Overview
These gardening related activities were inspired by the immense plant knowledge shared throughout Mi’kmaq traditions.
When asked to share a message to the young people of Canada, Helen Martin of Membertou, co-founder and first president of Nova Scotia Woman’s Association, answered “I just want everyone to know that the basis of our governance is the concept of sharing. That’s the most important thing.” Through these gardening activities we will learn to grow food from the Earth that has the power to nourish ourselves as well as our communities. Through this learning we will also explore the mathematics involved including measuring, proportions, and flow rates.
This below video from Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre films Tuma Young as they show us that science and medicine have been a part of Mi’kmaq heritage for thousands of years.
Activity 1: What’s in Your Soil?
This activity explores the relative proportions of particle size in different soils. This activity includes sample collection, measurement, and making predictions.
Click the link below to try this activity and find out your garden’s soil composition!
Click the link below to watch our team gave a great demonstration on how to do this activity
The following is a link to Todd Labrador’s story and how climate change is impacting his livelihood. https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/finding-their-roots-birch-bark-canoe/?fbclid=IwAR2xJKv86JITLS3gic8rJfqLd5zPNz10rwhRdsZiEbc0wqYNBZwLrwuc5bs
Activity 2: Water Race
This activity reuses plastic water bottles to build a mini watering can that can be used to water plants and gardens! This activity includes a water flow race, and an option to explore the flow rate equation.
Click the link below to try this activity and build your own mini watering can!
Activity 3: Let’s Grow a Garden!
This activity details how to plant a small garden! This activity will explore measuring, timing, recording data, and creating a graph!
Click the link below to try this activity and plant your own garden!
Activity 4: Plant Light Maze
This activity introduces the idea of phototropism through an inquiry-based bean plant maze! This activity includes measuring, timing, angles, and logical reasoning.
Click the link below to try this activity and build your own plant maze!
The following is a link to an instructional plant maze video https://youtu.be/Stz8Y-XEmXI
Resources
The following link explores area and how it relates to gardens: https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/5ab532ec9a99564a45707ed5
