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  • Ecolography: Connecting with the environment through historical and traditional stories using photography

Ecolography: Connecting with the environment through historical and traditional stories using photography

Posted by zl352 on January 9, 2026

Author: Rory Hathale
Seminar: Engaging Our Ways of Knowing with Forests and Global Change
Program: DINÉ
Subject Area: Other
Grade Level: High school
Year of Publication: 2025

Abstract

This Ecolography unit will introduce photography skills and explore the historical ecological
context of homelands or landforms within the students’ home community by learning through
photography medium, visual journaling, and Din4 language stories. The curriculum focuses on
note-taking, small group discussions, photography compositional techniques, mounting, and project-based learning. Students will research environments or major landforms within the community to learn about landscape and history pertaining to the community to understand history of environment they reside. Designed for a 5-week timeframe, the unit concludes with a project-based assessment that is adaptive to varying ability levels of readers or writers. The unit is ideal for students with some writing and research experience, and it is flexible and suitable for grades 9-12 at the secondary level using art photography curriculum.

Download Curriculum Unit