Nalini Nadkarni - Tree Canopy Science & Conservation | ARTrageous Online
Salt Lake biologist Nalini Nadkarni shares her personal journey of becoming a treetop canopy biologist. At a young age she faced a career crossroads. Her decision led her out of Paris and deep into the tropical rain forests. In this unit, Nalini reflects on how she makes big decisions, when to take the leap, and how she found her life's work, up in the treetops, the vantage point where she sees the world, big and small.
Topics: Storytelling in Science Communication, The Art of Our Life Journey
Class: English, Social Studies, Library Media, Art, Film Study
Grades: 7-12 | Time: 3.5 Hours
Platform: Online Learning Management System (LMS) with synchronous learning option (e.g., Zoom, Google Classroom)
Tech Tools: Internet, Google Sheets or Excel
Quick Links
Watch Nalini Nadkarni on YouTube
CURRICULUM MAP: Includes Core Standards and Learning Intentions
Part I: Finding My Identity
Part II: Innovative Conservation
Part III: Career Pathways
Part IV: A Day in the Life
Introduction
Salt Lake biologist Nalini Nadkarni is a conservationist who seeks to establish common ground based on shared values with people from all walks of life. In the video presentation for this module, she shares her innovative strategies that allowed her to communicate and connect with individuals with differing values, to raise awareness and concern for trees.
Salt Lake biologist Nalini Nadkarni takes students on a personal journey into how she became a treetop canopy biologist and the how and why behind her work. Through her firsthand account, we learn that at a young age she faced a crossroads. Her decision led her out of Paris and deep into the tropical rain forests. Reflecting back on negotiating hard decisions and where that has led her in work and life, Nalini let’s us inside, up and into the canopy, the vantage point where she sees the world, big and small.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead
What’s included in the course?
Module 1
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Essential Questions
What motivates people to make a positive change in the world?
How do people find connections with individuals who live and think differently than them?
How can storytelling build trust and empathy?
Learning Objectives – In this Module, students will:
Identify and describe an important social issue that motivates them to act toward positive change in the world.
Generate a list of approaches for raising awareness around a particular issue.
Listen for and present details about how a biologist connects with people to raise awareness about trees.
Facilitate a discussion with peers that aims to find common ground on an important social issue.
Articulate the role of storytelling in building trust and promoting action for change.
Create a short film that relies on storytelling to provide knowledge, raise awareness, and promote action toward positive change.
Learning Outline
This module is on the Innovative Conservation video presentation by Nalini Nadkarni. It can be used as a whole learning experience, or in chosen sections as time allows.
25 minutes: Launch Activity– Finding Connections to Promote Action for Change
10 minutes: While Viewing– Making Connections that Promote Awareness and Interest (Part 1 of 2)
15 minutes: Post-Viewing– Making Connections that Promote Awareness and Interest (Part 2 of 2)
30 minutes: Demonstration– Storytelling for Change
40+ minutes: Making Connections–Creating Film to Create Connection
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Supplies for Pre-Viewing, Viewing, and Post-Viewing Activities
Video 1 - A Tale of Two Outcomes
Video 2 - Youth Sound the Climate Alarm
Supplies for Story Activity:
Low Tech Activity: Butcher paper or poster board, markers, magazines
High Tech Activity: Internet access and online tools: Padlet & Adobe Express
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Launch Activity–Pre-Viewing: Finding Connections to Promote Action for Change
[25 min]
[Learning Objectives 1, 2]
Procedures:
Hook: Tell students about a cause you feel passionate about and how you have found ways to take action toward positive change related to that issue (e.g., girls education → donating to a particular organization; homeless pet populations → fostering dogs; immigration reform → writing letters to policymakers and leaders, etc.)
Acknowledge that not everyone is motivated to action by the same causes. We each have unique passions.
Think-Pair-Share: What matters to you?
Think: Give students 3 minutes to free write on something that matters to them and how they do or could be agents of positive change around this issue.
Pair: Put students into pairs and let them discuss their ideas for 5 minutes. Ask them to jot a list of ways they can promote change to share with the whole class.
