INSYS 497E Designing Web-Enhanced Learning Environment Strategies for Science, Math, and Technology Educators of Native Americans


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The lesson plans below have been created by K-12 teachers of Native American students. The lesson were created to fulfill graduate credit requirements for this course offered through the Instructional Systems Program at The Pennsylvania State University. WELES were developed through a joint venture between NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and the Instructional Systems Program at The Pennsylvania State University College of Education.

Lessons created by:

You can view your classmate's lessons by clicking on the lesson title next to their name or by scrolling through the page . . .

Author

Grades

Lesson titles . . .
Paige Blake

K-4

Water Cycle --  Naya Nuki’s Journey  --  2. Shoshoni Indian Tribe --  3. A Study of Weather -- 4. Grizzly Bear  --  5. Native American Stories  --  Transportation - Now and Then 

(note: Naya Nuki's Journey is the introduction to lessons 2-5 above)

Mary Larson

Linderman Elementary Flathead Indian Reservation, MT

K-4

Aviation and Native American History -- Moon (Na tin ik) Kootenai -- Sun/Stars/Na tan ik (Kootenai) -- Flight / Navigation Eagles (Ak nuq tu tam Ky aq nu qut) 
Sherri Johnson

Little Black Bear Elementary, Fond du Lac Reservation, Minnesota

K-4

Starry, Starry Nights* -- Up in the Clouds! -- Find your way!*

* Margaret Big George -Ojibwe Consultant

Catherine Beise

Little Black Bear Elementary, Fond du Lac Reservation

K-4

Which way did it blow?* -- Where Does Winds Come From?* -- Which Way is North?*

* Margaret Big George, cultural consultant

Kathy Knudson

5-8

Atmosphere Layers -- Atmosphere Painting -- Cool Clouds in a bottle -- Weather Prediction -- Absorption -- Types of clouds

 

DeAnn Ross

Meridian Middle School Bellingham, Washington

5-8

Solar System Model -- What is Weather? -- Weather Disasters -- Phases of the moon --  Guest speakers - meteorology -- Weather Instruments - Psychrometers

 

Crystal Herman

Okreek Elementary School-Todd County School District

5-8

Visible and Invisible Forms of Navigation -- Air Mass  -- Weather  -- Star Gazette  --           Native America Chat Line -- The Big Trip

 

Mary Alice Thomas

9-12

The Stars of the Big Dipper -- Height of buildings -- Traveling with Chief Joseph

 

Regina Sievert

9-12

Investigating Bernoulli’s Principle -- Global Positioning System: Theory and Use --    Scavenger Hunt flight - Technology

 

Caroline Stands   LAKOTA CONSTELLATIONS -- Where did constellations come from?  -- Navigating the Net --Star Dating --   Little Stars Grow up  -- Keeping Track of Time


Lesson Plan: Water Cycle Created by: Paige Blake                grades: K-4

  (Generative Learning)

Time: Three 45 minute science periods

Lesson Purpose: The students will study water and learn about the water cycle using the Native American story called Water Story. They will explore on the World Wide Web with fifth grade buddies. Draw a water cycle, and act out the water cycle.

Lesson Objectives:

1. Students will be able to name the various forms of water and explain the water cycle after exploring from one to three sites on the WWW with a fifth grade buddy.

2. Students will be able to draw a model of the water cycle.

3. Students will read the story Water Story, from the Native American Reading Series, in pairs.

4. Each pair will share their favorite part of the story, stating what it tells about the water cycle.

Activity Content: Students will learn the various parts of the water cycle and know an example of each part.

Teacher Preparation:

Materials for Classroom:

National Standards:

Understands basic features of the Earth

Lesson Procedures:

Introduction: Day 1

Students are sitting in table groups of three or four. Have each group brainstorm everything they think of about the word "water". Have a spokesperson name the list to go on a large chart in the front of the room.

Procedures for the Classroom: Day 1 cont.

Discuss the chart as a group and then have students sit and listen as you read the story Water Story. Do a picture preview together before reading the story. Discuss the story as it is read to the students.

Have the students team up with their fifth grade buddies and explore the bookmarked sites on the WWW, with the following goals in mind: Find out what the water cycle is, find out how many forms water comes in, find and write down three fact about water found on the web.

Day 2

Have the students share information they found on the WWW with their buddies.

Next, draw the water cycle on a large piece of chart paper, as a class. Have various students come up to draw the pictures of the different parts of the water cycle, discuss the various forms of water.

Day 3

As a review, show the NASA water cycle overhead and discuss the various parts of the cycle. Turn off the overhead and have each student draw their own water cycle on large construction paper, encourage them to be creative as they draw their pictures for each stage of the cycle.

