Branching Out

This program was developed in collaboration with the Bishop Paiute Tribe, specifically with the assistance of the Tribe's Environmental Management Office and Cultural Center.

The goals of this program are: 

• To incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with "western" science as complementary ways of understanding the world. 

• To assist 5th-grade teachers and their students in meeting Next Generation Science Standards

• To help connect real world, local Indigenous experience and understanding with History Social Science Standards

• And to teach in a place-based, student-centered, nature-centered manner

(see more details under "Vision" below)

Lessons

This program is still under development - this is what we have so far:

1. Planting Seeds (Bishop Paiute Tribe and Big Pine Paiute Tribe) Not yet taught in all schools

2. Science Practices

3. Ecosystems Intro

4. Plant Exploration (Beyond Plant ID)

5. Plant Uses and Service Project (Bishop Paiute Tribe and Big Pine Paiute Tribe) Not yet taught in all schools, though a service project can be done at the end without the plant uses part of the lesson. 

Our vision for the Branching Out outdoor program is that it will be:

• Student-Centered

  • Students will be doing most of the work of learning - observing, exploring, collecting data, writing/drawing, discussing, arguing from evidence - Instructors are facilitators of this/guides on the side vs. sage on the stage

• Nature-Centered

  • Whenever possible, lessons will revolve around direct interactions with the natural world vs. games or activities

• Grounded in a Sense of Place - with acknowledgment and appreciation for all that this means. Lessons should be directly connected to the local environment and will be more relevant to students in that way

• Meaningful and Memorable

  • Learning should connect to them personally

  • Adventures should be had!

• Aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) performance expectations

  • In NGSS, using science process/scientific thinking is key, vs. memorization of facts

  • To begin to address NGSS in outdoor education, regardless of the topic, make sure students are engaged in practices, exploring science ideas, and figuring things out during science instruction. “In order to be fully engaged in the practices, it’s simply not enough to merely learn about the science idea, however creative and hands-on the task may be. To engage in the practices, really participate in them, a student has to frame the task as an exploration. The intellectual work [of the classroom] has to be centered on figuring out how or why something happens.“ — Cynthia Passmore, UC Davis School of Education 

• Integrate Indigenous ways of understanding and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with scientific ecological understanding by collaborating with the Tribes to include Tribe-led lessons, Native guest speakers, docents, or student volunteers, and involve cultural center staff in bringing lessons, activities and stories to the program.