First Peoples Knowledge: Interconnectedness and Sustainability of Systems
First Peoples perspectives on interconnectedness and sustainability, the First Peoples Principles of Learning, traditional ecological knowledge, and place-based inquiry.
🎯 By the end of this lesson
- Students should be able to explain what interconnectedness means from local to global scales using an example.
- Students should be able to state several First Peoples Principles of Learning and relate them to the study of systems.
- Students should be able to define traditional ecological knowledge and explain how it is passed on.
- Students should be able to describe reciprocity and relate it to sustainable use of resources.
- Students should be able to explain the curriculum ideas of ways of knowing and place.
- Students should be able to describe respectful practices for learning about First Peoples knowledge, including asking permission and avoiding generalizing.
- Students should be able to compare a systems idea in science with a related idea in published First Peoples resources, noting differences.
- Students should be able to plan a place-based inquiry that uses more than one source of evidence.
1Another way of seeing the whole system
People have lived in the lands now called British Columbia for a very long time, and First Peoples have built deep knowledge of the places they live: the plants, animals, waters, weather and seasons, and how all of these fit together. That knowledge is passed down through language, stories, practice and teaching by Elders and knowledge keepers. It is not one single body of knowledge: it differs from Nation to Nation and place to place.
The BC curriculum includes First Peoples knowledge as part of Science 9 content, in the form of two ideas: interconnectedness (everything is connected, from local to global) and First Peoples perspectives on the sustainability of systems. A sample inquiry question in the curriculum asks how First Peoples view the cycling of matter and energy.
The idea that everything is connected is central to the systems approach in science, and it is also central to First Peoples worldviews. Learning about both helps in understanding how people can live in balance with the places they depend on.
This lesson is a student-level introduction written from published educational resources. It cannot speak for any Nation. Knowledge belongs to communities, and the best sources for learning about a specific place are the local First Nations, their Elders and knowledge keepers, and the resources they approve. The First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) points out the same thing: its guides are a starting point and are meant to be used together with locally developed resources.
2What the curriculum says
The Science 9 content item states that the topic covers the interconnectedness of everything from local to global scales, and First Peoples perspectives on the sustainability of systems. The curricular competencies add three ideas that shape how this content is approached.
| Idea | Meaning in the curriculum |
|---|---|
| Ways of knowing | Beliefs about the nature of knowledge, including Aboriginal, cultural, embodied, intuitive and discipline-specific views. Local knowledge is also a valid source of information. |
| Place | Any environment or context that people interact with to learn, form memories, connect with culture and establish identity. Place is foundational to First Peoples perspectives. Key questions ask how place shapes the design of an inquiry, the evidence collected, the evaluation and the communication. |
| Interactions | Direct and indirect connections among the parts of a system, such as the interactions among Earth's four spheres. |
3The First Peoples Principles of Learning
FNESC publishes the First Peoples Principles of Learning, which reflect common elements across many First Nations approaches to learning. They do not fully capture the practice of any single First Peoples society. Several of them connect closely to the study of systems and sustainability.
| Principle (paraphrased) | Connection to this strand |
|---|---|
| Learning supports the well-being of the self, family, community, land, spirits and ancestors. | The concern for well-being extends beyond people to the land and to past and future generations. |
| Learning is holistic, reflective, experiential and relational, with a focus on connectedness, reciprocal relationships and a sense of place. | Interconnectedness and place are central. |
| Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one's actions. | Matches the idea of tracing direct and indirect effects. |
| Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities. | Links the present to the past and future in caring for a place. |
| Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge. | Indigenous knowledge is a legitimate way of knowing in science education. |
| Learning involves recognizing the role of memory, history and story. | Knowledge about the land is carried in oral histories and stories. |
| Learning requires exploration of one's identity. | People learn about themselves as they learn about place. |
| Learning takes patience and time. | Understanding systems takes long observation. |
| Some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission. | Not all knowledge is public, and permission matters. |
4Interconnectedness: all of the parts are related
An open guide to Indigenous teaching resources explains that First Peoples traditions present all living things, humans included, as linked to nature and deserving of respect and care. Indigenous practices recognize that species depend on one another, and they help to maintain balance. Relationships with the land are described as emotional and spiritual as well as practical, forming a strong bond with the Earth. Knowledge of the land has been passed down over generations and has helped communities to endure.
This worldview treats the world as a network of relationships, not as separate objects. The science strand has reached a similar structure by a different route: the four spheres exchange matter and energy, food webs link organisms, and cycles carry atoms through air, water, rock and life.
Think about a single salmon-bearing stream. Using the idea of interconnectedness, list some of the connections at different scales.
