Indigenous Knowledge and Environmental Stewardship is a Grade 7 Science resource focused on how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) helps explain seasonal cycles, ecological relationships, and long-term changes in species and habitats. Within the Interactions and Ecosystems topic, students examine how people observe and interpret connections between humans and ecosystems.

Students explore TEK through specific environmental evidence. They identify place-based indicators and oral histories used to observe species and habitats over time, consider how seasonal cycles reveal ecological relationships, and evaluate why multiple knowledge systems can complement one another when interpreting long-term environmental patterns.

What students practise

• Describe how traditional ecological knowledge can reveal seasonal and ecological patterns.
• Identify place-based indicators and oral histories as sources of environmental observations.
• Explain how multiple knowledge systems can contribute to interpreting environmental patterns.
• Evaluate statements about human-ecosystem connections using evidence from the reading passage.

The worksheet combines multiple-choice questions, true-false questions, short-answer responses, a reading passage, matching, a cloze passage, an essay, and a “Did You Know?” feature. This gives students opportunities to recall concepts, apply vocabulary, interpret information, and communicate their understanding of human-environment relationships.

What is included

• Student worksheet covering Indigenous knowledge and environmental stewardship
• Student Notes & Lesson Summary supplement for supporting the topic
• Separate Teacher Guide with Learning Objectives, Teaching Tips, Discussion Questions, and Common Mistakes

The materials can support a Grade 7 ecosystems lesson, classroom practice, review activity, or guided discussion. The notes supplement can provide students with a reference point before or after completing the worksheet, while the teacher guide gives practical prompts for discussion and highlights common areas where students may need clarification.

For Alberta Science classrooms, this resource provides a focused way to connect ecosystem learning with observations of seasonal cycles, species, habitats, and human-ecosystem relationships. The emphasis on traditional ecological knowledge also gives students a structured opportunity to consider how different knowledge systems can complement one another when examining environmental patterns over time.