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Lesson Plans - Wildlife
Lesson Plan 1: If you can catch it, you can cook it
Lesson Objectives
In this lesson students will
- Discuss the foods they eat that originate from animals
- Learn about traditional native foods
Teacher-Centred Instruction
1. Have students make a list of foods they like to eat that come from animals. Remind them that dairy products, eggs, gelatin and sauce products and some oils come from animals.
2. Discuss with students all the different parts of animals that people over the world eat, besides just muscle tissue. Examples could include hearts, livers, brains, or kidneys.
3. Explain to students why Northern Tutchone people ate almost all of the soft tissue parts of the animal, first for nutritional needs, but also to not waste food resources.
Student-Centred Activities
Lesson Extensions
Have students debate the moral and ethical issues associated with vegetarianism and the reasons behind it. Discuss with students the fact that humans, from a point of view of evolution, are designed to eat meat and meat products. Have students form an argument to state their position on one of these issues, and have them suggest ways in which we can maintain our dietary needs in a healthy environment.
Lesson Plan 2: A taste for everyone
Lesson Objectives
In this lesson students will
- Learn about different animal eating habits
- Understand how all living creatures are connected through their eating
patterns
Teacher-Centred Instruction
1. Explain to students that wild animals may have very different eating habits. Introduce the vocabulary herbivore and carnivore, and explain what they mean.
2. By using some familiar animals as examples, show students the different features of herbivores and carnivores. For example, herbivores are smaller in body size, have larger populations, and defend themselves by running and hiding. Carnivores are larger in body size, have smaller populations, live in large territories and defend themselves by yelling and fighting or examine teeth and jaw evolution.
3. Tell students that although these animals play very different roles in nature, they are dependent on one another to survive. Help students understand that many animal species are threatened by the actions of humans all over the world, and many of them may face extinction due to loss of habitat. Ask students how they feel about this phenomenon, and why it may be important to them to preserve animal species.
Student-Centred Activities
1. Survival!
Lesson Extensions
Discuss with students the significance of introducing new
species or organisms that have been introduced in to areas where they
have not been before. Explain how these species can take over and choke
out others because they do not have a natural predator, and are not a
food source for creatures in that region. Tell students that many species
have been introduced, both intentionally and unintentionally by human
activity, and help them to understand the consequences.
Lesson Plan 3: Caribou for me and you
Lesson Objectives
In this lesson students will
- Learn about traditional uses of animal materials
- Understand the importance of using all parts of a natural resource
Teacher-Centred Instruction
1. Explain to students that while animals provide food for native people, they were also used to make clothing, tools, ceremonial items.
2. Using images provided, have students identify which parts of an animal may have been used to construct the item(s) in the pictures.
kayak boat made for river travel made from animal skins (Old Log Church
Museum)
snow goggles protective eye garment made from wood and leather (Old Log
Church Museum)
bone tool (Old Log Church Museum)
3. Discuss with students the importance of using as many parts of the animal as possible and not wasting much. Talk about the physical limitations of materials to choose from when living in the bush, but also the native people's spiritual responsibilities when taking an animal's life.
Student-Centred Activities
Lesson Extensions
Explore aboriginal technology and innovation regarding instruments and devices that were practical and functional. Speculate on how native people learned about and/or created many of the artifacts that are typical of the their cultures, with reference to the Scientific Method. Debate the notion that people that lived off the land enjoyed a 'simple' lifestyle.
