Albuquerque's
Environmental StoryAlbuquerque's
Environmental StoryWith your class, identify a problem in the class, school, or community. Working in small groups, view the problem as it might be seen by a person with an Indian, Hispanic, Black, Asian, or Anglo heritage. Study traditional beliefs, shared histories, etc., as a starting point.
Bring in, possibly from UNM, persons representing these heritages and ask their help in viewing the world through different eyes. Stress the similarities and differences, and try to find the reasons.
Make a survey sheet for other students to see if they agree with and identify with cultural behaviors attributed to their heritage, recognizing that within each group there are individual differences.
Are people's opinions about community, class, school, or neighborhood problems more affected by their cultural heritage or by their own personal experiences and thoughts? Is it possible to generalize?
Do students from the various cultural backgrounds feel that they are less influenced in their decision making by tradition and heritage than their parents are? Their grandparents? If so, how do they explain this change?
Is there such a thing as a Native American position? A Hispanic position? A Black position? An Anglo position? An Asian position? Discuss.
Select a controversial school topic, such as litter, crowded parking lots, over consumption of paper, need for landscaping, noise in the halls. Assign the roles, like principal, teachers, students, parents, custodian, neighbors of all members of the school community concerned with the issue. Set up a mock conference and have each person express his viewpoint about the issue.
Why do people in different niches have different points of view?
Does role playing help with understanding other people's positions?
What systems can be devised in the school community to increase communication and understanding of other people's niches, opinions, and rights?
If the school is in an older section of town, interview parents and relatives who might have attended the school. lnvite them to come to class and participate in a discussion of Then and Now.
What physical changes have occurred in the school building and the school grounds since they went to school?
What changes have occurred in the neighborhood?
Did the school serve as a community focal point then? Does it now?
What recollections do they carry with them of their school days here?
Without conducting any research, prepare a chart showing the various people in the school community and the niches they fill, their jobs, and their responsibilities. Set up committees to conduct interviews with these different people after the chart has been prepared. Discuss your findings.
How well did you understand the scope of each of the different niches before you did research? What can we learn from this?
How much overlapping is there among the different positions? How complex are the interactions?
What kinds of decisions are made within the school? What decisions are dependent on restrictions imposed by the larger community?
Use a dictionary to find the definitions of the word community in both its biological and human society sense.
According to the biological definition, is a tree a community? A rotting log? A piece of moldy bread? If so, what living things can be found in each of these communities? How do they interact?
How are human communities different from or the same as natural communities? Discuss.
What are some of the communities you belong to? To show these, use a series of concentric circles.
What are some of the ways the people in each of these communities interact with each other?
What are some of the non living conditions, such as temperature, moisture, water, in the environment of a tree community, a rotting log community, and a piece of moldy bread which affect the living things present?
What is the function of decay in the human community? What is the difference between decay and disintegration? Discuss decay in human history and culture.
Do these biological communities affect the non living conditions around them? If so, how?
What are some of the non living conditions in the environment of human communities which affect people?
Do human communities affect the non living things around them?
(Up to Section IV, Back to Eye Opener Worksheet 12, On to Eye Opener Worksheet 13)