The goal of the "Connecting FOSS to Northern Arizona" Project was to create curriculum modifications for FOSS kits to make the kits more applicable to northern Arizona. Flagstaff teachers and educators took the natural history, cultural history, weather and climate, ecosystems, land use history and many other aspects of northern Arizona into consideration while creating this curriculum. Community contacts, field trip sites, literature and other resources were added to aid FOSS instruction.

Place-based education is a pedagogy that attempts to situate knowledge and experience in a place such as northern Arizona. A strong understanding of one's own place in nature, human communities and history is crucial to the development of responsibility and stewardship for our places and each other. There are many theoretical and practical ways for creating a "sense of place" through education, and almost all place-based pedagogies are multidisciplinary. Science, literature, creative writing, art, social science and mathematics are all incorporated into holistic place-based pedagogies.

This project is long-term and is continually evolving. Extra labels and activity sheets in the back of this teacher's guide are for you to add your ideas. There is also a comment sheet attached at the end, please leave your comments for the next teacher who uses this kit. You are also welcome to contact us at Northern Arizona University with comments and/or suggestions for the future. This project will be a useful tool for the teachers and students of the Flagstaff Unified School District.

Catherine Wilcoxson and Carri LeRoy: Northern Arizona University, 2000

Participating Educators and FUSD Teachers:

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Cover Page