As students finish, have them take a copy of the book Water Story to read and quietly discuss with a partner who is also finished with their water cycle picture. Circulate through the room to listen to the various groups, help them figure out how their favorite part of the story relates to the water cycle.

When all groups are finished, the pairs will go up to the front of the room to explain their favorite part of the story and how it relates to the water cycle.

Follow-up Activities:

1. The students will have the opportunity to act out the water cycle. In groups of three each student will draw a part of the cycle out of a hat and act it out. Various students can talk about the water cycle and act it out for the whole class.

2. Do the demonstrating the water cycle activities on pages 13-15 of the NASA’s Our Mission to Planet Earth Guide to Teaching Earth System Science.

Vocabulary: cycles, moisture, precipitation, evaporation, water cycle

Web Sites:

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Lesson Plan: Naya Nuki’s Journey           Created by: Paige Blake                grades: K-4

Lesson Summary: This set of four lessons is based around the story Naya Nuki Shoshoni Girl Who Ran by Kenneth Thomasma. Three or four chapters are read each day during story time. At the end of each of these reading times the following two things will be charted: Naya Nuki’s route on a map, and a list of navigational signs Naya Nuki uses to find her way home.

Activity Content: Students will learn about an eleven year old Shoshoni girl’s adventures, struggles, and survival means as she is captured by a rival tribe, and then escapes and travels back to her people. Her journey covers over a thousand miles, and more than a months time. Various topics from her journey will be focused on more extensively during the science period.

On the first day of the Naya Nuki study, a student journal can be handed out. The students can write "Naya Nuki Travel Journal" and decorate the cover. This can be used to record information learned during story time, science, and free time.

In Science we will study the following:

 

Lesson 2 of Naya Nuki:  The Shoshoni Indian Tribe                                                    grades: K-4

(Collaborative Learning)

Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and two 45 minute science class periods.

Lesson Objectives:

1. In pairs, with a fifth grade helper, the students will use the WWW to find out about the Shoshoni people. They will find out the ways the Shoshoni traveled, hunted and made shelters during Naya Nuki’s time.

2. Students will cooperate and make decisions together.

3. The pairs will make a chart together listing the ways the Shoshoni people traveled, hunted, and made shelters in the past, and the current ways.

Lesson Procedures:

Day 1

Have students briefly summarize the first four chapters of Naya Nuki as a class (On the Move, The Attack, The Long March East, and Slavery) that have been read during story time earlier in the day.

The prearranged pairs will go to the computer lab with their fifth grade helper to research about the Shoshoni people, using the bookmarked web sites. *See below. They will take turns recording their information in their journals.

Day 2

The second day, or when they have found the information they need, the students will return to the classroom and together decide how to make their chart of the information learned. (Two to three simple chart examples will be posted on the white board, and explained to each group) Walk around and monitor the pairs as they work.

After they have completed their charts, and as they wait for other pairs to complete the assignment, students can do one of the following: Read one of the books on the Shoshoni in our reading area or at a desk, or write about and draw a picture of some aspect of Shoshoni life in student journals.

When all student pairs have their charts complete, they will present their finding to the class.

We will discuss the information learned and compare and contrast the past ways to the present.

Teacher Preparation:

Materials and Resources:

Follow-up Activities:

1.Find information about each students ancestors (tribes) from early times. Compare the information with that learned about the Shoshoni.

Web Sites:

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Lesson 3 of Naya Nuki:   A Study of Weather   Created by: Paige Blake                 grades: K-4

  (Expository Presentation)

Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and two 45 minute science class periods.

Lesson Objectives:

1. Students will be able to name one type of weather that helped Naya Nuki and one type that hindered her during her journey.

2. On a large sheet of construction paper, divided into four sections, students will draw, and color four scenes showing four types of weather.

Lesson Procedures:

Day 1

Discuss the four chapters read in Naya Nuki (A Night to Run, Danger at Night, Always Alert, and Burial Platform)

Ask the students to tell the types of weather Naya Nuki had encountered in the book so far. On white board write the three categories: helpful weather, harmful weather, and neutral weather (define the word ‘neutral’)

Tell the class you will be using some web sites to find out more information about weather together. Have the class grab their journals and a pencil and sit in chairs and on the floor around the classroom computer. Locate the bookmarked web sites and have students write down five weather facts as you give them information from the web sites. Find the four day forecast for your area.

Give students a large sheet of construction paper. Have them fold it in half twice and open up to find four equal boxes. Tell students to draw pictures showing four types of weather. After they have drawn their pictures, they can use glue to add texture to their scenes.

Day 2

The next day, pass out a piece of paper to each student and have them write about the type of weather that helped Naya Nuki and the type that harmed her during her journey. When the students have completed this assignment and turned it in, they can get their dried glue picture and color and use chalk to color each area appropriately.

