Lesson 1: Introducing Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer

Write-Pair-Share

Directions: Today, we begin a unit about the relationship between human beings and the earth. Read the following questions, and jot down your answers to them independently. When you finish, you will share your answers with fellow group members.

• How do you spend time in nature? What do you like to do outside that you cannot do inside?

• What is your relationship with nature? How do you think about nature?

• What ideas from your group made you think about your relationship with nature in a different way? What ideas did several people have in common?

Part A: Introducing Robin Wall Kimmerer and Her Work

Directions: As you watch the video, record observations you notice in the first column and questions you wonder in the second column. Your notes should be based on something Kimmerer says or shows during the video.

Turn and Talk

Directions: Turn and talk with a partner to share what you recorded in your graphic organizer.

Part B: Exploring the Unit Essential Questions

Essential Questions:

• Investigation 1: What does it mean to live responsibly within natural systems?

• Investigation 2: How do different disciplines and traditions, including scientific inquiry and cultural knowledge, help us understand our relationship to the natural world?

• What other questions do these Essential Questions bring to mind?

Give One, Get One

Directions: Write down brief answers to the following questions.

• In your own words, what are the Essential Questions asking us to think about during this unit?

• What questions are you thinking about that connect to these Essential Questions?

Directions: Now you will “give one” question or idea and will “get one” from a classmate in return. Share with at least two different people and write down your classmates’ questions that you find interesting or applicable.

Quick Write

Directions: Respond to the following question based on today’s learning:

• What is one gift the land provides us?