What Does Culture
Have To Do With
Teaching Science?
Teaching plant growth from an Asian-Indian Hindu lens
By Lauren Madden and Arti Joshi
A
second-grade classroom begins the first lesson in a
unit on plants. All of the children are sitting on the
carpet while the teacher starts a conversation about
plant anatomy and the functions of each plant part. Using
a construction paper model attached to the whiteboard,
she asks the class to identify the leaves, and all of the students are able to point to the green parts attached to the
stem. Next, she asks if anyone knows what the leaves are
for. One boy raises his hand and shares, “I’m not sure, but
Hindus believe that plants make food in the leaves, and
you should not touch them.”
This student’s comment was a great example of folkbiology, or the domain of anthropology that addresses the
overlap between cultural and scientific beliefs. The student also provided the teacher with an excellent “teachable
moment.” Science educators strive to teach for conceptual
change, and in order to do so, teachers must first consider
students’ prior knowledge in order to confront misconceptions and introduce science content. Much of the prior
knowledge our students bring into the classroom is based
on their rich and varied cultural beliefs. It can sometimes
seem challenging to incorporate multicultural perspectives into science lessons, but plant growth and development can offer a whole host of opportunities for making
these rich and meaningful connections. In this article
we’ll explore the cultural beliefs of Asian Indians, based
on Hinduism, about plant growth. Data from migration
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Science and Children
records indicate that
since the 1970s, a substantial number of immigrants to the United States came
from India, and this number increased to 1.6 million by
2008, making Indians the third largest immigrant group
in the United States (Terrazas and Batog 2010). This increase in the number of immigrants from India has implications for the changing composition of our classrooms
with first- and second-generation Asian Indian children
enrolling in school systems across the United States. We
conclude the article with some suggestions for incorporating cultural beliefs into science lessons on plant growth at
the early elementary level.
Teaching Children About Plant
Growth
In nearly every elementary school, plants are an important
part of the science curriculum. For example, students learn
about interdependence, such as how plants need water and
light (see Internet Resources). Understanding basic ideas
about plants prepares children to study more complicated
scientific concepts including cell biology, genetics and heredity, complex ecosystem interactions, and evolution. It is
especially important that teachers of children at the early
elementary level teach children about plants to address
their common misconceptions. Ideas ranging from whether or not plants are living to whether or not they need food
are quite common among children (Barman et al. 2006).
Thus, it is critical that ideas around plant growth and development are taught in a meaningful way.
One strategy for teaching plants, or any other scientific
topic, in a way that encourages sense-making and deep
learning in children is to connect learning to children’s
cultures. On page 284 of A Framework for K–12 Science
Education, the authors suggest:
Teachers pursuing a culturally responsive approach
to instruction will need to understand the sense-making
practices of the particular communities, the science-related values that reside in them, and the historical rela-
tionship that exists between
community and local institutions of education. Instruction can then be crafted to
reflect these cultural particu- Keywords: How do plants grow?
www.scilinks.org
lars and engage students in
Enter code: SC091303
related disciplinary practices
and associated learning (NRC 2012).
These authors go on to suggest that when students
make connections between culturally based stories and
scientific ideas, they develop more sophisticated understandings of the world around them (NRC 2012). These
ideas are echoed in Appendix D of the Next Generation
Science Standards (Achieve Inc. 2013), describing strategies for addressing all the science standards for all students. Literature in the field of culturally responsive
teaching indicates that there are many benefits of incorporating children’s culture within the classroom and curriculum. On a very basic level, when the school’s curriculum
incorporates the students’ backgrounds and cultures, it
sends a message to the students that their cultural practices are valued and acknowledged (Gay 2000). In addition, culturally responsive teaching leads to the students’
increased engagement, continuity between home-school
experiences and gains in academic achievement, especially
reading and writing (Gay 2000).
Cultural Beliefs About Plant
Growth
As previously mentioned, the number of immigrants from
India has been increasing over the years. The majority of
Asian Indians within the United States identified themselves as Hindus. Therefore, it becomes necessary to understand the beliefs in Hinduism about science, especially
about plant growth, as these might be part of the home experiences of many of the Asian Indian students and therefore part of the prior knowledge that the students bring
into their science learning (see “Hindu Beliefs,” p. 68).
