Classroom Activities and Lesson Plans for "Native Voices: Native Peoples' Concepts of Health and Illness"

Posted by nwsoadmin on February 28th, 2014 Posted in: News from NLM, Technology

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The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Division of Specialized Information Services K-12 Workgroup has released classroom activities and lesson plans to supplement the Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness website.  For grades 6-12, these classroom activities and lesson plans familiarize students to the health and medicine of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.  The activities and lesson plans are available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/resources/lesson-plans-list.html.

The activities and lesson plans use the Native Voices exhibition website content material and other NLM online educational/science resources.  The activities and lesson plans are composed of four units.  Each unit introduces a different way of exploring and learning about the Native Voices exhibit in about 1.5 to 3 hours.  These units are: 1) A scavenger hunt, 2) An environmental health science lessons, 3) A social science lesson, and 4) A biology lesson.

While the activities and lesson plans can be used in science classrooms, clubs, and programs, they can be used to reinforce the history and societal developments of Native peoples in social science and history classrooms.  The Native Voices website – http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices – allows people to virtually experience an exhibition currently on display at NLM in Bethesda, Maryland.  Both versions explore the connection between wellness, illness and cultural life through a combination of interviews.with Native people and interactive media.