Designing for Water: Adapting Indigenous Practices
Lesson Plan
1 hour 30 minutesGrades6, 7, 8Science
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Written by Yen-Yen Chiu
About this lesson
Students explore traditional Indigenous water-harvesting techniques used by the Tohono O’odham people to learn how these methods help protect soil and conserve water, apply this knowledge to design a modern adaptation for a local water or soil challenge, and communicate their ideas through sketches and written reflections.
Inquire: Students explore farming challenges caused by extreme weather and share their observations and ideas for local adaptations.
Investigate: Students learn about Indigenous water-harvesting techniques, take notes on how they protect soil and conserve water, and analyze modern adaptations.
Inspire: Students design a modern adaptation of a traditional water-harvesting method to address a local soil or water challenge and share their ideas with the class.
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Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- Students can research local Indigenous farming practices or see what Indigenous practices local farmers use.
- In the Inquire section, teachers can replace photos with local or regional photos of farmland affected by extreme weather and climate change.
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can each be extended to a whole class period.
- This lesson provides guided small group practice on how to think like inventors: identifying problems, researching innovations, and brainstorming possible inventions to prepare for lessons 4-6. Through this lesson, teachers will have a firmer idea of which students will need more or less support in various stages of the invention cycle and can prepare for needed support.
- Teachers can research a few soil or water issues in their town, county, or state that help guide the brainstorming discussion and give students specific ideas for problems in the community.
- Students can use these resources to learn about Indigenous Knowledge:
- For a deeper social studies connection, students can research Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and other sustainable land practices. Students can compare TEK-based water harvesting with practices from Mayan or other Indigenous communities. Other resources include:
- For math connections, students can revisit the locations of the soil samples in lessons 1 and 2, use local rain data, and estimate how much rainfall might run off versus soak into the soil.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 3 of 6 in our 6th-8th grade Science Unit: Soil Solutions in Invention & Design.
- This lesson and full unit intentionally integrate NGSS Crosscutting Concepts, with students applying these concepts as thinking tools throughout the design process.
- This lesson focuses on drawing from Indigenous practices of farming and caring for the land. Teachers should be familiar with the names of First Nation tribes in their region and have a basic understanding of their agricultural practices to share with students.
- Prior to teaching the lesson, teacher should do the following:
- Review the embedded video.
- Review the accompanying rubrics.
- Research or have in mind one to two local water or soil issues to guide students in brainstorming and identifying community issues.
- Determine if the writing assignment in the Inspire section will be done in class or for homework.
Differentiation
- 8th grade classes or students needing extension activities can watch Less Harm on the Farm: Regenerative Agriculture (23:29) to learn how four farms use climate-smart practices inspired by Traditional Ecological Knowledge from the Mayan people.
- Students can take notes on five practices: cover crops, conservation tillage, wetland filtration, pollinator gardens, green buffer zones, and agroforestry.
- Students can pick one practice to research and later include in their invention design.
- As an extension, students can conduct a Rainfall & Soil Absorption Experiment using the same school areas where soil samples were gathered for lessons 1 and 2.
- Place cups or small containers at the edge of the soil to collect runoff water.
- For simulated rainfall, pour water evenly over the marked soil area. For natural rainfall, students place a simple rain gauge nearby to record the amount.
- Measure runoff collected in containers and estimate infiltration by subtracting runoff from the total water applied or total rainfall.
- Students record results and observations and compare with other school soil sites.
- Students can use this resource to explore 30 solutions and 33 case studies on nature-based resilient communities, selecting specific regions, types of hazards, and communities.
- Students can use this to gather ideas for their inventions in Lesson 4.
- Students can identify solutions that are applicable to local situations.
- Teachers can assign this as homework or an extension activity.
From the scientist review
This unit guides students in designing a sustainable solution to a local environmental issue, with focus on indigenous practices. A key strength is that the interdependence of soil health, ecosystems, human food systems, and the climate is stressed throughout this entire resource. The engineering design process is presented step-wise with a focus on sustainability at each step. Most importantly, design is presented in the context of working within constraints, iterating, and communicating a final design that achieves the design criteria without creating unintended effects. This unit details how climate change shapes decisions at every step of the design process and is recommended for teaching.
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About the teacher writer
Yen-Yen Chiu
Director of Education
Yen-Yen Chiu, Ed.D., is SubjectToClimate's Director of Education. She holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of San Diego, and taught public school for 22 years specializing in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Music for grades 6–12, including Advanced Placement. She is credentialed in English, Mathematics, and Introductory Music, with extensive experience designing interdisciplinary curricula that foster student choice, meaningful assessment, and authentic learning.
