S QUAMISH RIVERS & ESTUARY Squamish Streams Around the Corner Grades: 4-7 Subject, Science, Language Arts Time required:30 –60 minutes Key Concepts: Everyday actions make a difference in watershed and estuary health.. Objectives: To identify local streams and protected areas Background: To use research, mapping and Materials interviewing skills; In British Columbia, there are many different use a variety of ways to types of protected areas. They include public Maps collect and record data; lands in networks of national, provincial and regional parks, wildlife management areas, (community & school) recreation areas, wilderness areas, ecological reserves, nature sanctuaries, greenways and Student Journals municipal parks, cultural heritage sites, heri- Pencil or pen Key Words: tage buildings and more. They also include water areas that are protected but not owned by the Streams, protected areas public but are protected by a range of fed- eral, provincial or local regulations. These types of protected areas include local areas such as water-courses (rivers, streams, lakes, Skills: ponds, wetlands) and their riparian Analysis, discussion, listing, writing/ (streamside) areas, environmentally sensitive drawing areas, and other areas of noted local impor- tance. 1 Squamish Streams Around the Corner Protected areas range in size from vast expanses of wilderness areas to tiny pockets memorabilia. of nature covering a few hectares or less. 4. Ask each group to brainstorm a list of Together, protected areas on public and places and people in their community private lands provide ways to protect natural that might be able to help them answer ecosystems such as streams as well as to the following questions about their enhance and restore local natural areas. stream: As students study their community map, • What is protected here? they will find streams nearby. Visiting these • Why is it protected? areas will increase their knowledge and may • Who or what is it protected from? lead to active involvement in caring for • How is this place protected? these streams and the organisms that live • What are the costs (monetary and there. other) of protecting this place? • What are the costs (monetary and other) of not protecting this place? Procedure: 5. Organize a walking field trip to the local 1. As a class, brainstorm as many different stream or river. On the field trip day, kinds of protected areas that might be visit the site and ask them to take their found nearby the school. Use the journals and write about: students’ list to locate all of these places • what they see, hear, feel and/or smell on a community map. Some of these at the site areas may include: rivers and streams, • how they feel visiting the site. parks and green spaces, and trails. 5. Back in class, ask students to present 2. Go to the map folder of the teacher CD their findings. The conversation might and find the map of your school. Hand center around what surprised them most out the map to students. In groups of two at the site they visited. Challenge them or three, ask them to find local to discuss the questions listed above. landmarks and then to find examples of Extensions: parks, streams/rivers, green spaces and trails on their map. 1. Ask students to write a short 3. Discuss different ways that they could sentence or poem (such as a haiku) find out more about their local stream or which sums up what they learned protected area. This might include about the stream they visited. making observations, interviewing Evaluation: people, reading newspaper clippings, Have students describe the stream or river pamphlets or historical records, nearby the school and why it is important to and studying photographs and protect it. 2 Resource: This activity has been adapted from “Protected Areas around the Corner” from Protected Areas (1995). Available from Wild BC. www.wildbc.org Taking it home: Go visit the stream or river closest to your house – can you find out its name? References: Blair Whitehead, DG (Ed.). 2002. Protected Areas: preserving our future. 2nd edition. Available from Wild BC http://www.wildbc.org Bouchard, Randy and Dorothy Kennedy. 2007.Aboriginal History of the Squamish Nation. For the Squamish Nation, Squamish. BC District of Squamish. Community Mapping data http://www.squamish.ca Golder Associates. 2007. Report on the Conceptual Management Plan for Site “A” of the Squamish Estuary. For the Squamish Nation, Squamish, BC Staniforth, Sue. 2009. Get Outdoors!: an educators guide to outdoor classrooms in parks, schoolgrounds, and other special places. Available from Wild BC www.wildbc.org 3 Source:GolderAssociates 4 Taking it Home… Name: Did You Know?? Go visit the stream or river closest to your house. What is the name of the river or stream? Local streams and rivers are important habitat for the four most common species of salmon that live in our watershed. These fish have been a traditional source of food for thousands of years to What type of fish do you think live there? local First Nations. Squamish Nation elders recalled that around 1900, the chum salmon were so thick in the Squamish River around Brackendale that it was apparently possible to “cross the water on their backs.”