Lesson # 4: Hawaiian Plants Materials: Internet Access Library Access
‘Olelo No’eau: Pu‟ali kalo I ka wai „ole. Taro, for lack of water, grows misshapen. For lack of care one may become ill.
Unit 11: Injury Prevention NH Topic: #7 Engage in Hawaiian language opportunities to increase language proficiency and effective communication skills in a variety of contexts and learning situations. DOE Standards: PS: 1, 2. BM: 1b, 1c PI: 1ad, 2ac. GLO’s: Ability to… be responsible for one‟s own learning be involved in complex thinking and problem solving communicate effectively work well with others Health Risk Area: #1 Injury and Violence Prevention #7 Personal and Consumer Health TEACHER NOTES
ACTIVTY #1 1. Verbally share and write the „Ōlelo No„eau for the day on the board. Provide time for the students to think about the proverb without sharing. Repeat if necessary. 2. Ask students to visualize the picture in their minds, give options of what they might draw or sketch. 1) Explain to the students regarding some PolynesianIntroduced plants you are likely to see in on grounds of many schools in Hawai`i:
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Common Name ti shampoo ginger (or mountain ginger) candle nut Coconut taro breadfruit
Hawaiian Name Ki `awapuhi kuahiwi kukui kalo `ulu
Scientific Name Cordyline fruticosa Zingiber zerumbet
Aleurites moluccana Cocos nucifera Colocasia esculenta Artocarpus altilis
2. Tell students to check out library books to find photos or line drawings of these plants (or visit these Bishop Museum or UHManoa Botany Department websites: ). 3. Take a preliminary walk around your campus to see which of these plants might be on your school campus or nearby park. (Note: On every campus, there will be someone who knows these plants . . . .Let office/grounds staff and faculty know that you want to know if any of the above plants are on your campus--and could they point them out to you--if you do not recognize any of the plants from the list. There is much to learn from those who have lived in Hawai`i for a long time. You will also be able to see photos of many of these plants on the University of Hawaii and B.P. Bishop Museum websites listed below. ) 4. Show students photos of the plants you will be seeing and discuss some of the ways the early Hawaiians and Poly-nesians would have used those plants. (Use questions where appropriate, when showing photos. Stay with simple
and age-appropriate uses. . .acknowledge that there are many uses, but stay with topical uses, and, always with warnings to not use any of the plant for topical medicine without parental permission.): * “Do any of you know what this plant is?” . . . * ”Do any of you know how this plant may have been used by the Hawaiians and other Polynesians.” (Note: Remember to use the words, “how this plant may have been used by the early Hawaiians. . .Polynesians. . ..” Avoid using the words, “How you could use this plant. . .” Keep the lesson historical to avoid any confusion with giving prescriptive advice. Remember that there are reasons school nurses are not allowed to provide medication or recommend medication. . .why even peanuts are not allowed on some school campuses. Just as some of us are not affected by poison ivy, mango peel, others can have severe reactions.) 5. Prepare students for your campus walk, reminding them, ahead of time to not touch the plants unless you make them available to the students. (For example: It‟s natural to pick a ti leaf and show the uses when you‟re in the mountains. Best to have plant samples in a bag that you carry on the campus walk [a ti leaf that you have picked ahead, a flowering head of shampoo ginger]. Students may confuse any random picking of plants as “permission” to do the same. The grounds staff on most Hawai`i campuses take pride in their campus plantings/maintenance. Remind students that you are honoring the hard work done by grounds staff to keep the plants so healthy by not disturbing or picking the campus plants. Picking up kukui nuts or leaves on the ground would be acceptable with most grounds staff, but ask the person in charge of maintaining the grounds first , ahead of time. 6. Take students on a walk around your school campus . . . and lead them to
