Teaching Tools: Native & Social Studies (Charles River)
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What's in a Name
The Indian name for the Charles River was "Quinobequin," meaning meandering. A glance at a watershed map reveals why: though marathon runners travel just 26 miles from Hopkinton to Boston, the Charles River takes the scenic route, covering 80 meandering miles. Have students look at a watershed map (use the link below to view one such map) and discuss why the river might have gotten this name.
Have students brainstorm what uses the native peoples once made of the river (as a transportation link, a fishery, a ceremonial site, etc.) Discuss how dams and development have changed the river since 1600. How has the fishery changed? The ease of canoeing the river? Are there traditional sites now underwater? Has the pollution level in the river changed the uses it is put to?
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Universal Human Water Needs (greenteacher.com)
Begin by brainstorming a list of universal human needs. Then talk about how in many parts of the world, carrying water from a river, lake or well is a major task each day. Have students twist small pieces of cloth to use as head pads and then carry water in buckets on their heads. How would our habits change if we had to carry all of our drinking and washing water from the Charles River in this way? Discuss why many people in the world do not have enough water or do not have clean water (drought, cost, wells are uncovered, not enough firewood to boil water, don't understand about germs).
Invite students to drink from a liter of clean water, and do so yourself. Then mix in some dirt and invite students to drink again (but don't let them). Ask students why it is important to have clean water (80% of disease is linked to contaminated water and inadequate sanitation). Remind students that many communities draw drinking water from the Charles River.
Now make a water filter for cleaning that liter of dirty water. Punch holes in the bottom of a plastic container. On the inside, layer fish-tank charcoal (from pet store), sand, and gravel, in that order (1" layer of each). Pour in the dirty water and collect it in a clean container. Now drink from the clean water.
Explain to students that every person needs a minimum of 25 to 45 liters of water EACH DAY to stay clean and healthy, yet we use almost that many liters every time we flush a toilet. Discuss ways to reduce water consumption at school and at home (e.g. turning off water when brushing teeth, replacing lawns with trees, shrubs and other plants that are drought-tolerant, placing bricks in toilet tanks, installing low–flow shower heads, etc.). Have students design estimate the weekly water savings from any one of these changes. Discuss how these measure might impact the Charles River (particularly during low-flow, high-use times of year, like mid-Summer).
Consuming and Conserving Societies (greenteacher.com)
Introduce this lesson with a quote from Alan Durning of The Worldwatch Institute:
"With consumption standards perpetually rising, society is literally insatiable. The definition of a `decent' standard of living, the necessities of life for a member in good standing in the consumer society, endlessly shifts upwards . . . Needs are socially defined and escalate with the rate of economic progress."
Ask students to analyze the quote, defining basic needs and examining socially defined needs. How does our society define a 'decent' standard of living? What factors influence people's needs and wants? What principles form the basis of a consumer society? Of a conserver society? (Conserver traits include producing durable goods, long-range planning, recognition of all of the costs of a product, and conservation leading to self-sufficiency). Ask them to write down five ways conservor and consumer societies might impact the Charles River.
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Teaching Tools: Native & Social Studies (Lake Champlain)
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“Since the Beginning of Time’ (from “This Lake Alive!” by Amy B. Demarest)
A speech delivered by an Abenaki to the Governor of Quebec, September 8, 1766:
Brother,
We the Misiskoui Indians of the St. Francis or Abenaki Tribe have inhabited that part of Lake Champlain known by the name of Misiskoui [since a] time unknown to any of us here present, without being molested or any one’s claiming right to it, to our knowledge, except about eighteen years ago, the French Governor Mr. Vaudreuil and Intendant came there, and viewed a spot convenient for a saw-mill to facilitate the building of vessels and bateaux at St. Johns, as well as for the use of the navy at Quebec; and on the occasion convened our people to ask this approbation, when they consented and marked out a spot large enough for that purpose, as well as for the cutting of the saw timbers, about half a league square, with the condition to have what boards they wanted for their use gratis. But at the commencement of last war, said mill was deserted, and the iron work buried; after which we expected every thing of the kind would subside. But soon after peace was made, some English people came there to rebuild the mill, and now claim three leagues in breadth and six in depth, which takes in our village and plantations by far. We therefore request of you, brother, to enquire into this affair, that we obtain justice as it is of great concern to us.