Teacher Preparation:

Materials and Resources:

Follow-up Activities:

1. Have students ask parents and grandparents ways they know to predict the weather without reading the paper or listening to the news.

Web Sites:

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 Lesson 4 of Naya Nuki:   The Grizzly Bear        Created by: Paige Blake                  grades: K-4

 (Problem Based Learning)

Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and two 45 minute science class periods. Five or ten minutes for three days to learn a bear fact. 15 minutes scheduled with the kindergarten teacher for a presentation.

Lesson Objectives:

  1. Students will find five facts on the WWW about bears.h
  2. Students will work together cooperatively to solve their bear problem.
  3. Students will share their bear information with a kindergarten class. Each student sharing one fact.

Lesson Procedures:

Day 1

Review chapters 9 through 12 ( Inches from Death, Food and Hides, The End?, and Moving West Again) Discuss Naya Nuki’s scary experience with the grizzly bear.

Divide the students into groups of four (plus a fifth grade helper). Read the five grizzly bear problems to the group (each typed on a strip of paper). Place each paper strip in a hat and have one student from each group pick out a problem. Have groups go to the computer lab and reread their problem. With help from the fifth grader, students will research bears, each writing down five facts about bears. They will be trying to find solutions to the problem their group has. (I would recommend preparing the fifth grade students ahead of time so they can assist their group and guide them toward a solution.)

During this time the teacher needs to spend time with each group and give them guidance in their problem solving.

When groups get finished, they can return to the classroom and read books about bears in the reading area, or write and draw in their journals.

Day 2

The second day, when all groups are finished, have the groups share their problem with the class, and their solutions. Discuss each problem and solution and share other solutions students from other groups provide.

Have each student pick a bear fact. Type each fact and cut the strips and distribute to the students. Have students learn their fact the next few days, lining up and practicing without strips of paper.

During free time, each student can draw bear pictures to give to a student in the kindergarten class.

Set up a time (10-15) minutes with the kindergarten teacher to have students come and share bear facts with the kindergartners. When the class enters the kindergarten class, explain to the younger children what the 2nd graders have been studying. Have each student tell their fact and show their picture. As the students leave they can give their picture to one of the kindergartners.

Teacher Preparation:

    1. A grizzly bear has been coming out of the mountains and eating the Mountain Ashe berries on your neighbor’s tree.
    2. You are hiking in the woods near your house and you see two cubs playing in a stream nearby.
    3. The bears are crossing a busy highway to get apples from an orchard. One bear has been hit by a car.
    4. A dumpster near the grocery store in town has been raided by bears during the night.
    5. You are on a hike going up a trail and you see a bear in the distance.

***(These are all problems that could happen here in Montana, close to where we live)***

Materials and Resources:

Follow-up Activities:

Learn more about other animals Naya Nuki encountered during her trip, like wolves or buffalo. You could use the following web site: http://animal.discovery.com/animal.html

Web Sites:

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 Lesson 5 of Naya Nuki: Native American Stories       Created by: Paige Blake                 grades: K-4

       (Expository Presentation)

Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and one science class period.

Lesson Objectives:

  1. To have students learn to appreciate Native American stories about nature and how important they were in Naya Nuki’s time.
  2. To respectfully listen as elders come into our classroom to tell stories.
  3. In groups of three, with a fifth grade buddy, the students will find a Native American story on the WWW and draw pictures to go along with it.
  4. Students will be able to tell their favorite part of Naya Nuki and tell why they like it.

Lesson Procedures:

Day 1

Finish reading Naya Nuki (Chapters 13-15, Mountains!, Stopped, and A Day to Remember). Discuss how Naya Nuki was helped by remembering a story told to her by the elders of her tribe.

***If guests have been scheduled to come in to tell a story, schedule them for this day or the next few days.***

Have students go to the computer lab with their groups and fifth grade buddy and look for Native American stories on the WWW. Have the buddy read several stories to the students.

Have the students pick their favorite story and draw some scenes from the story, putting the title and author on the picture.

Day 2

Read the Epilogue to the book Naya Nuki to the students. Discuss the book and have students tell their favorite parts of the story either orally or written.

Teacher Preparation:

Materials and Resources:

Web Sites:

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 Lesson Plan: Transportation - Then and Now     Created by: Paige Blake                   grades: K-4

(Collaborative Learning)

Time Required: Four days, 45 minute periods

Lesson Objectives:

  1. The students will be able to explain two ways humans were able to travel many years ago, and two ways humans travel now.
  2. The students will make models of transportation from the past, present, and create one for the future working in pairs.