the area of the first plant on your list: Ask, again, if anyone knows what the plant is . . .and repeat much of what you talked about in class, using the photos. Note: * If uses are mentioned by students that you would prefer to avoid discussing, steer the discussion back to topical historical uses—or use the opportunity to tell the students why they must always discuss these plants with their elders. It‟s easy to make jokes about the consequences of eating too many kukui nuts, for example, but remind them that some people are allergic to kukui nuts or anything in that plant family (poinsettia, croton, tapioca, castor bean . . .and many latex-bearing plants). . .that some people have landed out in the hospital after eating only one raw seed. . .that the kukui nut meat (`inamona) they eat on raw fish has been roasted before eaten and that there is a close relative of kukui on the island (Aleurites trisperma) that looks like the kukui nut tree but is very poisonous. . .resulting in visits to ER. *Remind students during the course of both discussions that none of us know who might have a bad reaction to peanuts, mango, poison ivy. . .so only touch or eat wild plants that family have shown to them as being safe to handle. While we may be more relaxed when sharing plant uses with our families, we have to be very careful with those who are in our care and remember that “safety first” will avoid turning a learning experience into an illness or unintended consequence. 7. Relate experience to lōkahi circle. Optional Activity: Research for a project might include: 1. Types and variables 2. Growing conditions Soil Temperature
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Growth stages Life of plant Other places plant is found Uses by different ethnic/cultural groups
**Collaboration with science and/or agricultural departments would also be useful. UH School of Agriculture. ACTIVITY #2 1. Use the references below to gain a deeper understanding for the plants at the school. 2. Ask the students to pick one plant of their choice and create a poster board. 3. Relate experience to lōkahi circle. Suggested Reference Books for Uses of Plants: * Plants in Hawaiian Culture. Beatrice Krauss. University of Hawai`i Press. * In Gardens of Hawai`i. Marie Neal. Bishop Museum Press. * Resource Units in Hawaiian Culture. Donald Mitchell. Kamehameha Schools Press. * Plants and Flowers of Hawai`i. S.H. Sohmer. University of Hawai`i Press. * Ka Po`e Kahiko. The People of Old. Samuel Kamakau. * Ka Po`e Kahiko. The Works of the People of Old. Samuel Kamakau. * La`au Hawai`i. Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants. Isabella Aiona Abbott. Bishop Museum Press. Poster Board: English name of the plant Hawaiian Name of the plant Scientific Name Plants purpose Plants History Color Drawing of the plant along with labeled parts.
Websites: UH Botany Gallery of Photos of Plants: www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/alpha_crong_judd_apgii. htm#DICOTS htm#MONOCOTS B.P. Bishop Museum Photos of Hawaiian Ethnobotanical Plants: www.bishopmuseum.org After reaching Bishop Museum home page, search for Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database ACTIVITY #3 1. Talk about the research the students gathered while researching the references. 2. Tell the students to come up with a few more questions that they still have regarding their plants of choice. 3. Invite a guest speaker to talk about Native Hawaiian plants. 4. Allow the students to ask their questions to the cultural expert. Pose questions regarding lōkahi. 5. Debrief and thank guest. 6. Ask students to journal their experience. JOURNALING Teacher/Student to choose journaling style (refer to journaling section of curriculum): Ask students to write and or draw a short response to the following questions: 1. How does this lesson relate to your lōkahi circle?
2. How might you make personal changes to care for your health better? 3. How might this lesson benefit you and your family? 4. What does our Hawaiian standard teach us about the ‘lesson shared? 5. How does this lesson relate to what your culture practices? 6. Refer to the ‘ōlelo no‘eau and reflect how it relates to the lesson. 7. Refer to the Native Hawaiian Standard and reflect how it relates to the lesson. 8. Demonstrates knowledge of concepts associated with health risk/content areas, demonstrating both breadth and depth. 9. Researches health risk/content areas by accessing a variety of health information resources, products and services APPRECIATION (Optional: go around the room, pass an object around from person-to-person, pass a book of positive daily affirmations, throw a ball with positive affirmations on it and do what it asks, etc) Invite statements of appreciation relating to subject/cultural matter: 1. I liked it when……. 2. I am excited about….. 3. I‟m glad we …..