- Local: the surrounding forest, the water in the stream and the people who use it may all be linked, and each link can be investigated.
- Regional: salmon have a life cycle that connects the stream with the wider environment, and a watershed collects water from the surrounding land.
- Global: the ocean and atmosphere connect distant places through currents and weather, and rain and runoff carry materials from land to water, as the cycles lesson showed.
The FNESC science resource guide includes a unit on salmon covering their life cycle, the importance of salmon carcasses to the ecosystem and salmon habitat sampling, which shows how a single species can open up a study of a whole system. A change at any point, such as a change to forest cover or water quality, may affect the others. This is the systems idea of indirect interactions.
Reciprocity and sustainability
The same guide describes sustainability and stewardship as central. Indigenous Peoples have developed practices to look after the land, which sustains them and their cultures. Using natural resources wisely is described as a way of giving back to the land, which is how the guide frames reciprocity: taking and giving are in balance.
In systems terms, this resembles the idea of keeping inputs and outputs in balance, so that the system continues to function. A practice that takes only what the system can replace is a practice that can continue for generations. The Principles of Learning add an ethical dimension: people are accountable for how their choices affect others and the wider world, and each generation inherits responsibilities and passes them on.
“First Peoples knowledge is just old stories, separate from real science.” The curriculum treats Indigenous and local knowledge as a valid source of information. Traditional ecological knowledge is described as cumulative knowledge about the natural world that informs resource management and sustainability, built from long observation of a place. It is also not a single thing: it varies among Nations.
Traditional ecological knowledge
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is the cumulative knowledge about the natural world, held in communities and passed on over generations, that informs how people manage and use resources sustainably. Because land is central to both physical life and culture, TEK reflects interconnectedness.
- How it is passed on. Through Indigenous languages (including place names), storytelling, practice on the land, and teaching by Elders, who are named as keepers of this knowledge.
- It varies. Educators are advised that TEK differs among Nations; there is no single universal version.
- Some knowledge is protected. Some teachings are sacred and are shared only with permission or in suitable circumstances.
5Examples from published BC resources
The following examples are named in published educational resources. They are given only as pointers; the fuller story belongs to the Nations whose knowledge it is.
| Example | What the resource says | Science connection |
|---|---|---|
| Land management practices | A guide summarizes seven practices used to live sustainably off the land: soil aeration, crop rotation, selective harvesting, replanting, pruning, landscape burning, and women as managers | Harvesting at a rate the system can replace; managing disturbance |
| Coast Salish berries | A suggested lesson studies berry plants and how Coast Salish Peoples harvest, prepare and protect them, and why sustainability matters | Plants as producers; responsible harvesting |
| Salmon | An FNESC unit covers salmon life cycle, the importance of carcasses to the ecosystem and habitat sampling | Food webs; movement of nutrients between systems |
| Shaping the land and water | FNESC lists clam gardens and stone fish traps among the ways people have shaped land and sea, with work on watersheds, water sampling and honouring water | Hydrosphere and water cycle; human interaction with ecosystems |
| Plants and forests | Sheets on traditional plant knowledge, plants as indicators, culturally significant trees and the history of forest fires in BC | Observation of change over time; ecosystems and disturbance |
| Food security and climate change | A unit traces carbon through the environment in connection with food security and climate change | Carbon cycle, climate change, sinks and sources |
Educational resources include work on watersheds and water sampling. A school or community project can start by contacting a local First Nation or the school district's Indigenous education team to learn which resources and protocols are appropriate for the place.
6Place: where inquiry begins
The curriculum defines place as any environment or context people interact with to learn, form memories, connect with culture and establish identity. This idea changes how a science investigation can be designed. The questions in the curriculum ask how place shapes the way an inquiry is designed, what evidence is collected, how it is evaluated and how it is communicated.
A student wants to study the health of a local stream.
- Question. What is the condition of this stream, and how has it changed? Starting with the place keeps the question meaningful and local.
- Evidence. Scientific measurements (temperature, oxygen, the animals found) and local knowledge (what longtime community members have observed over many years, from stories and experience).
- Evaluation. Compare how well the sources agree; ask what each can and cannot show; recognize that long-term local observations can reveal changes that a single day of measurements might miss.
- Communication. Share the findings in a way that respects the community and gives credit to those who contributed knowledge.