Suggestions for Enhancing
Science Teaching Practices
The Hindu beliefs described on the following page are
just one of the many messages about plants that students
might hear at home and which might influence their prior
knowledge and beliefs about plants. In A Framework for
K–12 Science Education, the authors note, “a culturally
responsive approach to science instruction involves the
recognition of community practices and knowledge as being central to the scientific endeavor” (NRC 2012, p. 285).
As teachers, becoming aware of our students’ prior knowl-
September 2013
67
edge and beliefs becomes essential in making the science
lessons culturally responsive. Given below are some specific ways in which cultural beliefs can be incorporated
into science lessons about plants.
• Send parents or families a questionnaire or electronic
survey about plants prior to the beginning of the plant
unit. See NSTA Connection for a sample survey. Use
this information to structure whole-class
discussions comparing cultural and scientific beliefs
throughout the unit. For example, the teacher could
summarize the parent responses for the students
before beginning a class discussion about prior
knowledge to make the students aware of the variety
of cultural beliefs held by their classmates.
• Set up a culturally responsive driving question board
in the classroom. Write the question, “How do plants
grow?” on the center of large poster board, and divide
the rest of the board into two portions: scientific ideas
Hindu Beliefs
Contrary to the popular belief, Hinduism is not a
name of a particular religion. Rather, it is a way of
life or ideology. Within Hinduism, there are main
scriptures and texts that guide the ideology, daily
practices, and views about life. The oldest and the
most revered are the Vedas, which contain narratives
about the highest truth. There are four Vedas, and
each consists of various subtexts that include science
as systematic way of teaching. The Upanishads are
the texts that were derived from the Vedas and focus
on big ideas. The Upanishads describe the world as
made of five elements (earth, water, light, air, and
ether) and that the soul resides not just in humans
but also in all aspects of nature including animals and
plants (Klostermaier 2003). Therefore, the universe
is viewed as a living organism in which all living
things are considered sacred because they are part
of divinity—a manifestation of the ultimate reality.
Different rituals within the Hindu forms of worship
focus on acknowledging and celebrating nature and
its elements such as trees, plants, flowers, fruits, rivers,
mountains, and animals. Evidence of the importance of
these natural elements was found in the excavation of
the Indus Valley Civilization. For example, seals found
in the remains depicted trees, water, and other goddess
figures in a relationship with each other. “Some seals
seemed to depict Earth as mother giving birth to a tree
and contains scenes composed of animals, trees, and
human beings” (James 2009, p. 487).
There are three main sources in which the
importance of the environment is depicted. The first
source can be found in the ancient stories that are
part of Hindu mythology. In many of these stories
various forms of life, including animals and plants,
sometimes represent divinity or have been associated
with different deities. For example, each of the deities
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Science and Children
has his or her own favorite flower or fruit. Various
specific trees, plants, fruits, and flowers associated
with certain deities are protected from harm, especially
those that were considered to have multiple uses and
medicinal value. A second source of the importance of
the environment is from a sub-Veda found within the
main Vedas. Within this subtext, clear descriptions are
included about sanctions and fines for abusing nature,
including trees, plants, fruits, flowers, and forests. These
sanctions and fines depict how various natural elements
were to be protected (James 2009). The third source of
the importance of the environment, is another subtext
derived from one of the Vedas, and is dedicated to
the science of medicine. In this text, the need for good
health is listed as a prerequisite for spiritual growth and
focuses on prevention and treatment of diseases and
illness, with the use of herbal remedies based on variety
of medicinal properties of different plants (Klostermaier
2003). In addition to the three sources described
above, the two main mythological texts of Hinduism,
the Ramayana and Mahabharata, also mention the
need for preserving ecological balance by sanctioning
deforestation and encouraging planting of trees.
