Science Lesson: Water Sources in Your Ahupua‘a
Lesson Plan
1 hourGrades5Science
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Written by Teacher Community
About this lesson
Students deepen their understanding of the ahupua‘a system and the area in which they live. Students outside of Hawaiʻi could use the ahupua‘a system as an example to investigate watershed systems where they live.
Inquire: Students share their knowledge of the word ahupua‘a and the ahupua‘a system.
Investigate: Students learn more about the ahupua‘a system and its importance.
Inspire: Students identify the water sources of their ahupua‘a.
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Everything you need to teach it
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Suggestions
- This lesson aligns with Hawai’i’s Nā Hopena A‘o HĀ-BREATH Framework.
- This is a place-based lesson, focusing on students building an understanding of their own local watershed.
- This lesson provides opportunities for students to learn from their families about the land where they live.
- Note: All links that students need to complete this lesson can be accessed worldwide. However, if you wish to access the original source materials from this lesson on the Kumukahi website itself and you are not in the USA, you will need to use a VPN in order to access them. If you are not in the USA and are not comfortable using a VPN, you can substitute these resources with resources that pertain to your local context instead.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 1 of 3 in our 5th grade Science Unit: Water Sources & Pollution in Hawai‘i.
- Students should know that plants and animals need water to survive.
- Students will need headphones to listen to the videos in the Jigsaw activity.
- This lesson uses Hawaiian vocabulary that should be reviewed for students who are not familiar with it. There is a glossary in the Teacher Slideshow to facilitate this.
- Teachers may need to familiarize themselves with the geography of the local ahupua‘a if they do not already have this knowledge.
Differentiation
- Students who live in the same ahupua‘a could work on the mapping activity together and help each other identify the water sources in their ahupua‘a.
- The videos in the Jigsaw are different lengths. Shorter videos could be assigned to students who will need more time to answer the questions, or who may need to watch the video more than once to understand it well.
- For extension, students can challenge themselves to find water sources from an additional ahupua‘a that is important to them, perhaps from an ancestral land.
- This resource can be used to extend the lesson with a class field trip to a local watershed.
- Students who are not based in Hawaiʻi could use this resource to expand the lesson to be about watersheds more broadly.
From the scientist review
The purpose of this lesson is to help students identify the water sources in their ahupua‘a, learn about how human activities affect water quality and sources, and investigate strategies to keep them clean. After reviewing the lesson and related resources, we determined that it passed our credibility test for science.
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Teacher Community
Teacher Community
The Teacher Community is composed of teachers with 40+ years of collective K–12 experience across STEM, humanities, performing arts, and foreign languages. Members have taught in classrooms throughout the United States and around the world. Together, they focus on best practices and creating supportive, engaging learning experiences for all students and educators.
