HISTORY Session 01: Sustainability principles in African spirituality and food (7/6) -- I Am A Scientist

HISTORY Session 01: Sustainability principles in African spirituality and food African Traditions Learning Objectives - Discuss the concept of sustainability in relation to food and agriculture - Explain the centrality of sustainability in traditional African spirituality - Describe the traditional African spiritual tenets of growing, preparing, and sharing food - Relate sustainability and African spiritual principles to their family and community experience Materials and Resources Background information - Agroecology in West Africa [Wikipedia] - Contributions of African Crops to American Culture and Beyond: The Slave Trade and Other Journeys of Resilient Peoples and Crops [Frontiers] - Limited Access: “The World Began with Farming”: Creativity and Resilience in West African Savanna Agriculture [Mande Studies] - A developmental history of West African agriculture [ReseachGate: book chapter] - Traditional beliefs promote sustainability in West Africa [ScienceDaily] - How Africans Are Saving Their Own Soil [National Geographic] - Why traditional agricultural practices can’t transform African agriculture [Cornell Alliance for Science] Technology: - iPad with Clips application - No Tech Option: have youth script and perform what would be their Clips video Opening Activity: ~15 minutes Group Discussion Question: What does it mean to have a tradition? Have youth share their understanding of what a tradition is and what it means to “have a tradition” in their family or community. List examples of traditions that youth mention in their explanations. Next, ask them to think about how their families or communities continue these traditions. How do they show that they are doing something traditional? Ask them to consider: how do we keep traditions alive? Content Lesson and Activities: ~60 minutes Content and Discussion Introduce the general concept of sustainability as a method of keeping traditions alive. - Example activity: Watch a video introducing the concept of sustainability-related to food: Exploring Food Sustainability, Sustainability Institute Share and discuss different tenets of sustainability in African spirituality: - The living, the departed, and the unborn are all one. - The inextricable link between land and food - Food is a link between the departed, the living, and the unborn. - Reflection and appreciation in sharing family meals - “Seedtime and Harvest; Sowing and Reaping” in African farming community life Ask youth to identify examples of parallels between African tenets and issues of modern issues of food sustainability (e.g., buying local to cut down on transportation costs). Discuss examples from their lives of how their families and communities sustain traditions related to these different tenets. Group Activity Have youth work in groups of two or three with their iPads to create short Clips videos. They will write the script, record and edit the Clips video, and share the clip with the group. If no technology is available, they can