Green Spaces Lesson: Indigenous Communities
Lesson Plan
55 minutesGrades3, 4, 5Geography, English Language Arts
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Written by Lindsey Pockl, Amber Medina
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn about ecosystem services, with a focus on cultural services important to Indigenous peoples. Students read about Indigenous activism and consider how they can be activists, too.
Inquire: Students explore the four types of ecosystem services: giving services, checking services, supporting services, and cultural services.
Investigate: Students read two articles on Newsela about Indigenous Peoples; one is about government policy, and the other is about climate activism.
Inspire: Students watch a video on youth climate activists and add to their drawings of their ideal green space.
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Suggestions
- This lesson connects government policy to Indigenous activism.
- This lesson has excellent social studies and ELA integration.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 3 of 6 in our 3rd-5th grade Green Spaces Unit.
- Prior knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and their resistance to colonialism is helpful.
- Learning about sacred places being destroyed for profit may be deeply upsetting to some students. This guide to climate emotions can help teachers have these conversations with students.
- Some students may be directly affected by the issues covered in this lesson, and the topic should be treated with sensitivity to their experiences.
Differentiation
- These resources can be used to discuss environmental justice in more depth with students.
- To explore Indigenous activism in more depth with students, check out these resources:
- The articles students read are on Newsela. Newsela is a free platform that translates news articles into different reading levels so all students can practice reading at the appropriate level. You must sign up for Newsela in order to view and assign articles to your students. Newsela integrates nicely with Google Classroom!
- Grouping students by ability may be helpful in the Investigate section if students are reading aloud to each other. Heterogeneous small groups allow for supported learning.
From the scientist review
The lesson explores the relationship between humans and nature and how culture influences ecosystem services. It gives a foundation for young people to be change agents in their generation. This lesson has passed our credibility process and is recommended for the classroom.
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About the teacher writers
Lindsey Pockl
Lindsey worked with SubjectToClimate to develop accompanying materials for lesson plans for grades 3-12.
Amber Medina
Elementary School Teacher
Amber is a third grade elementary school teacher who has taught ELA, Environmental Education, and SEL. With a degree in Environmental Policy and Planning, her passion for environmental justice and action integrated curriculum led her to her commitment to climate education.
