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Sun-Earth Day 2003
Native American Connections
Activities |
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"The Lakota were nomadic and didn't always camp at the same spots.
They used the angle of direction and length of the sun's noon shadow to determined,
and provide a simple way to identify 4 key days that mark the earth's
seasons. Today you can find "painted hides usually identified in museums as
"star maps" or "feather circles". These resemble elaborate compass roses used
by mariners, and would be handy and portable for making solar shadow time
measurements, if a stick with a plumb-bob (an arrowhead, say)
were placed upright in the center of the pattern."
(For more information go to:
http://www.kstrom.net/isk/stars/starkno3.html)
In this section you will find activities that will assist you and your students in discovering 'parallels' or facts directly relating science concepts to traditional Native American knowledge handed down for generations through songs, dances, ceremonies and traditional story telling. Since Sun-Earth Day occurs during the Spring Equinox each year, we included several activities focusing on seasonal change marked by variations in the length of daylight hours, the position of the sun in the sky at noon for various times of the year and how shadows can be used to mark solar shadow time measurements. To find these activities, click on the 'Marking the Seasons' link in the menu to the left. Additional activities have been included to increase your awareness of the Sun, its structure and processes, and the resulting effects here on Earth such including the Aurora! Click on the 'Activities and Lesson Plans' link in the menu to the left. This link will take you to a separate section of our website. Finally, the, 'Mime & Space Science Exploration' activity will provide you with an exciting, kinesthetic, way to understand a complex series of events that begin on the Sun and can eventually result in an Auroral display here on Mother Earth. |