WYTeacherCon25

Teaching research comes with a combination of challenges for middle school students. Most do not have experience in research topics. The trail cameras offer a way for the students to focus on a research topic that is very general or very specific to one animal. In this activity the students worked as a research team. Each class period were a team. They had no choice, this experience helps them understand how to navigate collaborations as a group. This unit was about teaching them how to develop research questions. The second year (Spring 2025) is about teaching them to develop a measurement tool. What is quantitative and qualitative research? Can trail cameras research be a qualitative study? How does the Arapaho and Shoshone lens help you understand western research science methods?
In this session I will share the Wind River Reservation through the lens of the trail cameras and how my students interpret the 100,000+ photos they collected.

The session will provide information about values, beliefs, and practices of indigenous communities and indigenous student learning but will also offer pragmatic strategies to implement while educating Indigenous students. Session attendees will not only learn the why, they will also learn the how.

Wy PBS Native American Learning modules contain Videos with Specific lesson plans K-12, written by Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Educators. All lesson plans are correlated to Wyoming State Social Studies Standards. Teachers will walk away from these sessions with specific resources they can use immediately in their classroom.