Barbara Arrowtop

Heart Butte School
Heart Butte, MT

1999

Explorations in Biomedicine

Summer Research Teacher

Michael Andresen, Ph.D.
Oregon Health Sciences University
Portland, OR

1999

Summer Research Host

This activity is part of an integrated elementary unit called "Painted Tipis."  The unit is best taught in the fall in conjunction with the September celebration "American Indian Heritage Week."  It integrates lessons on literature through legends and myths, language (Blackfeet), and mathematics through (structural components of the tipi). The activity introduces the students to the art of dyeing as used in ancestral tipi paintings.  Historical cultural ties are an integral part of the Native American students learning and this unit provides those connections.

The purpose of this lesson is to provide elementary students with the opportunity to explore, identify and locate area plants.  The inquiry cooperative learning component of this lesson will be to determine the color (dye) producing possibilities of the plant.  Students will also plan and carry out an experiment to produce the dyestuff of the plant as well as create possible mordants, which is a chemical or metallic compound that will 'fasten' the color to the fabric.

• See a related Project WISE Unit

Criteria useful for reviewing

student-centered learning activities include:

In this
activity..

An inquiry level of 4 or 5

4