Indigenous People have been creating cosmetics and natural body remedies for thousands of years. Through trial and error, they have blended science and a deep understanding of human biology to connect with the world around them in very personal ways.
The lessons in this project were developed as part of a collaborative effort between the Oregon Department of Education - Oregon Healthy Schools grant, and Multnomah ESD. Educators designed projects that integrated health or physical education standards with either math or science standards. Project Summary:The project, “Think Before You Eat” is designed to provide students with a voice to be a change agent for their future environment and community. The motto for this unit, “If we know better, we do better.”Students will learn how plastic not only affects our earth's environment but also the harm it can have on us as individuals through the food chain. Students will identify these issues and develop new ways to create healthier alternatives for everyone by reducing plastic pollution. If we use less plastic, we eat less plastic. Students will create awareness in order to impact their communities.
In this fifth-grade science and engineering unit on earth systems and on the structure and properties of matter, students investigate where the dirty water that drains out of their homes and schools goes and where the clean water they use comes from. Their investigations lead them to discover connections between the hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. Their discoveries spark a series of design problems to solve in order to protect freshwater reservoirs and minimize human impacts on the environment, including ways to mitigate flooding and erosion, naturally filter water and prevent contamination of water reservoirs, and conserve water usage in drought-prone areas of the world.