Lesson Summary: The students will explore various types of transportation from the past, present, and future on the WWW and in books. They will create various crafts used now, and in the past and those that may be used in the future.

Introduction: Day 1

Ask the students what the word "transportation" means. Make a web on a large piece of butcher paper with the ideas the students give. Start with ways the students have traveled and move on to ways they would like to travel, ways they think their grandparents traveled, ways they think their grandchildren will travel.

Lesson Procedures:

Day 1 cont.

Have pairs of students go to the computer lab with their fifth grade buddy. Look for pictures of transportation from the past, present, and future. Print out appropriate pictures to use in the future.

Day 2

Have the students cut out the pictures they found on the WWW and then look through magazines to find other pictures of transportation used in the past, present, or possibly future. After the students have each cut out a few pictures, tape the pictures on the timeline on the wall. It will have three sections ‘past, present, and future’ Have the students come up and tape their pictures on the timeline where they think they should go. Discuss what has been found (most pictures are from the present) Ask for some volunteers look for some pictures of modes of transportation from the past in the Native American resources from the library. Have those students draw and color their picture to add to the timeline. Other students can look through the NASA materials to get ideas for future forms of transportation. These can be drawn and colored, and added to the timeline. The new additions to the timeline can be admired and discussed.

Day 2

The Past: Read some stories from the Indian Reading Series or other sources that include various forms of transportation used in the past. In groups of three, the students will build a model of their favorite type of transportation from the

past. Using clay, rocks leaves, twigs, etc. When the students are done, have a sharing circle with each student telling about their creation. The projects will be displayed in the classroom.

Day 3

The Present: Read some nonfiction stories from the library about cars, trucks, planes, boats, trains bikes, etc. Discuss the way the students have traveled. Have the students make their favorite form of transportation used today in their groups. They can use construction paper, tissue paper, toilet paper rolls, cardboard, etc. After the projects are completed, have another sharing circle and then display the finished products in the classroom.

Day 4

The Future Find some science fiction books, or excerpts to read to the students to give the students ideas, or show pictures from the NASA resources, etc. to give the students ideas. Have the students make a craft of some sort

that could be used in the future. The students can use foil, colored poster board, wire, tin cans, colored plastic wrap, etc. Again, when the projects are complete, have the students share, and then display in the room.

Teacher Preparation:

Student Preparation:

Materials for Classroom:

National Standards:

Understands the nature of scientific inquiry.

Follow-up Activities: As a follow-up activity, the students could invite a kindergarten or first grade class to share their projects and tell about what they have learned.

Vocabulary: transportation, canoe, spacecraft, automobile, airplane

Evaluation Suggestions: Have students write about each of the three periods of transportation, include pictures.

Web Sites:

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Lesson Plan: Aviation and Native American History    Created by: Mary Larson                 grades: K-4

(Expository Presentation - Telling)

Time Required: Four days, 45 minute periods

Activity Content: Mapping, time lines, history (Aviation, Native American)

Standards Addressed:

Math Standards:

Mathematics as communication

1. Relate physical materials, pictures, and diagrams to mathematical ideas;

2. Realize that representing, discussing, reading, writing, and listening to mathematics are a vital part of learning and using mathematics.

3. Use models, known facts, properties, and relationships to explain their thinking;

4. Develop the process of measuring and concepts related to units of measurement;

5. Collect, organize, and describe data;

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Science Standards:

1. Knows that learning can come from careful observations and simple experiments.

2. Understands that in science it is helpful to work with a team and share findings with others.

3. Knows that although men and women doing scientific inquiry have learned much about objects, events, and phenomena in nature, there is still much to be understood

4. Knows that some objects occur in nature, whereas others have been designed and made by people to solve human problems.

5. Knows that people have always had problems and invented tools and techniques (ways of doing something) to solve problems; trying to determine the effects of various solutions helps people avoid some new problems.

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Teacher Preparation: Find biographies of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. (see Bibliography) Post large map of the world. Write letters to parents. Post large time line on the wall to put up pictures and information. Call museums to set up field trips. Collect history pictures and information from your area and from your family. Line up a Native American Historian or story teller to come into the classroom to speak.

Student Preparation: Show students how to use bookmarks and the web. Let children explore on a few web sites.

Materials for Classroom: Biographies of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Bookmark Internet Sites. (See below)

Objectives:

1. The students will learn about Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart through reading biographies to them.

2. The students will learn to make time lines.

3. The students will be able to tell about Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart’s life in chronological order after developing a time line on the wall with pictures.

4. The students will be able to display pictures and written information on a large time line, posted on the wall. The display will feature some history of their own town or (reservation site) and of their own personal history, this being the same period of time that Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart made their amazing flights.