Share: When the class comes together, invite volunteers to share their ideas and get feedback from others. You might invite a few class ‘scribes’ to compile ideas in a Google doc so everyone has a record.
Discuss: In our class there are so many different passions and causes that motivate each of you. Some movements for change require momentum and collective involvement - like fighting for climate justice. How might you raise awareness about the causes you are focused on, and inspire others to be involved as agents of change around the issue?
Introduce the video
Tell the students they are going to listen to parts of an interview with Salt Lake Biologist Nalini Nadkarni. If this is their first introduction to Nalini, read the brief blurb about her at the start of this unit. Nalini discusses ways that she finds connection with people from all walks of life to create interest for her passion - which is saving trees and forests of the world.
While Viewing: Making Connections that Promote Awareness and Interest
[10 min]
[Learning Objective 3]
Procedures:
Jigsaw Activity: Opportunity for Peer Instruction [Part 1 of 2]
Divide students into 4 groups. Each group will be assigned one short clip from the interview with a focus on a particular connection point that Nalini found: religion, music, toys, and prisoner education.
Segment 1: 0:00-6:05
Segment 2: 6:05-8:33
Segment 3: 8:33- 11:27
Segment 4: 11:27- 15:25
Tell students: As you watch your clip, reflect on the following questions. Jot your ideas in a Google doc that you will use to share with peers outside your group:
Who was Nalini trying to connect with?
How did she tap into the interests of that particular group?
What is the potential impact on trees and forests because of her approach?
Post-Viewing: Making Connections that Promote Awareness and Interest
[15 min]
[Learning Objective 3]
Jigsaw Activity: Opportunity for Peer Instruction [Part 2 of 2]
Option 1 - Reorganize students into new groups so that there is one representative from each original group. Each group member shares what they learned from their segment of the interview.
Option 2 - Bring all students back together to discuss as a class. Invite one volunteer from each group to share what their group learned from their segment of the interview.
Discuss: Which of Nalini’s ways of connecting with individuals surprised you?
Application: Making Connections through Dialogic Interaction
[30 min]
[Learning Objective 4]
Procedures:
Role Play: Put students in groups of 3-4 with people who have different primary passions (e.g. alternative energy, deforestation, animal rights, immigration, etc.). In their groups, have each person present their particular area of interest. The aim is to find connections and intersections in perhaps unlikely places. (An example is how field ecologist Nalini found connection with religious people, whose first priority wasn’t trees. She found common ground through highlighting and discussing with them the multiple references to trees in their sacred texts (Bible, Torah, Book of Mormon, etc. ))
Debrief: Invite groups to share the connections they uncovered. Ask them to reflect: How can we apply this to a broader audience? How can you engage members of the local community around your interest area? Time to get creative!
Demonstration: Storytelling for Change
[30 min]
[Learning Objective 5]
Procedures:
Tell the students: Our Arts Integration Project today will be a short filmmaking & storytelling task, aimed to raise awareness about an issue we care deeply about. Before we start planning our short films, we are going to view two examples.
Brainstorm: Either as a class or in breakout rooms, ask students to reflect on this question: How and why do stories help to build connection?
Key Points: Good stories build trust and familiarity; they allow listeners to enter the story through their own experience; they foster connection; they engage; listeners can interpret them in various ways so they can have multiple meanings. Stories can have a universal quality -- regardless of culture or language, you can find a way to relate.
Reminder: Nalini found connections with people through narratives in holy books, and music. She also developed counternarratives about girls and prisoners, challenging commonly held assumptions about each population.
Introduce two short films: Let’s consider the following two short videos. One was made by a group of high school students. The other consists of interviews with students around the world. As you view them, take notes on the following:
How do the filmmakers get the attention of the viewer?
What is the impact on you as a viewer? What are you feeling as you watch?
How do you connect with the stories?
What might be “universal” about this story? Something every person can relate to (family, making a living, tradition, appreciation for artistry)
Video 2 - Youth Sound the Climate Alarm
Discuss their responses to the above questions.
