We have spent some time talking in Social Studies class about Indigenous contributions to science. Indigenous people have been scientists for thousands of years, and the science community is finally starting to realize just how useful their traditional knowledge is to our world today. Indigenous have a very sophisticated understanding of the world around us, as they traditionally depended on the land and its plants and animals to survive.
We learned some really interesting things! We studied the engineering ideas behind building homes such as tipis, igloos, and pit houses, and how to build the right kind of canoe for certain bodies of water. We learned that they used astronomy in order to find their way around. They use their knowledge of animals and ecology to understand sustainability.
Did you know:
-when a habitat is becoming polluted, frogs are the first animals to go?
-when the grasshoppers are active and singing, the air conditions are ideal to dry meat like fish?
-a birch bark canoe can carry 40 times its own weight?
-a well-built igloo can hold the weight of a fully grown adult?
-there are many plants in nature that Indigenous people use for medicine? For example, red willow acts as a medicine similar to Aspirin, and cedar can be boiled as a tea to treat colds and flus
We are happy to see that natural resource businesses such as forestry and fishing are starting to use the knowledge that Indigenous people have in order to better protect our environment.
Here's some photos from our design projects:
We tried building canoes out of tin foil! We were able to get most of them to stay upright in the water, and to also hold some weight (marbles)!
Building an igloo is an art. It spirals gradually from the bottom to the top.
Trying to figure out how to build a pit house.
Tipi building is tough! One pole can take the whole tipi down!
More igloo construction
Working together to figure it out!
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