Introduction:

Assess: What is history? What do they know about Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart? What do they know about the history of their town? What do they know about their own family history?

Procedures for the Classroom:

Day 1: Read to children "Flight" by Robert Burleigh. (see Bibliography) It is a children’s book and can be read in 15 or 20 minutes. Discuss the story and have the children explain to each other what is going on. A map is a good idea to have close by for a graphic to show where Charles Lindbergh started and ended his flight. Show the children the time line on the wall and put a picture of Charles Lindbergh and his plane above the date he flew across the Atlantic.

Send parent letter home (see following letter)

Day 2: Read Amelia Earhart Biography. (See Bibliography) Use a map to show her famous flight. Put Pictures of Amelia Earhart and her plane on the time line above 1937.

Day 3: Introduce the bookmarks related to Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. Ask older students or parents to come in and help children read through the information. Try to get as many children on the sites as possible. Start with the easier reading sites. (See Web Site information)

Day 4: Go to the City Museum and concentrate on the time of Charles Lindbergh’s life (1927) and Amelia Earhart’s life (1935). Ask older children or parents to go with you to the museum so that you can break into small groups. Show the children how to look for dates. Have parents or older children record information for the children and make copies of pictures.

(See letter below)

Day 5: Start displaying pictures on the time line starting with the history of the area and the children’s family history. Have a Native American Historian come in and tell stories of what life was like on the reservation at the time of Lindbergh and Earhart. Have the children illustrate the stories that the Native American Historian shared.

Day 6: Have one or two families come in and share stories of their personal family history with the children.

Facts and Concepts:

*Charles Lindbergh became the first person in the world to fly across the Atlantic Ocean on May 21,1927. He was 25 years old. *He flew from New York, New York to Paris, France.

*Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the ocean lasted 33 ½ hours.

*His plan was named the Spirit of St. Louis.

*He took a life raft but not a parachute.

*Spirit of St. Louis is 9’10" high and 27’8" long.

*Engine: single 223-horsepower Wright Whirlwind J-5-C engine. *Lindbergh’s route: Left Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York flew towards New England, Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, across the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland, English Channel and landed at the LeBourget Airport in Paris, France.

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*1908 Amelia saw her first plane at the Iowa Sate Fair. She was not impressed. *1918 First became interested in airplanes while working at a military hospital during World War 1.

*1920 Took her first airplane ride and decided to take flying lessons.

*1922 Bought her own plane with her mother’s help. She was 25 years old.

Painted her plane yellow and called it the Canary.

*1928 Amelia was asked to fly across the Atlantic as a passenger. The plane was called the Friendship.

*1931 Married George Putman.

*1932 Amelia was the first women to fly across the Atlantic ocean by herself. *1937 Amelia tried flying around the world. Amelia was lost somewhere in the Pacific Ocean never to be heard from again.

*Quote "You to can dream big dreams"

Follow-up Activities: Finish reading the other books listed in the Biographies on Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Let children play with compasses and make paper airplanes. If you are looking for a fun hands on airplane activity look in the NASA Educational Booklet called Discovery PED-105/June 1994 on Page 12.

Vocabulary: Time line, history, Maps, Atlantic Ocean, Flight, Native Americans, Story Tellers, Genealogies (family trees) , Web Site, Bookmarks, Reservation, museum

Evaluation Suggestions:

Assessment:

______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Parents,

We will be studying historical events this year. We will be learning about time lines, history of aviation and Native American history as well as some personal history with your help. I will be introducing a time line between the years of 1900-2000. We will be gathering historical pictures from the local museums and the Peoples Center to add to our time line. Please be watching for further information on field trips and please gather some of your own personal genealogies.

Thank You,

______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Parents,

We will be going on a field trip (Date)___________________ to the local museums. We will be searching for local history between the years of 1920 and 1940. We will need some volunteers to help the children find local information and pictures of this time period. If you can go on the field trip please sign your name and phone number below.

Thank You,

______________________________________________________________________________

Web Sites:

Teacher Sites:

Student Sites:

Suggested Resources:

Continue to use this time line lesson plan format with the following people and planes. (See pictures below)

Charles Lindbergh.jpg (83553 bytes)Picture from: NASA Education Department, PED-105/June 1994 Discovery Booklet from NASA

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Lesson Plan: Moon (Na tin ik) Kootenai    Created by: Mary Larson                 grades: K-4

(Inquisitory Presentation - Questioning)

Time Required: One month

Link: Nasa, Native American, Space, Math, Science, Phases of the Moon

Activity Content: Science facts, Native American Legends, History, Math

Teacher Preparation:

Student Preparation:

Materials for Classroom:

Objectives:

1. The students will be able to tell information about the moon.

2. The students will be able to recite Native American stories about the moon.

3. The students will learn the phases of the moon and what the phases look like through observation.

4. The students will observe the sky during the day and night for sightings of the moon.

Standards: Science

Introduction:

Assessment:

Procedures for the Classroom:

Day 1:

Day 2:

After the children have had a week or so to observe and draw the moon changing, start talking about how it is changing and ask this question. Why is the moon changing its shape? Activity to understand the moon's phases: A dark room, a friend, a flashlight, and a small round object like a grapefruit. Grapefruit is the moon, the flashlight is the sun. Put the grapefruit on the table, stand behind your friend and start vto rotate around the grapefruit to observe and understand the phases of the moon.

