Lessons from the North:
Integrating Northern Knowledge into Southern Classrooms
As technological advancements are being made in our society, it appears that there is a shift in our focus as a society towards an increasingly indoor lifestyle. Children are often distracted by television, internet and video games and are generally uncomfortable being outside. These are our future decision makers. These future decisions makers are not making connections with the natural environment. If they do not connect with the environment then why would they value it, or make decisions to preserve it. The IUCN has recently released a new strategy teaching love not loss. Love not loss is a way to communicate the awe and wonder of nature with others to inspire others to take action for change rather than using scare tactics. Many of our decisions about environmental action are inspired from emotional experiences we had when we were children. How do we create connections with our students and the environment to create educated decision makers who value the environment that we live in?
During my time spent living and working in the North, I felt a deeper connection between residents and the environment around them. People often went out on the land in search of country food. Grocery stores are used more to supplement the food hunted or gathered from the land. Clothing items were made from the skins of the hunted animals, nothing is wasted. How can we use northern knowledge to inspire youth in the South?
The Inuit are incredibly resilient and adaptive. Now they are facing a new challenge, climate change. Affects of climate change are expected to be seen more intensely at the poles. Some affects are already being seen more intensely in the arctic than elsewhere in Canada. How is Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) being used to adapt to changes caused by climate change?
Course Learning Objectives
How do we create connections with our students and the environment to create educated decision makers who value the environment that we live in?
How can we use northern knowledge to inspire youth in the South?
How is Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) being used to adapt to changes caused by climate change?
During my time spent living and working in the North, I felt a deeper connection between residents and the environment around them. People often went out on the land in search of country food. Grocery stores are used more to supplement the food hunted or gathered from the land. Clothing items were made from the skins of the hunted animals, nothing is wasted. How can we use northern knowledge to inspire youth in the South?
The Inuit are incredibly resilient and adaptive. Now they are facing a new challenge, climate change. Affects of climate change are expected to be seen more intensely at the poles. Some affects are already being seen more intensely in the arctic than elsewhere in Canada. How is Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) being used to adapt to changes caused by climate change?
Course Learning Objectives
How do we create connections with our students and the environment to create educated decision makers who value the environment that we live in?
How can we use northern knowledge to inspire youth in the South?
How is Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) being used to adapt to changes caused by climate change?
Sample Video
Here is an example of the video that I am working on. From this video I will be developing lesson plans to be used in classrooms in both northern and southern classrooms for the Alberta Science and Social curriculum.
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Note: Video link to be posted here. Video removed until approved by the University of Lethbridge and CWF . |
Lesson PlansHere is a sample of the lesson plans that I developed for the CWF series Voices of the North.
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thankyou_letter-pd_presentation.pdf | |
File Size: | 395 kb |
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