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Making Rose Hip Tea from Scratch: A Math Activity

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, September/October 2021 Issue

By Amber Hartwell

École KLO Middle School, where I have been the teacher-librarian for two years, is situated on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) People. The students at KLO have diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and many struggle with academics, particularly our Indigenous learners.

My colleagues and I are always collaborating and looking for ways to foster a desire for learning and to increase student engagement, while also providing opportunities for Indigenous students to learn alongside our school advocates and Elders. Often the best ideas are right in front of us, and that was certainly true for myself and my colleague Pam Horton, who teaches Grade 9 math.

KLO school is fortunate to have access to a local creek, part of which used to run through a culvert underneath the sports field. In 2011, the long jump pits were discovered to be a nesting ground for western painted turtles, an endangered species. To help support the turtles’ habitat, a local campaign was launched to revitalize the section of the creek that crossed school property and return it to its natural state. Many of our students participated in the project, helping to clear the creek bed of debris. After the area was cleaned, local biologists and Indigenous leaders helped the school plant appropriate vegetation for the creek system.

Our school had always intended to build upon the creek revitalization experience to further student engagement. One day last autumn, Pam happened upon the perfect learning opportunity, when she caught students picking and throwing rose hips at each other down by the creek. (Wild rose was one of the main plants that was integrated during the creek’s restoration; rose hips are the fruits that grow from them once all the rose petals have bloomed and fallen off.)

After Pam explained rose hips were edible and could be harvested, like typical grade nines, the students tried to eat the fruit. Searching for a positive way to stop this behaviour, she came to me with an idea of harvesting the fruits for their intended use—to make tea. Thus, a collaboration was born between the two of us.

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Amber Hartwell specializes in the field of Educational Technology and currently works as a teacher-librarian for Central Okanagan Public Schools. She is completing her EdD in Learning Sciences with the University of Calgary, where she also works as a research assistant and sessional instructor.

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Amber Hartwell
Amber Hartwell
Amber Hartwell specializes in the field of Educational Technology and currently works as a teacher-librarian for Central Okanagan Public Schools. She is completing her EdD in Learning Sciences with the University of Calgary, where she also works as a research assistant and sessional instructor.

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