Day 3 and 4:

Day 5:

Day 6:

Day 7:

Read "The First Man on the Moon" What would it be like to go to the moon? (no air, not much gravity, cold at night and hot during the day, no food or water, they have found pockets of ice on the moon so this could open up all kinds of new adventures.) (Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Write an adventure story about the moon. Write to John Glenn and ask questions about the moon and the flight in space when he was younger and what is is like now that he is older.

Address: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Public Affairs Office, Edwards, Calif. 93523  (805) 258-3447 pao@news.dfrc.nasa.gov

Greetings to all our Friends of Space Day!

History was made in 1962 when a man by the name of John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. Next week, more than 32 years later, Glenn is at it again. On October 29th, the 77-year-old former Senator from Ohio will become the oldest human ever to visit space.You can participate by sending him a personal, pre-flight message via Spaceday.com

Log on at http://www.spaceday.com/johnglenn/postcard.htm and send Glenn and the crew of STS-95 a virtual postcard to wish them "Godspeed" on their historic flight. We'll collect your postcards and present them to Glenn before his mission. And remember - Space Day 1999 happens on May 6th. Mark your calendars and get your telescopes ready!

Facts and Concepts:

 Follow-up Activities:

Poems:

The Sometime Moon, by Margaret Hillert

What the Moon Is, by Margaret Hillert

THE MOON By: Karen Gunderson

The light from the moon

really comes from the sun.

Watching its phases

can be lots of fun.

We can't see a new moon

because there's no light,

but then a thin crescent

shows up in the night.

Next, quarter moon, half moon

and then very soon

the sky is lit up

by a big bright full moon.

As the phases continue,

the light moves on

until once again

it looks like its gone.

Vocabulary:

Phases of the Moon, Native American Legends, Directions (North, South, East and West), Waxes, Wanes, Gravity

Evaluation Suggestions:

Have students draw pictures of the phases of the moon and label them. Orally ask students what they have learned about the Moon and record it on a tape. Send the tape home to parents or play it during Parent Teacher Conferences.

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Dear Parents,

This little book I'm sending home with your child is a Moon Book. Would you please help your child for the next month draw what the moon looks like every night. Would you please help your child record the time of night, what part of the sky the moon is in and what phase the moon is at. We will be talking about this at school and I'll send home some information for you to read so that you can help your child. If you have any questions please give me a call at school.

Thank you,

 

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Suggested Resources:

Books

Web Sites

 Magazines

NASA Videos

Reading The Moon's Secrets

Poetry

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Lesson Plan: Sun/Stars/Na tan ik (Kootenai)    Created by: Mary Larson                 grades: K-4

(Collaborative Learning)

Time Required: Nine months (seasonal activities)

Link: Science, Math, Native Americans, NASA,  Sun, Weather, Time Direction

Activity Content:

Summary:

The elementary students will learn information about the Sun through Native American stories, hands on projects, writing mini books and daily observations outside. Other areas such as direction, shadows, sun dials, Native American life styles and weather will be brought into the unit.

Standards Addressed:

Earth and Space

1. Understands essential ideas about the composition and structure of the universe and the Earth's and Sun's place in it

2. Understands energy types, sources, and conversions, and their relationship to heat and temperature.

3. Understands motion and the principles that explain it

Teacher Preparation:

Find a buddy class that is two or three years older than your class and ask if they want to do a sun unit together. Gather library books from the bibliography list or books you have in your library on the sun and Native American Life and how they relate to the sun. Create a big Sun out of butcher paper for recording beginning assessment and ending assessment. Put together mini Sun books for each buddy group. Set out poetry posters or books throughout the room.

Student Preparation:

Materials for Classroom:

Butcher Paper, Colored Paper, Paint, Library Books, Computer and Internet access.

Objectives:

1. The Students will be able to orally tell several facts about the Sun. (Some of the facts might be: The Sun does not move. The Sun is much, much larger than the earth. The Sun keeps the earth in orbit. We need the Sun to survive on this earth (for warmth and to grow food). The Sun is made out of hot gas.