!!! Wow, that is a lot of fish! 5 S QUAMISH RIVERS & ESTUARY Watershed Food Fest Background: Grades: K-7 Today most of our food comes off the Subject, Science, Language farm, often from far outside our own watershed. However, there are many Arts; Social Studies plants and animals that grow, often wild, in our watersheds. Time required:30 minutes re- search; 60 minutes cooking & First Nation peoples make use of these foods to sustain their culture. Plants eating that grow wild naturally are called “native plants.” These plants are Key Concepts: adapted to live in a particular biogeo- climatic zone. Plants that have been Everyday actions make a introduced to an area but then self- difference in watershed and seed are “naturalized” plants. These estuary health. plants can also be “wild” foods of a watershed. Objectives: In British Columbia, we can look at It is expected that the student Materials will: foods that First Nations peoples tradi- Learn about a variety of foods tionally used to gain an understanding Research materials that grow in their watershed of what foods are native to watersheds (native and non-native); in British Columbia. While the tradi- Native Plant foods Appreciate the importance of tional aboriginal diet of the Coastal water and watersheds in lifestyle peoples relied heavily on protein: fish, Local food samples choices; shellfish, and sea mammals, coastal peoples also have extensive knowl- Key Words: edge of native plants, using over 200 Decision-making; sustainability; native species for food, medicine and other plants; First Nations purposes. In the Squamish watershed, the Skills: Squamish First Nation have been har- discussion; research; communication; vesting and eating native foods for well over 4,000 years. They have an expression: “when the tide is out… the table is set.” This refers to how 6 Watershed Food Fest Background continued: diet was replaced by animal fats and oils. important the food fishery is to their Plants that provided edible roots, rhizomes, traditional diet. This continues to be true and bulbs were scarce and often seasonal. today. Sometimes however, these products would be soaked overnight in water to plump them Traditionally, the Squamish First Nation ate up prior to eating. animal foods such as chum and Coho salmon (dried and fresh), herring spawn, Today, we have growing and living in our clams, deer, goat, or other game animals as watersheds a rich diversity of foods. Some the mainstay of their diet. However, greens foods are native plants and animals, while (shoots, stalks, young plants) and other some have been introduced to our vegetable dishes were eaten daily and watersheds from elsewhere. We can learn provided necessary vitamins and minerals. about our local ecosystems and traditional Greens such as roots and bulbs were often customs using foods as a teaching tool. This prepared in steaming pits. Pit ovens can is a powerful way to learn about your retain heat for several hours before cooling watershed. and are very efficient for preparing large quantities of foods. People also prepared Teaching Note: foods such as soups and stews with meat or Please use caution if exploring your fish and vegetable combination using watershed for native plants and be sure baskets and more recently kettles or pots. plants are identified as edible and safe to Drying berries and other fruits was an handle. Some native plants are extremely important way to preserve them for later use. sensitive to disturbance: do not disturb Sometimes berries would be cooked first sensitive sites. and then dried into berry “cakes.” People ate dried berries and berry cakes such as the Procedure: way modern people eat raisins or other dried 1. Explain that today we can eat foods fruit. from around the world. However, in our own watersheds there is an The basic types of food plants gathered and amazing diversity of plant and prepared fall into several categories: fruits animal life. (especially berries), green vegetables 2. Brainstorm with students the names (sprouts, leaves, seaweeds), mushrooms, of plants, animals and foods that underground parts of plants (roots, bulbs, grow or could be harvested from rhizomes) and cambium from certain trees. their community. You could ask One component of the traditional aboriginal them if they have gone to a local diet that was in short supply: carbohydrates. Farmers Market: what did they see or In many areas, due to the lack of food what did their family buy there? sources for carbohydrates, this part of the 3. Make a list of these foods. Be sure to remember seasonal foods and native plants that may be an important local food.