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Creating Film to Create Connection
[40+ min]
[Learning Objective 6]
Procedures:
Put students into small groups of 3-4 based on shared interests in a particular issue that they will address in their short film.
Creating a Storyboard (20 minutes)
High Tech Modality: Students will use Padlet to generate ideas for their short films. [Padlet is an online collaboration tool that allows synchronous and asynchronous brainstorming.]
Tell students that their videos should only be 3-4 minutes long.
In the Padlet platform, ask them to select the canvas template to generate ideas for their short film. With the canvas template they can post ideas and rearrange them to find flow for their narrative.
Padlet allows them to include text, links, images, drawings, voice memos, and more. Once they have a collection of ideas, they can sort them and prepare to start building their short film.
Low Tech Modality: As above, only students will use poster board to draw ideas for an oral presentation to peers.
Creating the Films (20 minutes or complete out of class)
High Tech Modality: Students will use Adobe Express to create their short films. [Adobe Express is a free tool for making films with images, video clips, voice over, and music.] It is easy to use. Watch this brief tutorial and/or read these guidelines for teachers. *Recommended: Make your own short film as a model for students of what is expected. This will also help you be prepared to help them navigate the program.
Low Tech Modality: As above, only students will create a compelling story using visuals (drawings, collage from magazine images).
Showcasing the Films
Option 1 - Asynchronous: Use Padlet to showcase students’ videos using the Shelf Template. Students’ names are the header of each column with their video linked below. Peers can view outside of class and post written or oral responses to peers’ videos. (Low Tech Option - Students can add pictures of their posters to Padlet.)
Option 2 - Synchronous: Create time in class to show each film and allow peers to share reactions and reflections. (Low Tech Option - Students present their poster/visual stories orally to peers in class.)
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Invite students to “dig deeper” on these topics by providing additional options for research and reflection about the power of storytelling to build connections and compel people to action.
Try-it-Out: Have students try their stories on friends and family members. Tell them to keep a journal about the impact of their stories on the listeners. Did stories lead to deeper conversations? Are people compelled to do something? What did you learn about yourself in the process of sharing your stories and ideas?
Exploring the Power and Impact of Storytelling:
Blog Posts
Why Stories Matter - a post about the role of stories in helping us find our place in the world, take the perspective others, build connection, and more.
TED Talks
The Magical Science of Storytelling - Presentations expert David JP Phillips shares key neurological findings on storytelling
How words change minds: The science of storytelling - Nat Kendall-Taylor, PhD, explores how people think about social issues and how advocates, experts, and strategic communications professionals can use an understanding of culture, storytelling, and science to communicate about social and scientific issues, shape policy, and lead change.
Report
How Stories Connect and Persuade Us: Unleashing the Brain Power of Narrative - This health report highlights the various processes and activities taking place in the brain as we engage with stories.
Your Brain on Storytelling - Liz Neeley is the Executive Director of Story Collider, a nonprofit focused on telling "true, personal stories about science." She speaks to the role of storytelling in science communication.
Websites
The Story Collider: True, Personal Stories about Science - A collection of stories about science that bring it to life and make it accessible to many.
Green Card Voices: This website shares stories by immigrants, not about them. The aim is to center the storyteller and stay true to the authenticity of their narrative, sharing these stories in a variety of mediums to effectively engage broad audiences, foster cultural awareness of the immigrant experience, build empathy that is critical to cross-cultural awareness, and generate a breakthrough in how immigrants are perceived, integrated, and included.
Film
The Story of Young Wadley in Haiti - Written by Edwidge Danticat and voiced by Cate Blanchet, Wadley's chapter is one of nine remarkable stories from the Girl Rising film. Wadley is just seven years old when the world comes crashing down around her. Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake destroys her home and school, but it cannot break her irrepressible spirit nor extinguish her thirst to learn.
Module 2
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Essential Questions
How many paths are there for one’s life journey?
What are some of the important decisions that people make throughout their lives?
What are some strategies for making big decisions in life?