2. The students will be able to write facts about the Sun in a small report form or story.

3. The students will be able to recite Native American stories or legends about the Sun.

4. The students will recall how Native Americans use the Sun.

5. The students will research NASA information about the Sun, book marked on the web.

6. The students will discover shadows and how they change throughout the year.

Introduction:

Day 1:

Procedures for the Classroom:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4:

Day 5:

Day 6:

Day 7:

Day 8:

Facts and Concepts:

What lights the day?_________________________

What heats the Earth?________________________

What makes plants grow?_____________________

What keeps the planets in their places?__________________________

It's a certain star.

It's the Sun.

Where the Sun shines for many hours of the day, it is summer on Earth.

Where the Sun shines for fewer hours, it is winter.

The Sun's energy keeps every living thing on Earth alive.

The Sun's energy lifts the water out out of the oceans and makes the rain.

The sun's energy makes hurricanes. But it also makes rainbows.

The pull of the Sun's gravity keeps the planets from leaving their orbits and flying off into space.

Deep inside the Sun, churning, burning bits of matter crash into each other.

They knock themselves apart and then come together again in different ways.

This changes them from one gas into another as they move out toward the surface.

The journey may take millions of years.

Never, Never, Never look directly at the sun.

Not with your eyes or through binoculars or a telescope. It could blind you.

How can the the moon cover the sun?

Hold your hand up in front of your face. Close one eye. Can your hand cover a car? A tree? Even a house?

But your hand is much smaller than any of those things.

Sundog?: Ice crystals form a halo around the sun. Usually indicates bad weather is coming.

Follow up Activities:

Show video (listed below)

Make sun cookies (Web site listed below)

POETRY

SONGS

Vocabulary:

Directions (North, South, East and West), Energy, Gravity, Shadows, Sun Dial, Sun Dog, Legends, Orbit, Gas, NASA, Observatory, Big Dipper, Seasons)

Evaluation Suggestions:

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Dear Parents,

Our science unit this month will focus on the Sun. We will learn many facts about the Sun. Your child will be doing a variety of activities related to the Sun. (Sun facts/ Mini books, Sun Pictures, Measuring, Native American Stories, Directions, Sun Dial, Shadows) Please help your child become aware of the Sun and the direction it rises and sets. Would you please graph with your child the time of day the Sun rises and sets for the next month. Any stories or information that you can share with the class would be appreciated.

Thank You,

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Web Sites

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Video Resources

Poetry:

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Lesson Plan: Flight / Navigation Eagles (Ak nuq tu tam Ky aq nu qut)    Created by: Mary Larson             grades: K-4

(Generative Learning)

Time Required: Two to Three weeks

Link: Science, Math, Native Americans, NASA,  Flight, Eagles, Navigation

Summary:

The elementary students will learn about flight and navigation through the study of eagles and planes (Principle of Flight, Bernoulli's Principle). They will also learn how important an eagle is to a Native American Indian.

Standards:

Understands motion and the principles that explain it

1. Knows that an object's motion can be changed by a push or a pull by people or by other objects

2. Knows that the Earth's gravity pulls any object toward it without touching it

3. Uses simple equipment and tools to gather scientific data and extend the senses (rulers, calculators etc.)

4. Understands that in science it is helpful to work with a team and share findings with others

5. Knows that some objects occur in nature, whereas others have been designed and made by people to solve human problems

Teacher Preparation:

Student Preparation:

Materials for Classroom:

Styrofoam meat trays, Experiment materials if you choose to use the experiments. See list below

Objectives:

1. The students will be able to explain how Eagles fly.

2. The students will be able to explain how Planes Fly.

3. The students will be able to briefly explain Gravity,Thrust, Drag and Lift.

4. The students will gain an awareness of the importance Eagles have on Native American People?

Introduction:

Day 1:

Procedures for the Classroom:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 3:

Day 4:

Day 5:

Day 6:

 Day 7:

Facts and Concepts:

Gravity, Thrust, Drag and Lift will have to be explained daily.

Follow up Activities:

Vocabulary:

Gravity,Thrust, Drag, Lift

Evaluation Suggestions:

Ask children individually how birds and planes fly. (many children will not be able to explain this principle very easily. It will need to be explained daily.)

Web Sites

Principles of Flight

Native American Stories

Suggested Resources:

Native American Stories

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Lesson Plan: STARRY, STARRY NIGHTS    Created by: Sherri Johnson             grades: K-4

Time Required: Forty-five minutes to one hour ( more time needed for web research)

Link: Native American culture, science, math, art, language arts

Standard:

NCTM Math Curriculum Standard 6: Number Sense and Numeration – understand our numeration system by relating counting, grouping and place value concepts. Earth and Space Science, Content Standard D: Objects in the sky.

