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Observing the Land Over
the Seasons |
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In a Nutshell:
Students observe indicators of seasonal change over a period
of time during the school year and post their observations on
a class chart. Students learn how careful observation – a
heightened awareness of their environment – prepares them
to better recognize climate change and its impacts. They will
also be introduced to the concept of ecological monitoring. |
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Goal:
To equip students to be more astute observers of seasonal changes
on the land. |
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Background Learning:
Teachers and high school students should be familiar with the
basic science of climate change and its anticipated impacts as
reviewed in:
Intermediate Students should be familiar with the basics of
basics and impacts as reviewed in:
For ideas on how to get across basic information interactively,
see the lesson called Getting Into the Backgrounders.
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Learning Outcomes:
Click on the icon for your territory to review the learning outcomes that are addressed by this lesson:
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Introduction to Lesson Plan:
Local Knowledge
In recent decades the scientific community has become more
aware that local observations can alert us to significant
changes
in the environment. Aboriginal hunters, trappers, fishers
and gatherers, as well as non-Aboriginal people who live
close
to the land, often have detailed knowledge of plants, animals
and natural phenomena because they have been keen observers
of the environment over many years.
Many argue that partnering local knowledge with
scientific observation provides a more complete picture of what
is
happening on the
land. It has therefore become standard – in the north – to
incorporate knowledge gained from long-term observations
on the land into
scientific research. In fact, as a consequence of land claims
agreements, it is now a legal requirement to include local
knowledge in most northern research. This is important
for students to
know if they are interested in working as scientists, resource
technicians or community monitoring technicians in the future. For more information on Local Knowledge, see Teacher
Handout #1: Local Knowledge and Ecological Monitoring.
Ecological Monitoring
Local knowledge is an important component of ecological monitoring
and assessment. Ecological monitoring helps us measure changes
in the environment. Ecological monitoring tracks changes
in local ecology year after year. It can help us put together
a picture to show how climate change is impacting the land,
water, air and animal and plant life and is therefore a valuable
resource management tool. Local residents and scientists
are
increasingly working as partners in ecological monitoring.
Often they can document trends that have first been identified
by local observers.
The monitoring activities in this lesson plan are intended
to introduce the types of monitoring activities that are
used. Although
they are not taken from a set of standard protocols, students
should be aware that such protocols exist. Teachers can refer
to the Plantwatch lesson plan to involve their students in
a more formal monitoring activity. For more information
on Ecological
Monitoring, see Teacher
Handout #1: Local Knowledge and Ecological Monitoring.
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Activity:
- Ask students: What do we mean when we use the term “local
knowledge”? (Answer: see definition in the introduction
to this lesson, and Teacher
Handout 1: Local Knowledge and Ecological Monitoring.)
- In groups, or as an entire class, discuss
these statements:
- It is important for scientists to recognize and value the
importance of incorporating local knowledge into their research
on climate change.
- “The weather, the animals, the migration patterns, the
changes that we’ve seen is knowledge. . . . It’s our scientific
knowledge.” – Rosemary Kuptana, Sachs Harbour
Students should decide if they agree or disagree with the
statements and discuss why or why not. If they are undecided,
ask them to explore their reasons for feeling this way. This
discussion can be set up as a debate or the teacher can record
ideas on the board as students offer them.
- Ask students: What
are some of the observations you have made, or that you have
heard from members in your community,
that could possibly be related to changes in climate and
weather? (For example: more flies, warmer winters,
more storms, melting permafrost, early break-up, geese
stay for
shorter
periods, delayed freeze-up, colder winters, erosion of
banks, more thunderstorms, thinner ice, greater snow depth,
increased
temperature, more forest fires, ice roads have shorter
times open for travel, moose and caribou numbers decreased
or increased,
more or fewer seals, fewer seal pups.
These examples are all “indicators” of
ecological change that may be due to climate change.
- Select 3–20
climate observation questions from the Teacher
Handout #2: Seasonal Indicator Questions. If there
are other questions that would be more appropriate to your
region,
decide what they should be. Cut shapes from coloured
paper, to represent the question subjects you intend
to observe
over the next several months or the school year. For
example, if the subject of your question is fish, you
might cut
out a fish shape. The cutout shape must be big enough to
write
approximately five words and the date. (You will need
several of each form.)
-
 As
your class makes observations, write the key words
and the actual date of the observation on the cutout
form that represents the question. For example, if your
question asks students to identify the date of the
first crocus
sighting
in your community, you would write on a piece of paper
that is shaped as a crocus, “1st day of crocus sighting – May
5th, 04.” (Note: You may want to include a note
about where the sighting was made since this will encourage
students
to consider why one sighting might be earlier or later
than another.)