Learning Objectives – In this Module, students will:
Identify and reflect upon critical decisions they've made in their lives so far;
Listen for details about an individual's decision-making process.
Generate questions that seek additional information based on details from a text.
Create metaphors that symbolize the journey of life.
Design a visual representation of the journey of life depicted by a river.
Learning Outline
This 2 -hr module is on the Career Pathways and Making Big Decisions video presentation by Nalini Nadkarni. It can be used as a whole learning experience, or in chosen sections as time allows:
35 minutes: Launch Activity– Crossroads in the Journey of Life
15 minutes: While Viewing– Listening for Details
20 minutes: Post-Viewing– Interview Simulation - Taking Perspective
20 minutes: Demonstration– Metaphors for Life
30 minutes: Making Connections– Arts Integration Project - The River of Life
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Supplies for Pre-Viewing, Viewing, and Post-Viewing Activities:
Oh! The Places You’ll Go (5:53 min)
Supplies for River of Life Activity:
Low Tech Activity: Butcher paper or poster board, markers
High Tech Activity: Internet access; online tools - Microsoft Whiteboard, Ziteboard, Kleki
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Launch Activity–Pre-Viewing: Crossroads in the Journey of Life
[35min]
[Learning Objective 1]
Procedures:
Hook: Tell students about your life path in terms of big decisions you made along the way to lead you here (e.g., deciding to be on a sports team, selecting a college, choosing a major, accepting or declining a job offer, landing in a teaching career). Focus on any difficult or critical choices you had to make.
Ask a teaser question: Do any of you know exactly where you’ll be when you’re 25, 45, 65?
Show this animated reading of the well-known Dr. Seuss story Oh! The Places You’ll Go.
Reflecting on Decisions: Create a series of virtual whiteboards for brainstorming using Microsoft Whiteboard. (select 'blank canvas') or choose another whiteboard option listed under materials.
Label each whiteboard with topics related to the video [Sample to view], such as the following:
Crossroad decisions you’ve made in life so far
Your process for making a big decisions
Decisions you’ve made that led to disappointment
How you rebounded after being in a slump
How you make decisions when the options are difficult
Times you’ve had to be patient and wait a long time for a result
Future decisions you’ll have to make soon
Optional: Assign an ‘organizer’ to each whiteboard who will move peers’ ideas into clusters of similar ideas. Ask these individuals to share highlights from each page. Are there themes within the overarching ideas?
Share the introductory blurb about Nalini with students. Tell them: We are now going to listen to Nalini Nadkarni as she tells us about certain crossroads in her life and how she came to make the ultimate decision that led her on a path to becoming a well-known treetop canopy biologist and conservationist.
While Viewing: Listening for Details
[15 min]
[Learning Objective 2]
Procedures:
Pass out the Crossroads T-Chart handout to each student. On the left side of the 'T' they will write details they hear about Nalini's first life path choice (modern dance). On the right side of the 'T' they will write details they hear about Nalini's second life path choice (field biology).
Below their T-chart, have them write 3 questions they would like to ask Nalini about her experiences and life choices.
Post-Viewing: Interview Simulation: Taking Perspective
[20 min]
[Learning Objective 3]
Procedures:
Interview Simulation:
Pair Task: Pair students and ask them to take turns assuming the role of the interviewer and Nalini. In the role of the interviewer, have them ask the three probing questions they generated based on the details of Nalini’s interview. In the role of Nalini, they can try to respond from her perspective.
Whole Class Discussion: Share different questions and responses from the interview simulations. Did any of their peers' responses impress or surprise them?
Connecting to the Whiteboard: Did anyone have a similar decision-making strategy to Nalini? (Elicit examples.) What other strategies are represented in this class? Would Nalini’s approach -- trying both paths for a year -- work for any of your future decisions?
Demonstration: Metaphors for Life
[20 min]
[Learning Objective 4, 5]
Procedures:
Invite students to think of metaphors that best symbolize the journey of life with its many unexpected twists and turns. (Sample responses might include a hiking trail, a windy road, or even a busy market. There are no right or wrong answers.) Invite students to write their ideas in the chat. Select a few students to elaborate on their ideas.