Summary:

The student will gain a basic understanding of constellations by listening to an Ojibwe story (this traditional story must be told only in the winter), and by creating, naming and counting a personal constellation.

Activity Content:

The students will show number knowledge and learn about constellations by placing "stars" on a "night sky", and by creating, naming and counting a personal constellation.

Teacher Preparation:

Student Preparation:

Several days prior to the lesson, instruct students to go outside after dark to observe the stars with their parents.

Websites:

1.     http://www.dibonsmith.com/stars.htm

2. http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/stars/starmenu.html

3. http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/

4. http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/Astro2.htm

Materials for Classroom:

Objectives:

Introduction:

Gather around a computer (or have the sites bookmarked on many computers in a lab, if possible). Look at the bookmarked web sites and discuss the stars, constellations and "night wonders" shown on the sites. Explain that the sites will be available for the students to view at their own leisure at a later time. In group, use the Seasons Chart in Ojibwe and English to discuss the typical weather in each season. Discuss that Spring and Summer are often the warmer seasons. Fall and Winter are often the cooler seasons. But at one time, it was always the Winter season on the Earth. Fisher was the animal who traveled to Skyland to bring us the warm weather. This story tells us how Fisher did this. Read, How Fisher Went to Skyland to the students.

Procedures:

After discussing and retelling the story:

1. Draw a picture of the Big Dipper on the board. Trace the Fisher shape around it to explain that Fisher became this constellation.

2. Recall how stars look in the night sky. Groups of stars are called constellations. Show a constellation chart to read the names and discuss.

3. Pass out counters and a piece of black paper to each child.

4. Explain that they will use the counters for "stars" and the black paper for "night skies".

5. Allow students time to observe a constellation chart and to experiment with creating constellations.

6. Have students clear their skies and be ready to listen.

7. Direct them to make a constellation with a certain number of stars. (i.e. "Everyone make a constellation with seven stars.")

8. After the teacher spot-checks for accuracy, direct students to clear their skies again.

9. Continue with this procedure, allowing opportunities to create constellations with several different numbers.

10. Direct students to create a special constellation using any number of stars they wish.

11. Pass out glue and a white crayon to each child.

12. Have them glue the pieces of these special constellations in place and connect the dots with the white crayons.

13. Have them name their personal constellations and write it for them on their black papers (if the students are young learners).

14. Students should count the number of stars used and write that number in the corner of their projects.

15. Share constellations with the group.

Facts and Concepts:

A fisher is an animal related to the weasel. Constellations are made of groups of stars. Traditional and contemporary people use the Big Dipper to navigate at night.

As read in the traditional story, Fisher was very brave and gave his life to bring warm weather to our Earth. The Creator recognized Fisher for his bravery by making him a permanent part of the sky - a constellation known as the Big Dipper.

Follow-Up Activities:

Students can create constellations by poking or punching holes in black paper, turning out the classroom lights and placing the paper on the overhead. Students can further explore the bookmarked web sites.

Vocabulary:

Evaluation:

Students demonstrate number accuracy when placing stars on their skies. Students create constellations, name them and label them with an accurate number.

Bibliography:

How Fisher Went to the Skyland: The Origin of the Big Dipper, NATIVE AMERICAN STORIES, Joseph Bruchac, Fulcrum Publishing, 1991

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Lesson Plan:    UP IN THE CLOUDS!  Created by: Sherri Johnson             grades: K-4

Time Required: One and a half to two hours (You may wish to do the introduction on Day 1 and the procedure on Day 2)

Link:  Native American culture, science, math, art and language arts

Standard:

Earth and Space Science, Content Standard D: Objects in the sky. NCTM Math Curriculum Standard: Measurement – make and use measurements in problem and everyday situations.

Summary: 

This lesson was created to teach students about clouds by making "cloud" pudding and by creating the three main types of clouds with cotton balls.

Activity Content:

The student will make "cloud" pudding and create the three main types of clouds with cotton balls.

Teacher Preparation:

All needed pudding items are available at a local grocery store. Any topping could be included to create "clouds". Have the pudding mix, measuring cup, and mixing spoon ready in a mixing bowl for each group. Open all toppings and put in spoons for sprinkling beforehand. Be sure to copy the cloud workpage with light blue paper.

Student Preparation:

Students should have some previous experience observing clouds of different types and noting their differences.

Websites:

1. http://vortex.plymouth.edu/clouds.html

2. http://athena.wednet.edu/curric/weather/pricloud/index.html

3. http://www.tempe3.K12.az.us/Thew/kreed/clouds.html

Materials for the Classroom: