Explore Enduring Issues and Crosscutting concepts in 10th-grade global history and earth science curricula across the African continent to highlight content connections, interdisciplinary learning opportunities and culturally responsive case studies and develop project-based learning units that integrate themes in global history and earth science.
One of my most powerful learning experiences came from observing patterns across the three African countries that we visited (Tanzania, South Africa & Morocco) in terms of resource allocation and opportunity. In both rural and urban areas the same challenges presented themselves over and over: access to clean drinking water, reliable electricity, and waste management systems. The stark differences in access to these basic resources was more acute in the extreme environments we traveled through.
As a planner, I learned to be more flexible and to go with the flow during the fellowship. I learned how to balance meeting our ambitious fellowship goals while also immersing ourselves in the pace of the life of the communities we were visiting and people we were learning from. The last time I had spent significant time on the African continent was 2006 and I was struck this time by the profound interconnectedness of today’s world due to globalization and more equitable access to cell phones.
Two unexpected, wonderful learning experiences were visiting Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park in Zanzibar and scuba diving in South Africa. Walking through Jozani forest with our guide, we stepped over large pieces of coral, showing that the ‘spice island’ was once underwater, a powerful visual of how sea levels have changed over Earth’s history. In South Africa, the opportunity to scuba dive presented itself and I’m glad I braved the frigid winter water temps to explore a kelp forest.
I’m currently revising my Earth Science curriculum to incorporate my new ideas, artifacts, and resources from our fellowship experiences. I specifically want to incorporate the East African Rift into my Plate Tectonics unit more prominently and highlight the impacts of climate change through the examples of Zanzibar and South Africa. Our experiences at the Water for Civilization Museum in Marrakech and in the Atlas Mountains will also feature when we learn about landscapes and meteorology.
My teammate and I will be working to craft at least one cross curricular project for the spring semester that we will implement in our 10th-grade Earth Science and Global History classes, specifically when I teach weather/climate and geography. The overarching themes we are exploring for the project(s) include (1) Impact of Environment on Humans, (2) Human Impact on the Environment, (3) Scarcity of Resources, (4) Patterns, and (5) Cause and Effect using case studies from the three countries.
We will collaborate with our 10th-grade team to identify opportunities where we can incorporate our project ideas into the other 10th-grade courses like English, Computer Science, Geometry and/or Career Readiness. Our experiences in Zanzibar and Morocco highlighted for me how our Muslim students don’t have much of a voice in our community so I want to work with our Muslim students and teachers to make sure we are doing a better job of supporting our Muslim students and meeting their needs.