Kahua Aʻo (A Learning Foundation): Utilizing Hawaiian Language Newspapers for Place and Culture-based Geoscience Education

Abstract:

Since Kahua Aʻo, an NSF OEDG project, first used Hawaiian language newspapers written between 1843 and 1948 in geoscience curriculum development and teacher education, two others have followed based on evidence that teachers readily adapted Hawaiʻi-focused lessons for their own places and sought to develop their own place-based knowledge when they found highly contextualized lessons were very engaging to students. The projects’ Hawaiian language translators provide teachers with articles that give insights into Hawaiian experiences of life and the environment, including rain, wind, storms, drought, weather, volcanic activity, earthquakes, tsunamis, landscapes, and biology and health. This is evidence to students of everyday Hawaiians acting as scientists: acutely environmentally aware, recording and sharing information through newspapers accessible to all. As 95% of the Hawaiian language repository is in Hawaiian, Hawaiian language translators with science backgrounds identify and translate articles and work with Earth scientists, science educators, and teachers on curriculum development, geoscience education and research. NGSS aligned lessons written by NSF team and teachers, some in Hawaiian, are disseminated through classes, workshops, and project websites, bringing the Hawaiian worldview into place-based geoscience education. Following the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea volcano, articles documenting 19^th century Hawaiian lava flows were translated by team members. Recently developed lessons focus on the physics of flight of Hawaiian birds (manu), and the characterization and formation of clouds (ao) and rainbows (ānuenue) in Hawaiʻi’s unique island environment. In the context of past epidemics in Hawaiʻi, a lesson has been developed on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through aerosols and mitigation by masks and outdoor settings.