writers workshop or creative writing time. Related Activities/Extensions Connect to further folk tale study. Students illustrate a favorite part of one of the legends or try to make one picture that portrays the basic theme of the legend. Connect to rice in Asian cultures and Asian folk tales. Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Observation of corn plant Activity Duration: 45 - 60 minutes Activity Setting: Classroom
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Gather again as a group and discuss your findings. Show off some of the work of particularly detailed scientists. Discuss what you discovered and any further questions you have. Cool Down To close out the activity, ask how students thinking about corn is changing as you work with the Three Sisters Garden. Explain the homework and clarify any questions students have about it. The homework is to discuss what youve learned about corn with someone in your family. You are responsible for bringing back a corn recipe or a corn story AND to do some further investigating where you live. You will be finding as many products as you can in your home that have corn as an ingredient. (Lesson six contains activities to do once the homework has been turned in) Related Activities/Extensions Research into modern corn controversy (biotechnology etc.) Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Connections to students lives Understanding modern significance of corn Activity Duration: At least an hour; can be divided into two smaller blocks of time. One block for reporting and planning; one for creating the mural. Activity Setting: Classroom
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Notes:
Students use a variety of supplies to complete the murals. Cool Down Gather again as a group and present your murals. Discuss what they represent. Ask if students see patterns or similarities in the murals. Related Activities/Extensions Create a Corn Museum and invite other classes to come and view the murals Compare with the importance of rice in Asian cultures Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Exploring and classifying the uses of corn Making connections with corn in students lives Activity Duration: 30 minutes Activity Setting: Classroom
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products that could be classified into more than one category. Brainstorm other corn products that could be classified into the categories. Related Activities/Extensions Rice or another grain as a product Any activity that is related to classification Defining attributes Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Identifying the parts of a seed and their functions. Planting the beans in the Three Sisters Garden. Activity Duration: 60 minutes Activity Setting: Classroom School Garden or Outdoor Area
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backpack and to pull out what is inside (snack). Explain that seeds also have a supply of stored food that is stored in something like a backpack. A seed has two cotyledons, which give the seed the energy to germinate and grow. Attach the cotyledon label to the backpack. Tell the students that a hiker uses a lot of energy and gets thirsty. Ask students what a hiker would bring along (water bottle). Ask Little Sprout to look inside the main compartment of the backpack and to pull out what is inside. Show the water bottle to the class and tell them that plants also need water and minerals to help them grow. Ask the students how plants get water and minerals (roots). Attach the root label to the water bottle. Tell the students that the beginnings of the roots are inside the seed. Ask the students what other item a hiker might bring along, especially if it is a bright and sunny day (hat). Have Little Sprout put on the hat. Tell the students that the hat represents the first green leaves that grow from a seedling. Attach the leaves label to the hat and tell them that the leaves use sunlight to make food for the plant photosynthesis. When the first leaves grow, the cotyledons fall of the seed, because their energy is no longer needed the plant is now able to get energy from the sun. Activity Divide the group into pairs and give each student a paper towel and a hand lens. Give each student two bean seeds. Tell the students that they are going to find the parts of a seed that we talked about with Little Sprout by dissecting their bean seeds and observing the different parts. Tell the students to carefully rub the bean between their fingers. (The seed coat will separate from the cotyledons.) Have the students peel the thin membrane away and ask them what part of the seed it is (seed coat). Tell the students to separate the two parts of the seed and ask them what the big oval parts are (cotyledons). Ask the students what the cotyledons, like the backpack, do for the seed (store energy). Ask the students what they see inside the cotyledon. (a little growth extension the root, and little triangular shapes the first leaves). Help the students identify these parts. Tell the students to dissect their second seed to see if all the same parts are in it as well. Reinforce the idea that all seeds have these parts. Tell students to use the hand lenses to look more closely at each seed part Cool Down Take some of the soaked bean seeds and plant them in the Three Sisters Garden near the corn stalks. Ask the students why the beans need to be near the corn (to have something to climb as they grow.) Review the symbiotic relationship between beans and corn. Related Activities/Extensions Any planting activity
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Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Observing the process of seed germination Activity Duration: 30 minutes; brief observations over the next several days Activity Setting: Classroom
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root sequence card. Ask the students what will come out of the seed next (shoot) and then after that (first leaves). Show the appropriate sequencing cards. Discuss what we will need to do to make sure the plant is getting what it needs to germinate and grow (make sure the paper towel stays moist and that there is air in the bag). Record the growth process on the Germination and Growth chart Cool Down Have copies of the growth sequence cards and have students put them in order. Related Activities/Extensions Creating a dictionary with plant related terminology as students learn new words make individual pages large for display, have students use materials that are developmentally appropriate for their dictionary. Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Observing a Native American tradition by creating cornhusk dolls in celebration of the harvest. Activity Duration: 60 minutes Activity Setting: Classroom
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use scissors to cut the section below the waist in two. To make a doll wearing a skirt, tuck extra pieces of husk under the waistband to form a full skirt. Give each student several large cornhusks and two pieces of string or yarn. Tell the students to work in pairs to help each other with tying the string for the heads. Assist the students with creating their dolls. Tell the students that once they have made the basic form of the doll, they may use markers to draw faces and yarn, fabric, and other materials to decorate the dolls. Encourage them to be creative. Cool Down Students may use their cornhusk dolls to put on a puppet show about what they have learned throughout their experience with the Three Sisters Garden. Related Activities/Extensions Any creative use of the corn husks, so as not to have it wasted Research what other cultures do at harvest of the staple grain Resources:
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Multicultural Environmental Education Curriculum Writing Project
Activity Topics: Observing a Native American Tradition by celebrating the harvest of the Three Sisters Garden and exploring Native American perspectives. Activity Duration: 60 - 120 minutes Activity Setting: Classroom
Corn Investigation Homework Group Data Collection Form Names of group members:
1. Discuss homework questions 1 and 2. Did you notice any patterns about what people in your group chose to share with someone at home? What about in the questions or comments?
2. List all of the products your group discovered with corn as an ingredient.
4. Share your corn stories and corn recipes. Do you notice any patterns in what people shared? Do you have any questions? What do you notice about corn and its importance to people?
What do you want people who see your mural to learn about corn?
2. Who did you talk to?_____________________________________________ One question or comment from that person was:
3.
Name at least one product you found in your home where an ingredient was corn.
Write a corn story that is important to your family. For example, in my family we have a tradition of going to the MN State Fair and eating as many pieces of roasted corn on the cob as we can. One time my stepmom and I both ate 6 ears of corn! You may also attach any corn recipe and an explanation of why it is important to your family or culture.