Student Activity
Share this speech with the class and discuss the point of view expressed in the speech. What concessions had the Native Americans already granted? How had things changed? What did the speaker want? It is important that students note that 150 years after contact with the Europeans, Native Americans spoke in a voice that demanded respect and an explanation for the unauthorized use of their land.
Contrast this to the point of view of the Europeans. Discuss all the things that Europeans had done on the assumption that the land was theirs to claim. Note that not all Native Americans felt one way while all Europeans felt the other way. History is never that simple.
Make a list of events and attitudes of both sides. Then divide class into two groups (Native Americans and Europeans). Ask students to decide who they are in their groups:
Possibilities for Native American group: chief, chief’s family, chief’s council of advisors. For the European group: French Governor, Council of Advisors, mill members, members of Navy.
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Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Create a handout from the following information or use pictures of animals and artifacts to share the information.
Grade schools: Have students create a picture book, where they make up a Native American family, naming all of the different family members and choosing a tribe, and telling the story of a day in the life of the family along the shores of Lake Champlain. What do they see? What do they eat? What can they make with their tools? How long does it take them?
Middle and high schools:
Ask students to write a three-part essay:
1. From the perspective of a Native American using native words when possible. Describe life before and after Europeans arrived.
2. From the perspective of a European walking the land for the first time. Compare life in Europe to life in this new land.
3. From the perspective of a Native American today had the Europeans never arrived. How would this land be different? How would it be the same?
People have lived in the Champlain Valley for nearly 12,000 years. The Paleo-Indian Period (11,300-9000 BP (Before Present) After the last glacier retreated, Paleo-Indians moved into the Champlain Valley from the south and the west. They followed herds of grazing animals into this new land. Nomadic tribes lived and hunted along the Champlain Sea's shore. The men used spears to hunt the large animals that inhabited the tundra - mastodons, mammoths, caribou, walrus and seals. The women used stone and bone tools to prepare the food.
The Archaic Period (7,000 BC - 1,000 B.C) The Champlain Sea was cut off from the ocean and gradually became fresh water. The climate became warmer and forests grew. The people adapted to these changes and invented new methods for hunting and fishing the freshwater creatures in the lake.
The lake served as a source of food and a highway for the transport of ideas, people and materials. The presence of a large variety of woodworking tools suggests that dugout canoes were used for travel, fishing and probably other hunting activities. The Woodland Period (1,000 B.C. - 1600 A.D.) The Woodland People are the ancestors of the Native American people living in this region today.
During this period tribal territories were defined. Western Abenaki, "People of the Dawn," inhabited the Eastern Shore of Lake Champlain (Vermont and New Hampshire). They called the lake "Biawbagok," the "waters in between". The Western shore of the lake was Iroquois territory. The Mohawk were part of the Iroquoian language group that lived closest to the lake. The Iroquois name for Lake Champlain was "Caniadari Guarunte" or "the door to the country".
Both of the great eastern nations - the Algonquian and the Iroquois - knew the land that became Vermont. In a lifetime of studying the Native place-names of New England, the late John C. Huden was able to identify roughly two hundred names that one or more of the Native tribes had applied to places within Vermont. Nearly one hundred derive from the Abenaki, who spent more time in the area than any of the other Algonquian tribes. Another dozen derive from the Mahican, while a few come from the Narragansett, Natick, Pennacook, Pocumtuc and Wampanoag. The Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois nation gave names to about fifty places, and the Chippewa also seem to have named a few places.
For all of those Vermont place-names derived from Native words, there are only two municipalities whose names are so taken: Jamaica (from the Natick for "beaver"), and Winooski (Abenaki for "wild onion place").
