Hawaiian Fishponds: Sustainability Lesson
Lesson Plan
1 hour 50 minutesGrades6, 7, 8Biology
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Written by Clarissa Torres
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn about the connection between sustainability and survival and the importance of Native Hawaiian sustainability practices.
Inquire: Students play a collaborative fishing game to explore the connection between sustainability and survival.
Investigate: Students learn about the term sustainability and about Native Hawaiian sustainability practices for survival by learning about Native Hawaiian fishponds.
Inspire: Students develop a presentation on their solution for overfishing based on the information that they learned about Native Hawaiian sustainability practices.
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Suggestions
- This lesson aligns with Hawai’i’s Nā Hopena A'o HĀ-BREATH Framework.
- For a math connection, students can graph their data from each round in the Inquire section’s Fish Game to visualize sustainability and resource limits. Students can use this to discuss patterns and predictions in ecosystems.
- Students should understand that Native Hawaiian practices are place-based and culturally rooted, and that we are learning from them, not replicating practices inappropriately.
- Throughout the lesson, students can discuss what makes a solution specific, realistic, and actionable.
- To support critical and comparison thinking, students can map or chart resource management, human impact, sustainability strategies, and potential disruptions from the Fish Game to the He’eia Fishpond to a local application. This could also be used as a class anchor chart.
- Students can identify local aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, or coastal areas, and compare them to the fishpond system.
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can be taught on separate days or class periods.
Prerequisites
- Teachers should reassure students that they should not feel guilty about small-scale fishing with their families. The purpose of the lesson focuses on the issue of overfishing and sustainable practices as a solution.
- Before class begins, teacher should set up the Fish Game based on class size and the total number of groups. Each group should have an envelope with 20 cutout ahi fish (fish templates are provided in the Student Document) and a sheet of blue paper to represent the ocean. The sheet of blue paper is optional.
- During the Fish Game, teacher should display the slide from the Teacher Slideshow that explains the rules and the goal of the game for easy student reference.
- Teacher should preview videos and identify places to pause to ask prediction or observation questions before, during, and after.
- Teacher can use the rubric to provide clear guidance and expectations for the presentation.
Differentiation
- A digital version of The Fish Game can be accessed here.
- In the Inquire section of the lesson, teacher can determine the number of required resources and other presentation requirements.
- Students can work independently or in pairs for their presentations.
- To support multiple learning styles and accessibility, students can present solutions through slides, videos, posters, or short oral presentations.
- Optional field trip: Take your students to He’eia Fishpond, located in Kaneohe, Hawaii, to restore the fishpond ecosystem.
- Optional extension: Students can research and share arguments against sustainable fishing practices, evaluate the claims using what they have learned about the importance of sustainability, and write a stronger case for why sustainability is essential.
From the scientist review
The significance of developing sustainable practices in our environment is discussed in this lesson. Students will get profound insights into the best fishing techniques, play a fishing game, and develop sustainable fishing solutions that Hawaiians might use in their fishponds. The lesson materials underwent a rigorous evaluation and passed the science review procedure.
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About the teacher writer
Clarissa Torres
8th Grade Science Teacher
Clarissa Torres holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Arts in Teaching with a secondary education science focus from Chaminade University of Honolulu. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and holds a California Single Subject Teaching Credential with English Learner Authorization. Clarissa has been teaching since 2022 and currently serves as an online high school teacher and academic adviser, specializing in onboarding digital skills for grades 9–12.
