Life off the Land!
In this project, students began by examining the relationship between plants and people in Latin American cultures, after which they turned their attention to San Diego's native plants and their uses. Students conducted field research throughout San Diego, learning from botanists, plant enthusiasts, and cultural experts about native plants and their uses. In culmination, students wrote and published a bilingual field guide to San Diego's native plants called Plant to Planta, which can be purchased online at Lulu.com. Overall, through this project, students became, as they called themselves, "plant nerds", not only learning about the relationship between cultural groups, such as the Kumeyaay, and plants, but also strengthening their own connection to our local surroundings.
Here you will find more details about the project, Life Off the Land.
Here you will find more details about the project, Life Off the Land.
life_off_the_land.pdf | |
File Size: | 808 kb |
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Plant to Planta: A Bilingual Field Guide to San Diego's Native Plants
The main component of this project was our bilingual field guide to San Diego's native plants. Each student selected a plant that they found interesting and produced a bilingual entry that informs readers of the plants habitat, preferred climate, cultural connections, uses, etc. This book is for sale at Lulu.com. You can click here to see a preview of what the book has to offer: PLANT TO PLANTA! Below are documents we used when looking at other field guides and developing ideas for their own.
pagepresentation.docx | |
File Size: | 95 kb |
File Type: | docx |
guide_book_assessment.docx | |
File Size: | 51 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Sana Sana Colita de Rana: A Latin American Case Study
Prior to learning about native plants of San Diego, students turned their focus to Latin America. As in many cultures, many people in Latin America depended and continue to depend on the resources the land has to offer to improve health, both mental, spiritual, and physical. Students researched different plants used throughout Latin America and produced a visual that could help them convey this information to their classmates. In addition, this served as a trial for our future book pages. Students critiqued each others pages and made conclusions about the importance of particular elements in their books based on their work and presentations.
sana_sana_colita_de_rana__latin_american_case_study___nombre.pdf | |
File Size: | 63 kb |
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Reading
During the semester, we ready three books. Advanced and native Spanish-speakers read the following books in Spanish. Beginner and intermediate speakers read in English. The Alchemist was used to introduce the concept of symbolism. Bless Me Ultima and the Hummingbird's Daughters both present stories about female healers whose connection to the land is integral to their spirituality and healing power.
Symbolism & Personal Legend
We started off this semester by exploring the use of symbolism by individuals and culture groups. Students wrote about symbols that were important to them that they later incorporated in to a "Personal Legend" inspired by Paolo Coehlo's The Alchemist.
what_is_symbolism.docx | |
File Size: | 88 kb |
File Type: | docx |
leyenda_personal_peer_critique.docx | |
File Size: | 88 kb |
File Type: | docx |