Early history of the area in relation to the creature now given the moniker of Champ, can be traced back to the original inhabitants, the Native Americans. At least three bands of Native Americans lived in the area, the Iroquois on the western side (New York side now) and the Abenaki and Algonquin groups on the eastern side (Vermont side now). These groups of Native Americans had stories associated with a horned serpent which may be a link to reports of the lake creature exhibiting horn like protuberances from its head, or may be but a symbolic term associated with ancestral beliefs. The other tie to the horned serpent belief may lie within the odd formations of Split Rock (near Essex, New York now) wherein natural forming rock structures resembled petrified snakes. The tribes of the area revered these snake like formations. The tribes reportedly had a name for the horned serpents of the lake, chaousarou, but this name may also be linked to one of the fish species of the lake and not the creature itself.
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Teaching Tools: Native & Social Studies (Hudson River)
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River Story
Read the book, “A River Ran Wild,” by Lynne Cherry. Discuss the changes the river underwent in the story after European settlers arrived and harnessed it. Discuss the damage done and the eventual clean up efforts. Ask the students if they know of other waterways that are “harnessed” in this way, or other waterways that are visibly damaged. Brainstorm ideas about what could be done to clean up the waterways mentioned. Be sure to discuss which “native” practices ensured a sustainable relationship with the river.
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| photo: Christopher Swain |
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Native Waterways (greenteacher.com)
Explore the role of waterways in the lives of Native people. How did it change as the Europeans moved in? How did the attitudes of the Europeans toward the waterways differ? If possible, let students sit quietly along a waterway and imagine what life was like. Ask students to write a paragraph or two where they imagine the future of their favorite waterway.
Waste Audit (greenteacher.com)
Do a school wide waste audit. Start by having students walk around the school to survey waste collection areas (lunchroom, office, classrooms, etc.). Then assign a student team to audit each area to record the types of waste found. For each major type of waste that could be reduced (paper, compostable food, etc.), create a chart with the headings "Problems" and "Possible Solutions." Under "Problems," students record the observations they have made while doing the audit, (i.e. children playing with paper towels, throwing away half eaten fruit, etc.). Have students take their charts to other classes, present the problems, and record ideas from classes under "Possible Solutions." Have each team rank the solutions for each problem found in their area and use a webbing format to design a work plan to implement them. Headings should include Who, What, How, When, Where. Present the work plans to the rest of the class for evaluation and suggestions. Then prepare and present the work plan to the school, class by class, through posters, signs, talks, skits, and demonstrations (see Art for collage activity).
Hazardous Roots (greenteacher.com)
Examine the hidden environmental costs of products by having students mind-map the word 'apple' on a poster. Write 'apple in the center and ask students to write around it everything that goes into the growing and marketing of apples, from the seed to supermarket. Using a different color, write down the environmental hazards that each 'root' might have (e.g. trees are sprayed with pesticides; chemicals in runoff water contaminate local streams, transport trucks use fossil fuels and pollute the air, etc.) Then have small groups of students research each step of apple production—both organic and conventional--and report back to the class. This exercise can be repeated for other familiar products, like paper, which can then be ranked according to their environmental costs.
Three Generation Food Survey (greenteacher.com) Combination Art/Native & Social Studies project.
Have students survey people from their parents' and grandparents' generations about food issues. Questions might include: What foods did you eat growing up? Where did the food come from? Who prepared meals? What did mealtimes look like? What changes in food technology have you witnessed? Has organic food had any impact on your family? What are your favorite dishes? See ‘Art’ section for a follow up project.
Cars (greenteacher.com)
Look at the role of advertising in promoting a consumer lifestyle. Have students collect car, truck, and SUV ads in newspapers and magazines, and list the makes of cars and their advertising slogans. Classify the advertising appeals used in the slogans. Commonly used appeals are prestige, power, freedom, safety, belonging, and excitement. Have the students identify the strategies most persuasive to them and discuss whether these are sufficient to sell the car. Then consider other factors: are total emissions or miles per gallon factors a car buyer should consider? What kinds of strategies would it take to sell an environmentally friendly car? What kind advertising campaign could convince people to buy bicycles instead cars?
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