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Aloha 'Āina Activity: Math in the Marsh

NGSS Science and Engineering Practices
NGSS Crosscutting Concepts
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas
Table of Contents

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This activity is an excerpt from the Aloha ʻĀina curriculum created by the Pacific American Foundation in cooperation with the Hawai‘i State Department of Education.

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Fig. 1. Students understand more about the adaptations in wetlands in this activity ʻMath in the Marsh' from Aloha ʻĀina.

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Image courtesy of Aloha ʻĀina

Phenomenon: 

Plants and animals are able to survive in a specific habitat.

Inquiry:

What features allow plants and animals to survive in a given habitat?

Activity:

Students create a "mathematical marsh" using geometric shapes to make representations of plants and animals and the structures that help them to survive.

Aloha 'Āina Activity: Math in the Marsh

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Fig. 2. Students explore structures of different wetland birds by building their own model.

Image copyright and source

Image courtesy of Aloha ʻĀina


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Fig. 3. Students in grade 3 explore the wetland.

Image copyright and source

Image courtesy of Aloha ʻĀina

About the Aloha ʻĀina Curriculum

 

"Shaping the future, while preserving a heritage, the Aloha ‘Āina Curriculum provides Hawai‘i’s youth with culturally relevant lessons. Since 2005 the Pacific American Foundation and its curriculum writing team has developed a collection of unit and lessons plans that explore, reveal and explain the ahupua‘a land-management system and challenges students to become stewards and scientists who care for the land and preserve the traditions. ‘Āina, that which nourishes, encompasses land, ocean, heavens, land-based water systems, plants and animals. Aloha ‘Āina is a way of life that is evident in Hawaiian practices."

 

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Exploring Our Fluid Earth, a product of the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG), College of Education. University of Hawai?i, 2011. This document may be freely reproduced and distributed for non-profit educational purposes.