Ecology

Lesson 2.5 Teacher’s Guide

Native American Ecology

Standards:

• 9.4.4.1 Human activity has consequences on living organisms and ecosystems.
• 9.4.4.2 Personal and community health can be affected by the environment, body functions and human behavior.

Benchmarks:

• 9.4.4.1.3 Describe contributions from diverse cultures, including Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities, to the understanding of interactions among humans and living systems. For example: American Indian understanding of sustainable land use practices.
• 9.4.4.2.4 Explain how environmental factors and personal decisions, such as water quality, air quality and smoking affect personal and community health.

Learning targets

LT1: I can explain two or more ways that Native Americans describe the earth.

LT2: I can explain two or more ways that Native Americans use materials from the natural world.

Tentative Timeline:

Overall timeframe: 5-6 days

2.5.1 Native American Ecology Introduction 1 day

2.5.2 Introductory Videos 1 day with 2.5.3

2.5.3 Native American Ecology Key Information

2.5.4 Tipis Activity 1 day

2.5.5 Native American Ecological Survival Plan 2-3 days with 2.5.6

2.5.6 Formative Quiz

Ecology

Lesson 2.5

Native American Ecology

"Toward calm and shady places I am walking on the Earth."

- Ojibway Song

Figure 2.5.1 Gems of Lake Superior showing Native American Tipis. Photographs by B.F. Childs. Taken at Beaver Bay, MN, in the 1870s.

Did you know the name "Minnesota" is a Siouan Indian word? It means "cloudy water." The Sioux are one of many native peoples of our great state. There are 11 federally recognized tribes in Minnesota.

Learning Targets:

Students: Rate yourself on the benchmarks using the 1-4 rubric below. Keep track of your learning and revisit your ratings after each lesson. Build your understanding of the objectives and how they apply to populations, ecosystems, and the environment.

Rubric:

1 - I have never seen this learning target before.

2 - I have seen this learning target, but I don't know what it means.

3 - I have seen this learning target, and I think I know what it means.

4 - I can explain this learning target to another student.

Lesson Vocabulary

Scientist Spotlight - Kevin Potts

Augsburg College

Research interests:

I am a wildlife ecologist with broad interests in population dynamics, management, and conservation of wild mammals. In my research I take a quantitative approach to investigating habitat relationships in mammalian populations occupying landscapes under threat from natural and anthropogenic environmental change, and predicting responses of populations to these changes. I am also working on the development and modification of techniques to enable wildlife managers to efficiently monitor mammal populations and communities. My work is primarily field-based (with most field work taking place in Kibale National Park, Uganda) but also includes statistical modeling approaches.

Current research projects:

• Modeling the impact of various external threats on the population viability of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda
• Investigating the influence of spatiotemporal variation in plant nutritional quality on foraging dynamics and population density of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park.
• Modeling biotic and abiotic factors influencing tree fruiting phenology patterns in Kibale National Park
• Developing a protocol for monitoring coyote and red fox populations in Hennepin County, MN
• Modeling the impact of ecological factors on movement and life history tradeoffs in Daphnia, a freshwater crustacean, inhabiting Minneapolis lakes

Previous fieldwork included projects on the recovery of tiger populations in China and monitoring the status of mammalian carnivores in the Lake Superior Basin.

Check out his research website, publications, and classes taught!

Apps to explore:

Ojibway (free at the App Store)

• Learn to speak Ojibway (also spelled Ojibwe, etc.), learn about the history and maps of the Ojibway.

NLM Native Voices (free at the App Store)

• This is the official app for the popular native Voices: Native Concepts of Health and Illness exhibition at the National Library of Medicine.

World Cultures Gallery Guide (free at the App Store)

• Explore the Hudson Museum’s World Cultures Gallery and celebrate a world of culture and cultures of the world. This app focuses on universal cultural themes- ritual and belief, status and power, home and family, transportation, adornment, foodways, and objects made for others.

2.5.2 Introductory Videos

Watch the videos with your students. Have them come up with questions about the tribes’ language, history, or dwellings. To ensure higher-level thinking, make sure at least 1 question from each student involves evaluating and 1 question involves analysis.

White Earth Nation - No More

White Earth Nation: Ojibwemowin with children Nation children learning and using the Ojibwe language on a daily basis.

Dakota Sioux History

2.5.3 Native American Ecology Key Information and MN Reservations

2.5.4 Tipis Activity

2.5.5 Native American Ecological Survival Plan

2.5.6 Quiz

1. How many tribes are in Minnesota?

1. 10
2. 11
3. 12
4. 13

2. Minnesota is a Native American word that means

1. cloudy water
2. earth maiden
3. born at the new moon
4. short rainbow

3. Some Native Americans traditionally built their dwellings with this

1. horse hair
2. wild rice
3. buffalo hides
4. concrete blocks

4. One of the main groups of Native Americans in Minnesota are the

1. Algonquin
2. Hopi
3. Kiowa
4. Sioux

5. Ojibwe and Sioux both describe the earth as a

1. grandfather
2. grandmother
3. father
4. mother

Citations

Figure 2.5.1 Childs, B.F.. "Chippewa Lodges, Beaver Bay." 1870. Public Domain.

"Explore the Native American Nations."Social Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014. <https://www.georgiastandards.org/Frameworks/Pages/BrowseFrameworks/socialstudies.aspx>.

Grine, Darren M. "Sioux Beliefs and Culture." Sioux Beliefs and Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014. <http://siouxpoet.tripod.com/id14.html>. 

Ramirez, Brandy. "Religious Beliefs & Ceremonies of the Sioux Tribe." People. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 15 July 2014. <http://people.opposingviews.com/religious-beliefs-ceremonies-sioux-tribe-6426.html>.

Redish, Laura . "Native American Tribes of Minnesota." Minnesota Indian Tribes and Languages. Native Languages of America, n.d. Web. 15 July 2014. <http://www.native-languages.org/minnesota.htm>.

Stately, Ramona Kitto, and Priscilla Buffalohead. Minnesota Indian History and Culture Lessons. Osseo: MN. Department of Indian Education and District 279 Foundation, 2011. Print. <http://www.hacako.org/doc/350400.php>

Welker, Glenn. "Chippewa/Ojibway/Anishinabe Literature."Chippewa/Ojibway/Anishinabe Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 July 2014. <http://www.indians.org/welker/chippewa.htm>.

"White Earth Nation." White Earth Nation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 July 2014. <http://www.whiteearth.com/>.