GeoCivics
You can be a water protector too!
Author: Ashley Alarcon, Arizona
Grade 4
This lesson focuses on water usage and preservation while exploring cultural differences between the Indigenous perspectives and today’s mainstream cultural perspective on water. This 5E lesson tells the story of how Indigenous people utilized water as well as the land for many things they needed to survive without necessarily changing it. During westward expansion, the treatment of land and water changed dramatically. However, the Indigenous perspective on natural resources has always stayed the same; we see the land as a relative and water as life.
Civic Engagement and Advocacy during an Election Year
K-12 5E Lessons created by Teachers for Teachers!
These lessons were written by our third, and last, GeoCivics Academy participants in 2024. Lessons are based on the Academy place-based experiences exploring Washington, DC to learn how to include diverse perspectives in the education space through civic engagement and advocacy in American history, geography, civics, and government instruction.
K-5 Lessons
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Grade 3: McClure - Writing Poetry about Indigenous Tribes and African Americans
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Grade 3: McClure - How Extreme Heat Impacts schools: Civic Action
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Grade 4: Adiyia - Take Action! Protecting Native Wildlife in your state
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Grade 4: Adiyia - The Jeopardy Game - Protecting Native Wildlife
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Grade 5: Peery - Making Our School a Greener Place Civic Action
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Grade 5: Peery - Voting Amendments: Exploring the Power of the People
6-8 Lessons
High School
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Hampton - Let Our Voice Be Heard! Past, Present & Future Protest
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Rosado - Introduction to Key Vocabulary in Civic Engagement and Media
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Rosado - Civic Engagement and Media (Research and Presentation)
United States Territories & Regions
K-12 5E Lessons created by Teachers for Teachers!
These lessons were written by our second GeoCivics Academy participants in 2023. Lessons are based on the Academy place-based experiences exploring perspectives and unique history of U.S. Territories in American history, geography, civics, and government. Exploring Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, participants met with senators, historians, representatives from the EPA and NPS, conservation groups, classroom and museum educators, and visited historic locations and museums to deepen content knowledge of civics, geography, and social studies, and strengthen pedagogical knowledge and skills.
K-5 Lessons
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Kindergarten: Mendoza - Marine Conservation in the Mariana Islands civic action project
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Grades 3-5: Cantu - Civic Action Project: Creating a Multicultural Library
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Grades 3-5: Tanielu - History of the U.S. Naval Administration in American Samoa
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Grades 3-5: Tanielu - Civic Action Project: Native Medicinal Garden
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Grade 4 ESL: Dudley-Williams - A Closer Look at the US Virgin Islands
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Grade 4: Jiménez Otero - Christopher Columbus and the Taino Indians in Puerto Rico
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Grades 4-6: Regan - Celebrating our Community’s Cultures: Civic Action Project
6-8 Lessons
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Grades 6-8: Lesson 1 Liljemark - Exploring Invasive Species through text evidence
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Grades 6-8: Lesson 2 Liljemark - Local Invasive Species - Take Action!
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Grades 6-8: Terlaje - Modern vs. traditional Chamorro / Guamanian diet
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Grade 8: Tanayan - Civic Action Plan: Guam’s Self Determination
High School
Westward Expansion through the lens of Indigenous People
K-12 5E Lessons created by Teachers for Teachers!
These lessons were written by our first GeoCivics Academy participants in 2022. Lessons are based on the Academy place-based experiences of Westward Expansion through the lens of indigenous people. Through an exploration of important historical sites and museums, and meetings with content experts, and leaders and members from various indigenous nations, teachers deepened and broadened their knowledge of Western Expansion through the lens of indigenous peoples.
K-5 Lessons
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Unit: The Long Walk through an Indigenous Lens
6-8 Lessons
High School
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Holder - Unit: The Three Sisters
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Armijo - Unit: Westward Expansion
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Kuropatkin & Coffey - Tribal Sovereignty and the Navajo Long Walk