40 Insect/arachnid
Preparation time: Five minutes
Materials:
(1) Inside version: Plastic insects which can usually be obtained at the dollar store
(2) Outside version: Students observe (please don't kill unnecessarily) insects while on an outing or extended trip.
You can assign or suggest meanings for various insects:
(1) Flies: Clean up everybody's messes. Think about this for a moment. Think of all the waste which would be laying around if not for flies to help it decay.
(2) Bees: All about organization and common purpose. Keystone of the natural world. Harmless unless hassled
(3) Butterflies: Go through the biggest change. From caterpillars to solo isolation to beautiful flying insects.
(4) Ants: Again about organization and community. Of course you can't change roles or jobs if you're an ant.....as long as you're okay with that
(5) Dragonflies: The warriors of the insect world. Ever tried to catch one?
(6) Mosquitoes: Annoying but they feed bats, birds and dragonflies
(7) Beetles: The workers of the insect world
(8) Praying Mantis: Look eerily like aliens. Very patient hunters. Not good to be a male of this species. One of the few insects that stalk and kill spiders.
Procedure:
Prop based
(1) Ask students to select an insect which is most like them.
(2) If you have a younger less abstract audience suggest some of the above meanings and some of your own.
(3) One at a time, students share which insect they feel is the most like them.
No Prop or Outside
(1) Ask students to close their eyes and lie down if possible.
(2) Ask students to look and up to the right with their eyes closed. This accesses the right part of the brain.
(3) Ask them to imagine that they are an insect in the forest, that they have become part of a tribe of insects:
(4) After a brief period of time ask students to sit up and share which insect they became.
(5) Ask each student in turn to describe their insect and what qualities they share with that insect.
(6) Ask each student what they could learn from that insect to apply to their personal lives.
Alternatives: In the same section at the dollar store you will find bags of brightly colored plastic spiders. This is a good option if your audience is not squeamish
Notes: For indigenous people (everywhere) all the creatures in the natural world were teachers to a greater or lesser degree. Exercises like this allow participants to re-establish their connection to the natural world
41 Constellations Stars and Sky Phenomena
Preparation time: Hard to determine. You can go as shallow or deep as you want with this activity.
Materials: The sky: I have included a few of the basics to get you started.
(1) Big Dipper: Empty vessel
(2) The Milky Way: The Path through our galaxy
(3) North Star: Guidance and direction
(4) Cassiopeia: The Queen
(5) Pleiades: Where at least one culture thinks we go when we leave this world
(6) Orion's Belt: Hunter and provider
(7) Comets: Just passing through
Procedure:
(1) Explain to participants that the sky was humanity's first television.
(2) I tell students that as part of my culture I arise before dawn each morning to greet the stars.
(3) Explain to students that science has known quite for some time that life on earth would not be possible without stardust. Therefore we are all in some way...stars.
(4) Ask each student to find a constellation or star that they connect to.
(5) Ask each student to share what qualities they have in common with that celestial object(s).
Alternatives: If you have enough time to acquaint yourself with the mythology surrounding the stars, this deepens the experience for your audience.
Notes: This activity is truly best outside during a summer camp or extended trip. If we do it inside we once again take something natural, beautiful and accessible and make it dull dry and boring. Few people anymore want to rise before dawn to greet the stars but you might encourage them to arise early for just one morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment