Due to COVID-19, students at our brand new middle school did not have an opportunity to get acquainted with their new campus or surrounding moku of 'Ewa. This year, we are trying to create safe, meaningful, culturally relevant science and interdisciplinary learning experiences that help students build a sense of belonging here, as well as to recognize their responsibility to care for the living things found on campus. Since being outside in the open air nature has positive impacts on mental health and can also help curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, our science class has decided to adopt our gardens as a living lab!
We will use the cyanotype - a uv-reactive dye- fabric to investigate the power of the sun! Sun printed banners will help us learn about chemical and physical reactions and the life forces associated with the akua - Kāne. To create these sun prints, we will use plants and found objects around campus to depict scenes and phrases from the epic of Hi'iakaikapoliopele that reference our ahupua'a of Honouliuli to bring a sense of responsibility, aloha, Hawai'i, and total well being to those who view them.
In learning how to care about and for the plants on campus, we will need shovels, eye glasses, gloves and rakes. As more areas of our campus are finished being constructed, we hope to honor the ancestral stories of this place by expanding our native plant gardens to bring life and love into these built environments. These tools are sure to help us get there!
For students choosing to remain learning from home... they will receive of set of cyanotype fabric sheets, a trowel and gloves so they can follow along in our investigation and complete a similar learning journey with the plant life around their community.
About my class
Due to COVID-19, students at our brand new middle school did not have an opportunity to get acquainted with their new campus or surrounding moku of 'Ewa. This year, we are trying to create safe, meaningful, culturally relevant science and interdisciplinary learning experiences that help students build a sense of belonging here, as well as to recognize their responsibility to care for the living things found on campus. Since being outside in the open air nature has positive impacts on mental health and can also help curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, our science class has decided to adopt our gardens as a living lab!
We will use the cyanotype - a uv-reactive dye- fabric to investigate the power of the sun! Sun printed banners will help us learn about chemical and physical reactions and the life forces associated with the akua - Kāne. To create these sun prints, we will use plants and found objects around campus to depict scenes and phrases from the epic of Hi'iakaikapoliopele that reference our ahupua'a of Honouliuli to bring a sense of responsibility, aloha, Hawai'i, and total well being to those who view them.
In learning how to care about and for the plants on campus, we will need shovels, eye glasses, gloves and rakes. As more areas of our campus are finished being constructed, we hope to honor the ancestral stories of this place by expanding our native plant gardens to bring life and love into these built environments. These tools are sure to help us get there!
For students choosing to remain learning from home... they will receive of set of cyanotype fabric sheets, a trowel and gloves so they can follow along in our investigation and complete a similar learning journey with the plant life around their community.
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