Introduce the idea of the River of Life. Ask: How can a river symbolize our life? Think of the source of the river as your birth. What features of the river might represent hard times (turbulent, muddy water; whirlpools, rapids)? Peaceful times (gently flowing sections, small pools along the side)? What features might represent obstacles along the way (boulders, downed trees, waterfalls)? What could the tributaries symbolize (major influences in life - people, gifts, opportunities)?
Optional: Have students google 'science vocabulary related to rivers.' Encourage students to use these terms as they create their River of Life visuals. They might also find inspiration from viewing satellite images of various rivers around the world.
Modeling the River of Life: As a class, use the whiteboard of choice to draw a river that captures some of the choices, opportunities, influencers, and decisions that impacted Nalini’s life.
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The River of Life
[30 min]
[Learning Objective 5 ]
Procedures:
Introduce the Personal River of Life Activity. Tell students they will create a personal river that includes only the events or situations in their life that they feel comfortable sharing with the group.
Getting started: Tell students to sit quietly (with eyes closed if comfortable) while you guide them through a reflection on their life from the source (birth) until the present day. Invite them to think about the obstacles, tributaries, rough waters, peaceful waters, etc. along the way. Remind them that streams that feed into the river could represent people along the way, skills they developed, lessons learned, etc.
Next, ask each student to use either an online tool (e.g., Microsoft Whiteboard, Ziteboard, Kleki) or paper and art supplies to draw the journey of their life in the form of a river. Give them 15 minutes to work independently.
*Note: We have provided a sample River of Life to present to students as a model.
When everyone is ready, mix them into breakout rooms with 3-4 people. Let them choose the level of detail they share about their life journey as represented by the river. Tell students they can ask follow-up questions, but that the creator of each river need only respond if comfortable.
*Optional: As the teacher, you might share your river with the entire class to model how they can share their life journey.
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Invite students to “dig deeper” on these topics by providing additional options for research and reflection about rivers, both as extended metaphors for life and as integral partners in our journey.
Try-it-Out: Invite students to create a River of Life with their family. As they work together collaboratively, they will likely experience different interpretations of life events that impacted their family. They may learn more about one another’s perspectives on their path from source to the present. As an extension, they can extend their river into the future -- what do they want to see for their family as the river flows past the present moment.
Writing Assignment: Have students re-present the text (river visual) into a narrative about their journey down the river and how they navigated and celebrated the various encounters along the way.
More than a Metaphor -- Deepening our Understanding about Rivers on Earth
TED Talks
What Rivers Can Tell Us about the Earth’s History: Rivers are one of nature's most powerful forces -- they bulldoze mountains and carve up the earth, and their courses are constantly moving. In this visual-packed talk, geoscientist Liz Hajek shows us how rocks deposited by ancient rivers can be used as a time machine to study the history of the earth, so we can figure out how to more sustainably live on it today.
Why Lakes and Rivers Should Have the Same Rights as Humans: Water is essential to life. Yet in the eyes of the law, it remains largely unprotected -- leaving many communities without access to safe drinking water, says legal scholar Kelsey Leonard. In this powerful talk, she shows why granting lakes and rivers legal "personhood" -- giving them the same legal rights as humans -- is the first step to protecting our bodies of water and fundamentally transforming how we value this vital resource.
Websites
River Symbolism in Storytelling - This blog for writers uncovers the many ways rivers have served as important symbolic elements in stories across time and ages.
Rivers around the World - This website provides satellite images of rivers around the world with geographic information and a discussion of prominent features.
Film
Colorado: Running near Empty - Photographer Peter McBride travels along the Colorado River from its source high in the Rocky Mountains to its historic mouth at the Sea of Cortez. In this Yale Environment 360 video, he follows the natural course of the Colorado by raft, on foot, and overhead in a small plane, telling the story of a river whose water is siphoned off at every turn, leaving it high and dry 80 miles from the sea.