Overview
People Impact Environments
Contributors:
- Author: Liz Lewis
- Lesson partner: Rebecca Lowry, Humboldt County Office of Education
Grade: 5
Suggested Amount of Time: Two 40-55 minute lessons
Curriculum Themes:
- History
- Cultural Strengths
- Law/Government
- Relationship to Place
- Cross Curricular Integration
Learning Goals
Students will:
- Identify and engage with a theme
- Draw on information from multiple sources on the same topic in order to write or speak on the topic
- Form and express an opinion using text based evidence
- Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect Earth’s resources and environment
Lesson Overview
This lesson introduces students to environmental protection and social issues related to the removal of dams. The lesson supports student reading skills as they pertain to understanding and identifying a theme and writing skills related to forming and communicating an opinion based on evidence.
Essential questions:
- How can we uncover and explore themes from a story?
- How do people impact the environment?
The teacher must:
- Understand that watersheds can be impacted by people, which can lead to positive or negative change for the plants, animals and people who rely on resources in the environment to survive.
- Be prepared to actively engage students to respect the natural environment and indigenous people who are culturally connected to natural resources.
- Actively engage students to respectfully state their opinions and discuss topics through academic argument based on strong research.
Teacher Background
For the Hoopa, Yurok and Karuk people of Northern California (Humboldt and Trinity counties), as well as other indigenous peoples along the Klamath river, the health of the river is essential for the health of the people and is an essential element of their culture. Through colonization, the river has been exploited for its power and resources by non-indigenous people. The rights to this water have been limited at times by the US government and the people have had to fight for the right to access and protect this fundamental cultural resource. Through protest, participation in politics, scientific study and community support, the indigenous people have won their case in court and the dams have been taken down (as of Summer 2024). The fight to protect the land and river from environmental exploitation continues as the people continue to maintain a resilient culture that is inherently connected to the lands and rivers they have lived on since time immemorial.
Interactive Slides
About the Interactive Slides
A key component of this curriculum includes interactive slides and a lesson script/facilitation support. These materials are designed to support ease of implementation and help guide lesson delivery.
The interactive slides are animated to gradually reveal content and may include links to videos and audio playback buttons for Tribal language integration, songs, or slide facilitation.
In addition to the downloadable lesson and student handouts, this lesson comprised of Two 40-55 minute lessons, includes interactive slides and lesson script/ facilitation support.
Slides: People Impact Environments
Lesson Script/ Facilitation Support
*To ensure full accessibility, we recommend making a copy of the instructional material(s).
Instructions:
To use the slides effectively:
- Project the slides in "Slideshow Mode" to activate animations. Written content will appear with each click.
- Set speaker volume before beginning the lesson to ensure all students can hear audio content.
- Play audio by clicking the audio playback icons one at a time. There may be a brief pause while the audio loads.
- Hovering over an audio playback icon will reveal a playback bar that allows you to play, pause, adjust speed, or fast-forward the audio.
- Note: You do not need to use the playback bar unless you wish to adjust playback. Simply clicking the icon will play the audio.