Connecting First Foods and Conservation

• This article discusses how Conservation Northwest and Indigenous groups are collaborating to conserve the foods traditionally harvested within the Pacific Northwest, restore the ecosystems where these foods are found, and educate the public on their importance.
• Students will learn about the restoration of meadows and streams within the Pacific Northwest, how this restoration will benefit animals like elk and wild salmon, and why these animals are essential to the identities and lifestyles of indigenous groups.

Positives

• This article allows students to engage with the concept of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK).
• This article is visually appealing and densely packed with useful information.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should understand what climate change is and how it endangers species around the world.
• Students should understand how eating more plants reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
  

Differentiation

• Students could evaluate whether the collective restoration effort described in the article succeeds at reducing human impacts on the environment and biodiversity.
• The "Feeding 7 Generations" graphic in the article could facilitate a classroom discussion on the health benefits of the illustration's suggestions and the barriers that keep many people from engaging with these suggestions.
• This article could serve as an example of how the preservation of habitats, biodiversity, and ecosystems leads to a reciprocal relationship where humans benefit from the plants, animals, and landscapes that they're protecting.
• This article could supplement a lesson on the historical environment that Native Americans lived in thousands of years ago, how that environment shaped their perspective at the time, and how that same context is impacting Native American perspectives now.