Therefore, keeping with the Hindu tradition,
the knowledge and importance of natural elements
(specifically about trees, plants, and their parts—leaves,
fruits, flowers) was passed down to future generations
through stories from mythology. In a nutshell, in order
to prevent abuse and neglect of nature, these stories
typically depicted plants in three ways: one, as being
sacred because of their association with certain
“deities,” secondly being personified and having humanlike qualities, or as having explicitly identified for its
medicinal qualities. Thus, plants, their parts, and their
growth are critically important cultural beliefs from a
Hindu perspective.
What Does Culture Have To Do With Teaching Science?
and folkbiology. Allow students, parents, and teachers
alike to add responses on both sides. Use these
responses to drive instructional strategies moving
forward. For example, a parent response of, “plants
grow toward the Sun,” might help the students to set
up a simple classroom investigation placing plants in
various locations throughout the classroom to observe
which ways plants grow.
• Collect stories from parents and the library about
folkbiology about plants and plant life and use these
to create science content literacy connections. See
Resources for a selection of books that address plants
and culture.
• Invite parents and specialists from the community
to share information about plant-based health and
healing practices and discuss and compare with other
practices.
• Use interactive science notebooks. Ask students to
take their notebooks home, and invite parents to share
their ideas with their children using the notebook
entries. For example, the parents could write the
names of the plants in their local languages. These
ideas can then be added into a science word wall or
driving question board.
When teachers engage in the strategies described
above, their students are able to see some clear connections
between cultural and scientific beliefs. For example, if a
teacher referred to a culturally responsive driving question
board or interactive science notebook entries, she could
help her students to explore the overlap between Hindu
and traditional western scientific beliefs. Understanding the similarities and differences in these belief systems
helps students develop rich and nuanced foundational
knowledge on plants and prepare him to make conceptual
connections between ideas and disciplines. Culturally responsive science teaching is not limited to Hindu beliefs
or plant growth. A few other examples of topics and belief
systems include incorporating Chinese medicine beliefs
into science teaching about pathogens or including Native
American agricultural calendars when teaching about astronomy. This type of instruction helps students connect
culture to science and allows teachers to focus on teaching for conceptual change. In the second-grade class we
described at the beginning of this article, the teacher was
unable to respond to her student in a culturally responsive
way; she simply acknowledged his response and moved
on. Incorporating the use of the suggested strategies
would not require expertise in Hindu folkbiology. Rather,
they could allow her to capitalize on the teachable moment
and incorporate a culturally inclusive element to her science teaching. Using these strategies can enhance science
teaching by sharing with students that are many sources
of knowledge and expertise that should be valued and appreciated in the classroom. n
Lauren Madden ([email protected]) is an assistant
professor and Arti Joshi is an associate professor in the
Elementary and Early Childhood Education Department at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, New Jersey.
References
Achieve Inc. 2013. Next generation science standards. www.
nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards.
Barman, C., R.M. Stein, S. McNair, and N.S. Barman. 2006.
Students’ ideas about plants and plant growth. The
American Biology Teacher 68 (2): 73–79.
Gay, G. 2000. Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research,
and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
James, G.A. 2009. Hinduism. In Encyclopedia of environmental
ethics and philosophy: Vol.1, eds. J. Baird Callicot and R.
Frodeman, pp. 485–490. Detroit: Macmillan.
Klostermaier, K. 2003. Hinduism, history of science and religion.
In Encyclopedia of science and religion: Vol.1, eds. J. Wentzel
Vrede van Huyssteen, pp.405–410. New York: MacMillan.
National Research Council (NRC). (2012). A framework for K–12
science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core
ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Terrazas, A., and C. Batog. 2010. Indian immigrants in the
United States. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
Internet Resource
NGSS Table: 2-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and
Dynamics
www.nextgenscience.org/2ls2-ecosystems-interactionsenergy-dynamics
Resources
Sachdev, D. 2009. India land, life, and culture: Plants and
agriculture. New York: Macmillan.
Sertori, T. 2007. Indonesia land, life and culture: Plants. New
York: Macmillan.
Tidey, J. 2007. China land life and culture: Plants. New York:
Macmillan.
NSTA Connection
For a sample plant survey, see www.nsta.org/
SC1309.
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