Dance Lesson: Connecting with Nature
Lesson Plan
2 hours 10 minutesGrades9, 10, 11, 12Visual and Performing Arts
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Written by Diandra Jones
About this lesson
In this lesson, students choreograph a dance that honors their natural environment and inspires sustainable living.
Step 1 - Inquire: Students discuss the various functions of dance in society.
Step 2 - Investigate: Students explore ways in which dance can help people reconnect with nature and live more sustainably.
Step 3 - Inspire: Students observe their natural environment closely, reflect on the impact of climate change, and create a dance to honor and reconnect with nature.
Preview the lesson plan
Better on a bigger screen? Open it in its own tab.View Lesson Plan
Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Positives
- This lesson aligns with Hawai'i's Nā Hopena A'o HĀ-BREATH Framework.
- Uninterrupted time spent outdoors in the presence of nature, in quiet observation, helps to cultivate a reconnection to nature.
- Students employ the often underutilized medium of dance to connect with nature and impart the importance of nature, ultimately enjoying an experience that is impactful and memorable.
- Students learn about Indigenous cultures and pay homage to ancestral knowledge.
- Students are granted creative freedom and can utilize their own musical, poetic, and choreographic skills to explore an important issue.
- Students walk away with a heightened sense of our dependency upon nature, our indebtedness to nature, and our responsibility to live harmoniously with nature in order to combat climate change.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should have a basic understanding of climate change. Students can use this link from the State of Hawai‘i to learn about local impacts prior to the lesson.
- Teachers need a classroom device and a connection to the Internet to view the videos and conduct any research.
- Teacher may need to identify outdoor spaces around the school for students to use.
- If assigned for homework, students may require transportation to visit specific local natural sites. Teacher may need to ensure accessibility to these sites for all students in advance.
Differentiation
- If live performances outdoors are not an option, students may make a video of their performances and use videographic techniques to convey the beauty of the space.
- Students can read the article What Can Dance Teach Us About Our Relationship with Nature to further explore how dance in and about nature can lead to a more environmentally-conscious mindset.
- Students can explore these resources to learn how climate change is directly affecting Dayak and Native American people:
From the scientist review
Students can learn how to choreograph in this lesson and utilize dance to communicate with the natural world. It highlights the inventiveness, feelings, subtleties, ancestry, cultural identity, and excitement that go along with traditional dancing and aims to evoke ancestors' memories of protecting the environment while inspiring the Indigenous peoples of Hawai'i today to be good stewards of their surroundings and live in harmony with nature. All the materials were fact-checked, and the lesson passed our science review.
Want this to fit your class?
Add your location for local examples, questions, and action ideas.
About the teacher writer
Diandra Jones
Teacher
Diandra Jones is an educator, interdisciplinary artist, and author with 23 years of teaching experience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education and English Literature from Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago. Since beginning her teaching career in 2003, Diandra has taught Dance, English, Visual and Performing Arts, and Physical Education to students in grades 6–12 and adult learners across the United States, West Africa, and the Caribbean. She is also the author of Irma Was Here, inspired by her experience surviving the eye of Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands in 2017. Through her work as an educator, artist, and writer, Diandra empowers learners of all ages to explore creativity, resilience, and the power of storytelling across disciplines.
