Native American Science Education: A Compelling Opportunity for the Integration of Earth and Space Science

The strong relationships between Earth and sky in the worldviews of Native American people presents a wonderful opportunity for collaborations that can co-create compelling educational opportunities for both Native and non-Native learners. This paper will discuss the relationship among successful science education for Native Americans, standards-based science education, and informal science education. It will address some strategies for combining best practice in education with a deep cultural authenticity. Presenting astronomy in a culturally relevant and correct way is not only of value to the Native learner, but it is also of value to the non-Native learner because cultural relevance for Native people demands that science be presented via different learning modalities (e.g. visual, kinesthetic, tactile) and in a way that is more interconnected with other science and non-science disciplines. This kind of multi-modal and interdisciplinary approach is valuable and progressive for Non-native learners as well.