Fourth-graders at CES have been learning about Native Americans, including those who lived here in our local area. They have been learning about the way the native Americans walked on snow – by creating snow shoes, how they took care of the earth with their respect for nature, how they made their homemade shoes – moccasins, and more.

 

 

Before the winter break, they had a special guest, George Steele. Mr. Steele is an ecologist who spent much of his career working with endangered species. His love for the environment started very early in his life, sharing his knowledge of the natural world since he was a teenager. He is the former director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Education Camp Program. His respect for the land, our environment and animals was evident to the students as he talked about the importance of whitetail deer to the Native Americans in our area centuries ago.

 

 

“We are all scientists,” Mr. Steele said to the students. And what do scientists do? They get a problem and try to fix it. The Native Americans lived here – they had to find food and protect themselves from harsh weather, make weapons for hunting and clothing for warmth. They created boats from hollowed out trees.

 

Mr. Steele brought with him the parts of deer that were valuable to the Native Americans, which was pretty much every bit of it! Deer are plentiful in this area and they recognized how valuable they were to their way of life. They obviously used the meat for nutrition, he said. They used the skin for clothing and shoes. They also used the bones for tools and to make weapons in order to hunt. They even made toys and musical instruments from the deer that are native to the area.

 

 

Mr. Steele explained that he is a hunter and he does all the same things with the parts of the deer. He hunts for food and uses the other parts of the deer for clothing.

 

It was an interactive presentation with the students eager to answer Mr. Steele’s questions. They were excited when he passed around moccasins and pelts and other objects made from the deer. They enjoyed seeing the toys the Native American children played with. And they had such interesting observations and insightful questions for Mr. Steele.

 

A big thank you to George Steele for sharing his knowledge and his love of our environment with our fourth-graders!