Using Math and Mapping to Explore Social Justice Issues in First Nations Communities in Ontario

Bev Caswell�Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Part 1: Water Connections

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Visualization

“Could I ask you to shut your eyes. Now, open your minds. With eyes closed, look down, down through the surface veneer beneath your feet, past the floor joists and structural shadows, look down until you see the earth. The building disappears, and you are a witness, but time has collapsed and you are not here. Look around you. At first you see forest, great pines and rich flora, then you see water, a riverbank and you hear the sound of fish swimming and butterfly wings – that’s how attuned you are to your surroundings, how inseparable you are from the natural world.”

• An excerpt from: “The opposite of prayer: Introduction of Tomson Highway” by John Moss in Comparing Mythologies by Tomson Highway.

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• Think of words that come to mind from this visualization.
• Write each word on a separate sticky note.
• Read your word(s) aloud.

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Our Connections to Water

• Think about an experience you’ve had that has connected you to water in your life in some way.
• For example, it could have to do with oceans, lakes, storms, rain, drinking water, tides, floods, canoeing, camping, swimming, etc.
• Share your experience(s) with others in your table group.
• With your table group, brainstorm the ways you use water in your lives.
• E.g., cultural or religious practices such as ritual washing.

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Liz Osamawick’s Water Song

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Part 2: Math Exploration – �Central Tendency & Capacity

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How Many Bottles Would it Take to Fill a Bathtub?

• Write your estimate on the board.
• What strategies did you use to make your estimates?
• What can we do with these numbers?
• Put them in order
• Find the average (the mean)
• Find the most popular number (the mode)
• Find the middle number (the median)
• What information would be useful for calculating the capacity?

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Capacity of a Bath Tub

Tub dimensions:�150cm x 30cm x 53cm

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Mini Lesson: Capacity/Volume

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How Much Water Do You Think This Container Holds?

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How Much Water Do You Consume Weekly?

• Use the worksheet to calculate the approximately number of liters of water use per day and per week.
• Write your weekly total on the board.
• Are there any surprises?
• Try the CBC Water calculator: http://www.cbc.ca/pei/features/watercalculator/

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Part 3: Introduction to Drinking Water Advisories

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CBC: The National

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Human Rights Watch

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Nearly half of the 133 First Nations in Ontario currently have boil water advisories, and it has been more than ten years since ten First Nations in Northwestern Ontario had clean drinking water.

Porter, 2014

Although the federal government committed to eliminating all long-term (i.e., have been in effect for more than 12 months) drinking water advisories on First Nations reserves by March 31, 2021, the promise has not been fulfilled. Despite significant progress being made, there are still advisories in dozens of First Nations communities across Canada.

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“

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• Write a one-word response to the previous statement on the sticky note.
• Read your words out loud.
• Write any questions, thoughts that come to mind, or emotions that arise.
• Use a separate sticky note for each question or response!
• Share your questions with your table group.

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Categorizing Our Questions

• As a table group, think about how to sort the questions into specific categories. Adds the categories onto your chart paper.
• Possible categories: sources of water pollution, legislation, engineering systems to clean water, etc.
• Add your sticky notes.
• Post your chart paper on the wall for others to see.
• How might we go about answering our questions? Potential resources?

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Resources to further our inquiry

Thank you, Andrea Avis of Fort Frances Public Library, for these recommendations.

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Part 4: Mapping Drinking Water Advisories

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Mapping Drinking Water Advisories

• Each group is assigned an equal number of First Nations communities in Ontario that are under drinking water advisories.
• Act as cartographers and investigative journalists.
• Locate each of your communities using the First Nations map.
• Place colour-coded stickers on the class map, based on the concern.
• Red = do not use advisories
• Orange = do not consume advisories
• Yellow = boil water advisories
• Green = algae blooms
• Blue = water shortage
• Write the community number on each sticker.

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Further Questions

• What do you think upon seeing the map?
• What observations do you have?
• Do you have any further questions to add to our lists?
• Think of how we can start to categorize these questions.
• Which are the burning questions?
• Which questions can be answered quite quickly?
• Which questions are going to take more time?
• Write these questions on construction paper and place them on the inquiry board.

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