Overview
Lesson 1: Introduction to Relationships between Humans and the Environment
Lesson 2: Berries in the Ecosystem
Lesson 3: Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Lesson 4: Historic versus Contemporary Landscapes
Lesson 5: Responsibility of Society
Lesson 2, Day 1
Standards
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
- EL.03.RE.32—Ask questions and support answers by connecting prior knowledge with literal information found in, and inferred from, the text.
- EL.03.WR.02—Discuss ideas for writing, use diagrams and charts to develop ideas, and make a list or notebook of ideas.
CD Segments to Play
Background
Lichens are special plants that can grow on rocks. They are able to grow without dirt, when the wind blows dirt gets trapped in the lichens. When lichens die, they also leave behind dirt-like stuff.
Moss follows very quickly after lichen. Mosses also help make dirt and when they die leave behind dirt-like stuff called organic matter.
Next would be the soil followed by the ferns and/or grass. Once these things have been established, plants can grow.
First the smaller plants grow, then come the shrubs. Shrubs are like small trees. Shrubs are what berries grow on. After the shrubs grow, trees begin growing.
Suggested Strategies
- In preparation for this lesson, gather some lichen, moss, rock, fern, grass, any kind of small plants and some dirt. Bring in enough so you can break the class into small groups. Each group will need some of each item listed above.
Activities
1. Discuss
Begin by naming each of the things that are in the middle of each of the tables. Talk to the class about forest succession. Tell the class to imagine a volcano erupts and covers a forest with lava. After the lava gets hard, it becomes like rock. Have each group bring the rock from the middle of their table. Ask the following questions:
- How is a plant going to grow if there is no dirt only rock?
- What do you think grows next?
- What comes after that?
- How does a forest grow from small plants?
2. Draw
Depending upon length of your class period, have the students draw their interpretation of forest succession. This model of succession from rock to forest is actually called primary succession and takes hundreds of years.
Lesson 2, Day 2
Standards
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
- EL.03.RE.07—Listen to, read, and understand a wide variety of grade-level informational and narrative (story) text.
- EL.03.RE.08—Demonstrate listening comprehension of more complex text through discussions.
- EL.03.RE.32—Ask questions and support answers by connecting prior knowledge with literal information found in, and inferred from, the text.
- EL.03.RE.34—Take part in creative response to text, such as dramatizations and oral presentations.
CD Segments to Play
Background
Plants, shrubs and trees are always fighting for sunlight, food and water. Some trees can grow in the shade and some trees must have light. Berries like the 3 Sisters of the Pacific Northwest grow on shrubs. In a forest that has no fire, no logging, no volcano eruptions leaving behind lava or any other thing that damages the plants, the big trees end up taking over the area and the shrubs and plants that need sunlight die because the big trees cover the ground with shade.
In an old-growth forest there is a large tree canopy,. A canopy can be compared to a large umbrella; each tree has an umbrella (canopy). When there are many trees there is no sunlight reaching the ground. In an old growth forest, there are generally lots of fern and very little ground cover. The ground is covered with needles and cones falling from the trees. The trees typically have lots of lichens and moss growing on them. There are not many shrubs that grow fruit found in an old growth forest.
Secondary succession means that there is still dirt for plants and trees to grow in The Native Americans knew that if they set small fires, it would help the berries to continue to grow. When the first towns were formed in Oregon, the new government made a law that said the Native Americans could no longer set fires. This changed the way that forests grew and also changed the way that natural fires burned.
To show respect to the berries, special events were held. Before anyone could begin picking huckleberries, a Huckleberry Feast was held. To care for all things, no one ever picked all of the berries, they left some for the birds and animals. To care for the plants, they never damaged the shrub, but very carefully picked only the berries. They had special berry picking baskets they used and special hats they wore at Huckleberry Feasts. To make sure that the berries would come back the next year, they set small fires to keep the small trees from growing so big that they took all the food, water and sunlight. After a fire the first plants to grow back are favorite foods for the deer and elk, so the fires also helped to feed the animals.
Suggested Strategies
Activities
1. Review
Review primary forest succession: lichen-moss-fern-grass-small plant-shrub-trees.
Ask: Has anyone ever taken a walk in an old forest? What did you see?
Ask: If all of the big trees take away all of the water, sunlight and food from the shrubs, then how come the whole earth isn’t covered with a big forest?
Different kinds of ecosystems, like deserts, grasslands, wetlands and forests have different kinds of plants that are able to grow.
Remind the class how Native American people believe that all things are related to each other and how we must respect all things and help all things. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have lived in their homelands for thousands of years. During that time, they learned many things about the plants and animals. One of the things they learned is that the big trees will grow and the berries will not survive.
2. Read
Read the book The Forest and the Fire. Talk about natural fires that sometimes happen from lightning strikes. Talk about strong wind storms that knock over trees and open up an area for plants to re-grow. These kinds of things take a forest back to secondary succession.
3. Draw
Have the students draw a fire and the effect of the fire on plants