7th Generation Superheroes (Climate Superheroes #2)

In this lesson, students research Indigenous sustainability leaders and create a comic strip representing these leaders and their key messages.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students access prior knowledge of effective stories and consider what defines a 7th Generation Superhero.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students deepen their understanding of 7th Generation Superheroes and Indigenous sustainability.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students create a comic strip involving characters based on Indigenous climate heroes.

Positives

• This lesson aligns with Hawai'i's Nā Hopena A'o HĀ-BREATH Framework.

• Students have the autonomy to explore climate activists that they find interesting.

• Students use creativity and imagination to develop new stories.

• Students feel connected to the youth activists they are researching because they are young people from a variety of cultural backgrounds.

• Students will feel inspired to take an active role in their future.

• Students can choose to present their information in a digital or hand-drawn format.

Additional Prerequisites

• This is lesson 2 of 2 in our 11th-12th grade Climate Superheroes unit.

• Students should have an understanding of basic story structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution or denouement.

• Teachers should be familiar with the following ōlelo (Hawaiian language): 

• Ahupua'a: watershed

• Kupuna: elders, experts, wisdom carriers
• Makai: ocean
• Mauka: mountain

Differentiation

• Students can share their comics in a physical gallery walk for an added movement break or a shared slideshow for movement-impaired students. 

• Teachers can use the following scaffolding options as needed: 

• Read aloud the article and accompanying written resources.

• Provide sentence stems for students to guide them through the comic writing section. 

• Allow students to complete the written portion through the Google Docs talk-to-text feature. 

• Ensure closed captioning is enabled for all videos.

• Teacher can assign the following enrichment options:

  • Students can conduct additional research on their climate heroes to add more depth to their comic books.
  • Consider selecting students to present to Community Based Instruction courses or partnering with elementary school classes to have students share their comic books.
  • After creating their comic book, students can consider adapting their story using a second medium of their choice (hand-drawn comic book, oral recording, digital comic book, movie, etc.).

The need to include Indigenous peoples' stories, thoughts, sustainable solutions, and voices in international climate debates is emphasized in this lesson as well as their involvement in the battle against climate change. It is crucial to highlight the work that Indigenous climate activists and leaders are doing in their communities to combat climate change, and this is something that should be emulated. This lesson passed our science review after the lesson materials were fact-checked.

Primary Standards

• Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
  • Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
  • Writing (K-12)
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.