DOI
10.62812/WZWW1325
Document Type
Curriculum Resource
Publication Version
In Review
Publication Date
Summer 6-12-2026
Keywords
Water Contamination, Water Quality, Indigenous Knowledge, Problem-Based Learning, Environmental Stewardship, Ecological Wisdom
Description
Students investigate a scenario of water contamination in a fictional community. They define the engineering problem of dirty water and explore the cultural and ecological significance of water through the lens of indigenous principles. This lesson introduces students to the concept of water contamination and the need for purification, grounding the learning in a real-world problem and connecting to Indigenous knowledge about the land and water.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Scenario: Students receive a letter from a fictional community whose water source has become cloudy and is making people sick. They are tasked with becoming “Water Engineers” to investigate the problem and propose a solution.
Pages
9
Type
Lesson Plan
Format
Language
English
Publisher
Open Prairie, South Dakota State University
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Reycel Jugo, 2026. Lesson-1 on Mni Wiconi (Water is Life): Understanding the Problem of Water Contamination. ILEARN Teaching Resources. Volume 8 (1): 207- 215; DOI: https://doi.org/10.62812/WZWW1325