- Create a time line chart that you can put
up on your wall. The length of your timeline will
be based on
the amount of space you want to take up in your classroom.
This could
be anywhere from one to four lengths of Bristol board.
- Draw a straight line along
the bottom of the chart. Make this your timeline.
Mark it with the months
of the
year during
which the class will be doing the project. If you
plan on running it from Sept–June, then mark
and label each month from Sept–June. Each
month should be evenly spaced along the timeline.
- Draw vertical lines up from your timeline to
separate the months. Extend the lines approximately
three
quarters of the way up the Bristol board sheets.
You may choose to
repeat the name of the month at the top so that you
have the months at both the top and the bottom of
the chart for
easy reference.
- Now you are ready to receive observation answers
to the questions selected by students from the observation
questions
listed in the handout.
- When you receive observations, note the activities
observed, as well as their dates and locations on
the cutout shapes
and glue them to the timeline chart.
(Note: Your timeline chart can be given another dimension
by turning the vertical lines separating months into
temperature indicators. Write temperatures from -40
degrees Celsius to +30 degrees Celsius in 10-degree increments on the
vertical lines. If students make notes of the temperatures
of the days on which they
make observations, the symbols noting their observations can be glued
higher or lower on the chart to indicate the temperature
at the time of the observation.)
- It is important to
explore with students why a certain event may have
occurred. After each observation has
been made, ask students to suggest links to the event.
For example:
- What type of change might relate to an eagle
returning to your area? Answer: Open water so it can
fish for its food.
- What type of change determines whether or
not a ground squirrel comes out of its den? Answer: There needs
to be enough snowmelt to expose vegetation for their food.
- What determines a bear leaving its den? Answer: temperature,
light and food availability.
- Why does the ice break-up. Answer: continual warm temperatures.
- What determines the arrival of a robin? Answer: Warmer temperatures are needed
so there are enough of food sources available. And because robins forage for food on mudflats, there needs to be enough
snowmelt to expose the mudflats.
- Why do grizzlies come out of their dens? Answer: Grizzlies need to have enough
food to eat and because they eat ground squirrels and vegetation, they will come out when the ground squirrels are out and
enough snow has melted away for the vegetation to be exposed.
(Note: You don’t need to know all the answers
– many of these answers can be found out together, through
research.)
- As
you build your class time-line chart, you and your
students should be able to identify some of the
relationships between temperature and snow depth, or
temperature and open
water and geese migration, or temperature and
flower opening or leaf bud growth and so on.
- At the end
of the year write down all the observations and dates
recorded by your students. The next
year, your new students will be able to compare their
findings with
the results collected the previous year.
This is an activity you can continue year after year.
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Handouts:
Click on the icon for the complete set of handouts that support
this lesson:
Teacher Handout #1: Local Knowledge
and Ecological Monitoring
Teacher Handout #2: Seasonal
Indicator Questions |
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Student Web-Exchange:
Each student can write a 50–600 word essay to summarize
their observations, and their general conclusions and post it
to the Student Web-Exchange. Post a photograph that complements
the student’s work. This could be a picture of the student
observing a tree bud or a flower, a student on the land, or a
scanned in piece of art illustrating observations or conclusions.
Click on the icon for information on how to post material. |
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Evaluation:
Assess students on their understanding of the impacts of climate
changes. Ask each student to select three or four of the observations
monitored by the class for the timeline chart, and to list the
factors that contributed to the dates those events occurred.
For example, if the class monitored the first bear sighting,
students should identify what determines a bear coming out of
its den (food availability and temperature increase). Either
as a class or individually (depending on the grade level of the
students) have them discuss how climate change might affect those
factors and lead to an earlier or later date for a first sighting.
Have them describe how changes to those factors caused by climate
change might affect the animal and its environment. |
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Enrichment Ideas:
Art
Draw the Changes: Students paint the changing landscape over
the seasons.
Science and Art
Track a Critter (or a Plant!): Take
a particular plant, insect or animal and through diagrams and words
and flow charts
indicate the various changes it goes through over the seasons
in a year.
For example, hibernation, storing food, dropping antlers,
pollination, bud growth, flowering, etc.
English
Summarize the Changes: Students write a short essay on the
observations made and what they learned from doing these
observations.
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About the Author:
The Yukon Conservation Society Curriculum Team – The team consists
of teachers, writers, environmental educators and curriculum
specialists. It worked with teachers across the north, helping
them to create lesson plans for the website, and gathering input
about website features, backgrounders and lesson plans that would
be useful in northern classrooms. |
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