The Bluewater Land Learning Project
Program Descriptions
All programs detailed below were informed by principles of land-based and decolonial education. Programs emphasize learning with and from the land. Special attention is given to critical questioning, especially as it relates to how learning on the land might help us better relate to others who's perspectives differ from our own.
Programs are aligned with grades 6 and 7 Ontario curriculum. However, due to the flexible nature and interdisciplinary design of programs, lessons can be made applicable to a wide range of age groups. For this reason, it is recommended that programs are delivered for participants between the grades of 4-8.
Each lesson outline lists specific curriculum objectives that are satisfied by the program. However, these curriculum links are not exhaustive. Land-based education is holistic by design, therefore, lessons learned from programming can not always be predicted. All programming can relate to a broad range of subject areas, including language, mathematics, science and technology, health and physical education, and social studies, history and geography.
Each program provides options to download lesson outlines, resources, and request program offerings. Requested program offerings will be directed to the Bluewater Education Foundation. Employees of the Bluewater Education Foundation can deliver programs throughout Grey and Bruce counties. Groups also have the option to schedule programming on-site at the Bluewater Outdoor Education Centre.
Reflection
Connecting with land through mindfulness.
Learning Orientations
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Demonstrate how participants can use mindfulness as a tool for reflection and reconnection with themselves and land.
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Introducing the tradition of field journaling as a method of communication and knowledge sharing.
Grade
4-8
Group Size
1-20+
Length
15-150 min
Setting
Outdoor Area
About the Program
Settler colonial conceptualizations of land is revered for its economic return, rather than intrinsic value.
Taking time to reconnect with yourself and the land around you can have a positive influence. This level of self-regulation can be seen in Indigenous
cultures as well. Although unique from nation to nation, Indigenous traditions
conceptualize land as the source of knowledge, culture, spirituality, citizenship,
and identity⁷.
This program is a practice of introspection and reconnection. Through a series of
mindfulness activities, participants are encouraged to consider themselves a
part of land, rather than apart from it.
Animal Perspectives
Connecting with land through the senses.
Learning Orientations
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Encourage participants to consider the perspectives of all their relations, thereby fostering a connection to land.
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Utilize observation and storytelling as a method of learning and knowledge sharing.
Grade
4-8
Group Size
5-20+
Length
60-150 min
Setting
Classroom & Outdoor Area
About the Program
In Canada, many harms have been perpetrated against Indigenous peoples because their life ways, knowledges, and worldviews have not be respected. The advancement of decolonization and reconciliation requires that future generations understand the importance of considering the experiences and perspectives of others⁵. Each of us – every being – is an integral part of the greater web of life. Nature is not ‘separate’ from us; we are nature.
This program is an exercise in empathy. Informed by Indigenous pedagogical principles of learning through observation with and from land, learning activities challenge students to reflect upon how considering the perspectives of others might help them better relate to all their relations.
Forest Communities
Connecting with land through cooperation.
Learning Orientations
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Understand how forest communities rely on cooperation for survival and thriving.
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Relate characteristics of strong and resilient forest communities to human communities.
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Use mathematic and scientific inquiry to observe and record characteristics of trees.
Grade
3-7
Group Size
1-20+
Length
60-120+ min
Setting
Classroom & Outdoor Area
About the Program
'Survival of the fittest' is a phrase that emerged from Darwin's Theory of Evolution to describe the process of natural selection. This phrase suggests that all species are in competition for limited resources, and thus behave in self-serving ways.
Recent ecological research demonstrates that forests are not comprised of
trees living in fierce competition. Rather, like human societies, forests
are complex networks of relationships. While some species do out compete others, other species share resources for the benefit
of the forest as a whole. This program seeks to demonstrate that cooperation rather than competition strengthens the collective. Embracing multiple knowledges might lead us to a healthier and more resilient community and nation.
Navigating Land
Connecting with land through mapping.
Learning Orientations
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Identify various elements of maps and their uses.
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Examine maps as tools to communicate information about land, history, and identity.
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Utilize maps as a way to visually communicate personal interactions with and relationships to land.
Grade
7-8
Group Size
5-20+
Length
120+ min
Setting
Classroom & Outdoor Area
About the Program
The introduction of reserve systems, disrupted Indigenous life ways of hunting, fishing, and seasonal movement. Today, Indigenous peoples are reclaiming maps as a tool to communicate information about Indigenous land use, record local land observations, and advocate for ecological restoration and protection.
This program is an exercise in critical thinking and storying land. Comparing and contrasting maps of the same geographic area, participants are encouraged to question what information maps communicate about land, history, and identity. Participants also get the opportunity to become cartographers, using maps to communicate and story their experiences on land.
Fire
Connecting with land through forest management.
Learning Orientations
-
Explain why fire can be both detrimental and beneficial to natural landscapes.
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Demonstrate safe fire use procedures, including campfire construction and extinguishment.
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Reflect upon how Indigenous fire management practices demonstrate mutually beneficial human-nature relationships.
Grade
6-8
Group Size
5-20+
Length
120+ min
Setting
Classroom & Outdoor Area
About the Program
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples from many different nations have used fire as a mechanism of forest management⁴. Today, these controlled fires are known as cultural or prescribed burns. In recent years, forest fires have devastated ecological areas across Canada.
This program demonstrates how traditional Indigenous ecological management practices are beneficial to both humans and the natural environment. Linking spiritual and scientific knowledge, this program recognizes the practice of cultural and prescribed burns keep forests in good health. This continued practice shows the influence of past land use and continued land use in a safe and controlled way. Please consider the permits and processes needed to continue this today and be careful with any fires you make in and around your community and other wild areas.
Seasons
Connecting with land through seasonal change.
Learning Orientations
-
Encourage students to consider how their relationship to and interactions with land change throughout the seasons.
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Help students consider the part land plays in shaping their daily lives and activities.
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Utilize visual storytelling as a method of learning and knowledge sharing.
Grade
4-8
Group Size
5-20+
Length
60-120+ min
Setting
Classroom & Outdoor Area
About the Program
Traditional Indigenous life ways are strongly influenced by seasonal change. Restricting Indigenous movement had several detrimental consequences, including jeopardizing Indigenous economic systems, cultural knowledges, and relationships between Indigenous nations and the land.
Today, contemporary lives are seemingly more sedentary. Apart from occasional vacations, changes in land no longer directly correlate with changes in daily lives - or so it may seem. Access to safe outdoor spaces and the time to go out are constantly
being challenged. This program reintroduces how our lives are intertwined with cyclical patterns of nature. Whether you spend summers on the beach or winters on the ski hills, where time is spent is highly influenced by changes on the land.
Reciprocity
Connecting with land through giving back.
Learning Orientations
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Encourage students to consider how examining and learning from plant relationships can help them model reciprocal relationships in their own life.
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Demonstrate how interconnected and mutually beneficial relationships help ecosystems thrive.
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Help students consider how they can give back to land and others.
Grade
4-8
Group Size
5-20+
Length
60-120+ min
Setting
Classroom & Outdoor Area
About the Program
Indigenous nations have unique understandings of and relationships to land. However, reciprocity is a common principle that connects Indigenous knowledges across Turtle Island. The 'Seventh Generation' is a principle that requires one to live in a way that takes into consideration the needs of those seven generations ahead. This principle is a practice in reciprocity - acknowledging that past generations lived in ways that enable current lives, thus presently living in ways that benefit future generations.
Modern technologies can alienate us from the land and past knowledges that have helped make our present lives possible. This program is an exercise in reflection, gratitude, and reciprocity. Participants are encouraged to consider how land supports their life, while questioning how they might give back to land.