Science, Math

WATERDRUM SCIENCE, Carolyn A. Petty, Paper, 8 x 11, 300 pages, $27.50 Black and white illustrations. Teacher resource book for Native-centered elementary science, Grades 4 -6.

I haven't seen this final published version, but a lot of looseleaf materials in development have been around Minneapolis Indian schools for years. I used some in 1993-94 at Heart of the Earth AIM Survival School, apparently AISES was involved in the development; we tried (without success) to obtain more uptodate versions than the random assortment we had. I should mention a certain problem: The Little Boy Water Drum is sacred to the Anishinaabeg Midewiwin Society, and there should be no implications that this is the water drum being used for experiments. (There are other water drums just played for fun and dancing.) There was some implications of that in the rough draft material; a school staff person who is also a Mide elder found it offensive and felt we should not use the material in our classes. But I have not seen the final version. A non-review here (because I don't have the actual book), This was apparently developed over several years by AISES, and is available only through them, as far as I know. It does not seem to be part of the hands-on minds-on science curriculum materials that are very briefly described on the AISES web pages (see above). Paula Giese

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