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Lesson One: Taylar Belanger 106 APPLY: WESTERN SCIENCE AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGES RESEARCH ESSAY ** Teachers may want to invite an Elder or traditional knowledge keeper to the classroom to talk about the traditional ecological viewpoint first hand. Students will write a research essay analyzing the dierences and similarities between western science and traditional ecological knowledge. Students will be shown a photo of a field of Fire- weed wildflowers. Students will write their essays about what a botanist would see and how they may use the flowers. Then they will research what a traditional medicine person would see and how they may use the flowers. Lastly, they will compare the two worldviews' by analyzing the dierences and similarities. Students will write a 500-word (1-2 page) essay comparing the two worldviews. The essays must include the following: 1.Introduction 2.Western science worldview on ecological knowledge (How would the botanist view a field of flowers? What do they see? What knowledge do they learn from the flowers? How would they use the flowers?) 3.Traditional Indigenous worldview on ecological knowledge (How would the traditional medicine keeper view a field of flowers? What do they see? What knowledge do they learn from the flowers? How would they use the flowers?) 4.How are the two worldviews dierent? How are they similar? 5.Conclusion 6.Works Cited Page. You may want to go through with students how to construct a research paper Works Cited Page. For the students' research essays, they can use the internet, books, journal articles, talking with traditional knowledge keepers, or talking with an Elder. Students can either be assessed with the essay rubric attached at the bottom or the teacher can use any rubric or assessment tool that their students are already familiar with. ASSESS: The Small Group Discussion is a form of formative assessment. Teachers will be able to check students' prior knowledge about how humans impact Mother Earth and the importance that dierent components play in our ecosystems. Teachers can assess group learning, group dynamics, and student communication skills. The debriefing questions after Taylar's interview with Fireside Chats is a form of formative assessment. Teachers will be able to check what students took away from Taylar's video and make connections to the other parts of the lesson. The Western Science and Traditional Research Essay is a summative assessment. Students can be assessed through the essay rubric posted below. Using the rubric is optional. The rubric gives the student a mark out of 25 and room for feedback. Teachers may use their own essay assess- ment tools as well. TAKE STUDENT LEARNING FURTHER Activity: Connection to the Land Journal If students show a keen interest in learning more about traditional medicines or traditional view- points of the land, they can make a write-up about the ways that they connect to the land. As a class, you can make sit-spots for each student. A sit spot is a special space where a student can sit apart from one another. Usually students will silently sit for 10-20 minutes. In their sit-spots, students may use the time to think, daydream, journal, record general observations, or use the space to respond to a specific prompt.