Little Steps... (Week 2)

There were three activities I worked on this week with my students that begin to embody my understanding of the importance of place-based education in my practice.

1. Malana Mai Ka'u: I decided to teach my students Malana Mai this year for several reasons. I believe this oli will serve as a theme in my environmental science class. I enjoyed telling them about the royal visit of Queen Emma to Hawai'i island and her journey to the top of Mauna Kea. I also enjoyed telling them the story of how our island is likened to a wa'a, all parts working together to make a structure so culturally symbolic and beautiful. We used a map of the island to orient ourselves in our classroom in respect to the districts of the island. We figured out which direction is North and where the sun rises and sets. We mentally located Mauna Kea and spanned the corners of our island. It was a fun experience to get kids thinking about our island and all the places they have been too which are mentioned in the oli. We have been practicing Malana Mai almost each day for about 5 min. before the end of class. I told the class that they are keiki o ka 'aina, the children of the land, and they have a right to know and embrace the culture of our island as their own, whether they are Hawaiian or not, or whether they felt it was for them or not. I think it was important to affirm them in their learning of Malana Mai, because whether they like it or not, they are from Hawai'i and will always have this piece of Hawai'i with them wherever they go. Sense of place, anyone?

2. K'ou Kuleana O Ka 'Āina Statements: This short activity was also assigned to my environmental science class at the end of our first introductory unit to the subject. We talked about different ethical perspectives regarding people's beliefs about their interactions with the environment. We studied various perspectives including anthropocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism, and resource conservationism. Several case studies were examined that exemplified debates between differing viewpoints. The multiple viewpoints and ethical arguments that arise during the decision-making process on environmental issues are functions of people's cultures, values, and worldviews. So, this activity required each student to write 5 short statements about their ethical perspective in the context of their perceived responsibility to the ‘āina, or the parts of the environment which sustains them. Students shared their statements in class.

3. Kilo: Unit 2 in my chemistry class addresses the nature of science and the scientific method. Good science is inductive and typically begins with direct observations. From these observations and prior understanding of science scientific questions arise. On Friday we took a tour outside our classroom to make observations of our surroundings in the back parking lot of our school. It was very interesting to learn how much my students already know about photosynthesis, decomposition, rusting, etc. as they relate to chemistry. I will update on further applications of kilo as the year goes on.