Controlled Burns and Wildfires
How do controlled burns help mitigate the spread and strength of wildfires?
How did indigenous people use controlled burns?
Sustainable Fishing and Marine Practices
How did indigenous fishing practices not hurt the environment?
What fish are currently endangered that the indigenous people fished?
How do our fishing practices affect the environment today?
How do native (American or otherwise) fishing techniques protect against environmental problems? How are natives currently implementing these techniques to protect the environment?
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems
How have indigenous groups stabilized and worked with the animal populations?
How did indigenous knowledge address preserving forests?
What indigenous practices could address deforestation?
How would food waste/food scarcity be different if we implemented indigenous practices? How can indigenous knowledge help us promote sustainable food systems? How have natives already implemented sustainable food systems, and what can we learn from them?
How did Native tribes use their knowledge of their environment to stay alive in dangerous and unsafe conditions related to the northern parts of America?
How did natives live alongside buffalo?
How did indigenous people use sustainable materials to build houses/communities?
How did indigenous people avoid urbanization or overhousing?
How did the diversity of the Native American diet affect the ecosystem around them?
Sustainable Housing and Urbanization
How did indigenous people use sustainable materials to build houses/communities?
How did indigenous people avoid urbanization or overhousing?
How could indigenous knowledge help our development of sustainable architecture?
Wildlife Management and Conservation
How have indigenous groups stabilized and worked with the animal populations?
How did native Americans manage certain species with hunting etc. What can we learn from this?
How do wildfires affect the quality of air? How does air pollution affect people?
How do fires affect air quality? What are the long-term effects of air pollution?
What are the effects of tourism in Hawaii? How have the indigenous people reacted to this? What has changed in their lifestyles due to the attraction of tourism?
Sustainable Fashion and Clothing
What is the difference between fast fashion/current-day fashion vs. indigenous clothing and fashion?
What are the environmental impacts of clothing production in factories?
How did indigenous people avoid harming the environment when clothing themselves?
How did indigenous people source these materials in a sustainable manner?
How can we incorporate indigenous knowledge into fashion consumption habits/industry?
Sustainable Exercise and Recreational Practices
How did indigenous people exercise?
Did they use materials from the environment as equipment?
What were common forms of exercise for them?
What are the environmental impacts of exercise facilities and equipment?
Effects of Mountain Biking and Outdoor Activities
What effect does mountain biking have on the environment?
How do hikers and hiking trails negatively impact the environment?
How does exploring parts of the world leave less room for wildlife?
Effects of Manufacturing (Computers, Clothing)
What does the manufacturing of computers, as well as their usage, have on the environment?
Impact of Sporting Events and Large Gatherings
How can harnessing Indigenous knowledge promote sustainable practices at sporting events (specifically large stadiums)?
How is the environment/climate impacted for a country or area hosting a mass gathering for a sporting event like the World Cup?
How did indigenous people exercise?
Where did the original origins of soccer come from in Mexico?
Indigenous people and their impact and their experience with the upcoming of sports like soccer
Tourism and its Environmental Impact
What are the effects of tourism in Hawaii? How have the indigenous people reacted to this? What has changed in their lifestyles due to the attraction of tourism?
Surf Industry and Surf Tourism
How does the surf industry/surf tourism impact the environment?
How do surf trips and surf resorts affect the lives of the indigenous people and the environment?
How can indigenous practices help counteract the issues that the surf industry is posing on the environment?
What are some ancient, indigenous medicine practices?
What environmental knowledge indigenous people possess regarding medicine?
Are there sunscreen/medicines/holistic healing practices indigenous people used that weren't harmful to the environment/ozone layer? Are there new forms/practices that have been made in response to modern-day problems?
Medical Waste and Environmental Impact
Why is medical waste bad?
How can we stop medical waste?
Holistic Healing and Mental Health
What is climate anxiety and how does it affect human's well-being?
How did indigenous people deal with psychological trauma?
How did the Natives react to climate anxiety and what were their methods for treating mental health?
How did indigenous people prepare for natural disasters?
How do environmental problems infringe upon human rights, specifically gender inequality?
Global Warming and Marine Life
What are the effects of global warming on marine life, and how can indigenous knowledge combat this?
How can harnessing Indigenous knowledge promote sustainable practices at sporting events (specifically large stadiums)?
How do wildfires affect the quality of air?
How does air pollution affect people?
How did Native American people prevent wildfires?
Could you find maps related to the expanding problems of fires?
Did the occurrence of fires spike when indigenous people were forced into assimilation?
How do fires affect air quality?
What are the long-term effects of air pollution?
Deforestation and Forest Preservation
How did indigenous knowledge address preserving forests?
What indigenous practices could address deforestation?
What impact did extreme climate problems have on indigenous migration?
Indigenous Knowledge and Modern Sustainability
What current environmental topics closely relate to indigenous knowledge and methods?
How did modern travel affect the world vs. how did indigenous travel affect the world (positive and negative)?
How did fashion harm/help the planet in indigenous and modern times?
How did indigenous people interact with and protect the oceans and the beaches?
Are indigenous farming practices better than modern practices for slowing ocean acidification?
Have there been any efforts by indigenous populations directly targeted toward ocean acidification or similar marine issues such as coral bleaching?
Historical Practices and Their Modern Applications
How can we incorporate indigenous knowledge into fashion consumption habits/industry?
What would it look like today if we lived by all indigenous knowledge today? What would the similarities be compared to how we live today? What would the differences be?
Big question: how can we harness indigenous knowledge to address indigenous environmental problems?
My focus: How have Native American art & literature given insight to farming practices and solutions? Can we use these solutions on modern-day environments or has our land changed too much?
Indigenous Rights and Environmental Laws
Did Native Americans have specific laws or ethical codes regarding protecting the environment?
What are Indigenous people's environmental rights within the United States?
What does the United States do to protect indigenous peoples' environmental rights?
How did the government create the Indian Reservations? What was the thought process and legal actions they took?
How can indigenous knowledge help us promote sustainable food systems?
Indigenous Knowledge in Literature and Art
How have Native American art & literature given insight to farming practices and solutions? Can we use these solutions on modern-day environments or has our land changed too much?
Specific Historical Figures and Committees
Specific Locations and Events
GenThrive (use a map to see climate risks, environmental impacts, etc. and the overlap between those climate indicators and indigenous peoples/lands)
CalEnviroScreen 4.0: Similar to GenThrive, more pollution burdens are listed and demographics. Can only view one layer at a time.
Subject to Climate (Teacher-facing website; within lessons you can find videos, articles, etc based on various environmental topics)
EPA Lessons and Resources (Teacher-facing website; within lessons you can find videos, articles, etc. and search based on general environmental sub-topics)
TedEd "Earth School" (lessons, activities, videos about various environmental topics)
StoryMapping LA - Examples of Indigenous Lands displayed in Storymaps layout, UCLA
Tijuana River is now listed as an “Endangered River” - Impacts local SD residents, Tijuana residents and Kumeyaay Land. (Mario from Un Mar de Colores will be virtually speaking to Carita’s AP Spanish 4 class, maybe we can collab and combine the classes?)
Trinity River A major restoration effort by a coalition of Tribes and government agencies could help imperiled fish and other animals on the Trinity River.
CZU Fire in Santa Cruz – Bringing back cultural fires w/ Amah Musun tribe
global warming, glacier conservation