Comparing the languages of science and relationship
Science and First Peoples perspectives often use different words for ideas that overlap. Comparing them can deepen understanding of both, provided it is clear that the comparison is made by a student and does not speak for any Nation.
| Idea in the science strand | How a related idea appears in the published resources |
|---|---|
| Interconnected spheres; food webs; cycles | All living things, including humans, are linked to nature and depend on one another |
| Dynamic equilibrium; sustainable use | Practices that help maintain balance; using resources wisely as a way of giving back |
| Long-term data and observation | Cumulative knowledge built over generations in one place |
| Consequences of human impacts | Accountability: recognizing how choices affect others and the wider world |
Use the table to write a short comparison. The science idea of sources and sinks says that a reservoir stays steady when inputs equal outputs. The idea of reciprocity in the guide says that taking and giving back should be balanced. Both statements are about balance between what is taken and what is returned. A difference is that the first is described with quantities, and the second also carries an ethical commitment to the land and to future generations.
This comparison does not claim that the two are the same. It shows how a student might notice a shared theme while being careful about differences.
Questions for inquiry
- How do First Peoples in this region describe the cycling of matter and energy in their own territory, and what sources are best for finding out?
- Which parts of the local watershed connect the school to the ocean?
- What practices help a harvested plant or animal population to renew itself, and how could they be tested?
- How can local knowledge and scientific measurements be used together to describe a change in the environment?
- What responsibilities does the present generation have to those who come after, in the context of climate change?
Learning with respect
- Ask and credit. When using someone's knowledge, ask permission and name the source.
- Avoid generalizing. Do not treat “First Peoples” as a single group. Refer to the specific Nation whenever possible.
- Accept limits. Some knowledge is not shared outside the community.
- Take time. The principles say learning takes patience and time.
The official BC curriculum remains the authority on what is required in Science 9, and local Nations and the educators who work with them are the authority on their own knowledge.
7Bringing the strand together
The biology strand of Science 9 began with a cell dividing and ended with a whole planet. The Big Ideas link both ends: cells are derived from cells, and the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere are interconnected, as matter cycles and energy flows through them. Whether described with a diagram of the carbon cycle or in the language of relationships and responsibilities, the lesson is similar: living things are parts of connected systems, and actions in one part can be felt in others.
🔑Key terms
?Quick check
Try each question first, then reveal the answer.
1. What does 'interconnectedness' mean in the Science 9 content, and what example shows it from local to global?
It means everything is connected from local to global scales. For example, a local stream, its forest, its salmon, and the ocean and atmosphere are linked, so a change in one place can affect others.
2. Name three First Peoples Principles of Learning that relate to caring for a place.
For example: learning supports the well-being of self, family, community, land, spirits and ancestors; learning is relational and focused on connectedness and place; learning involves recognizing the consequences of one's actions; and learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
3. Define traditional ecological knowledge and give two ways it is passed on.
It is cumulative knowledge about the natural world that informs resource management and sustainability. It is passed on through languages and place names, storytelling and Elders.
4. Explain how reciprocity can be compared with the science idea of balancing sources and sinks.
Reciprocity means giving back in balance with what is taken, and a balanced source-and-sink system keeps its amount steady. A difference is that reciprocity also carries an ethical commitment to the land and future generations.
5. Why is it important not to treat 'First Peoples' as a single group when learning about traditional knowledge?
Knowledge varies among Nations and places, and it belongs to communities. Specific Nations should be named and their own sources used.
6. Describe how the idea of place can shape a science inquiry.
Place can shape the question that is asked, the evidence collected (including local knowledge), how it is evaluated and how findings are communicated.
7. State two respectful practices when learning about First Peoples knowledge.
Ask permission and credit sources, and avoid generalizing. Also accept that some knowledge is not shared outside the community.
8. Give an example of a published BC resource topic that connects First Peoples knowledge to the carbon cycle or climate change.
The FNESC science resource guide includes a unit on food security and climate change that traces carbon through the environment.
BC curriculum content covered in this lesson
- First Peoples knowledge: interconnectedness (everything is connected, from local to global) and First Peoples perspectives on sustainability of systems
- Curricular competency elaborations: ways of knowing and place
- Sample inquiry question: How do First Peoples view the cycling of matter and energy?
References
- BC Ministry of Education and Child Care. Science 9 curriculum (Big Ideas, Content, Curricular Competencies). Accessed October 7, 2026.
- BC Ministry of Education and Child Care. Science 9: Content and curricular competency elaborations. Accessed October 7, 2026.
- First Nations Education Steering Committee. First Peoples Principles of Learning. Accessed October 7, 2026.
- First Nations Education Steering Committee. Science First Peoples: Teacher Resource Guide (grades 10-12). Accessed October 7, 2026.
- Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Indigenous Teaching Resources (open guide). Accessed October 7, 2026.
- Ohio University. System regulation (Earth system). Accessed October 7, 2026.
These lessons follow the content areas listed in the British Columbia curriculum. They are study material written for this site and are not an official document. The official curriculum is the authority on what each course requires. Lessons are general education, not medical advice.