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Curriculum Connections Tuning
in to the Sisters' Cycles As the three sisters grow indoors or out, consider challenging students to try to figure out just how each one grows up. Does growth occur from the top of the plant or from the base? Your young scientists might draw a dot on stems of corn and bean plants with a waterproof marker. Each week, they can use a ruler to measure the distance from the ground to the dot on each stem. (Since corn, a grass, grows from the bottom, the distance between the dot on the corn plant and the ground will increase over time.On bean plants, which grow from the tip, this distance should not change.)
Native people who grew and honored the three sisters were well aware that they were nutritionally rich and complementary. Have students research the nutritional value of each of the three sisters and the benefits of eating them in combination. They should discover that corn supplies carbohydrates and a variety of important amino acids. Beans have protein, including two essential amino acids that corn lacks. Squash contributes vitamin A. Squash seeds also contain quality fats that corn and beans lack. Encourage students to learn about some of the many ways — from grinding corn to making breads — in which different native cultures prepare and eat the three sisters. Cook some traditional meals using online recipes from The Three Sisters Cookbook. Word has it that some Native cultures fertilized soil by burying a dead fish (or fish carcass) under each three sisters mound, just beneath the seeds. As the fish decomposed, it was said to provide nutrients to the growing plants. Ask students, How might you test the effectiveness of this gardening lore? They will likely want to compare mounds planted with and without a dead fish. Although you may want to allow them to pursue such an investigation, consider encouraging them to use dried fish bones (from a fish store) or liquid fish emulsion fertilizer, which are less likely to attract unwanted critters. Explore the role
and importance of the three sisters in Native cultures through stories,
celebrations, and art. Native stories often use nature to teach about
relationships between people and between people and the natural world.
After hearing or reading authentic Native stories, students might
want to create their own tales or plays based on their growing experiences.
Planting rituals and harvest celebrations, which youngsters enjoy,
reveal even more about the connections people had to the three sisters.
Your class might also search for artistic representations of any or
all of the crops in the art, music, clothing, or housing decorations
of Native cultures under study. The books on the Resources
page feature excellent historical information, stories, and activity
suggestions.
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Three
Sisters Classroom Project Background
Something
Fishy? Resources Books Ethnobotany:
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