Coastal Heritage Curriculum Connection

Explore Curriculum Connection guides, which are written to accompany each issue of Coastal Heritage, a quarterly publication of the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.

Summer 2023 issue: Writing Toward Place: Inspiration from the World Around Us

Focus Questions

• Which environment does Nikki Finney credit as “the wellspring of everything [she] would ever write?”
• What is genius loci? How does Nikki Finney capture genius loci in her work?
• Several writers who inspired environmental change through their writing are mentioned in this issue. Give an example of one author and describe the impact their work had on an environmental issue.
• What responsibilities come with the honorary title of poet laureate?
• Describe the feelings you have after reading Nikky Finney’s Poem, “He Never Had it Made.”

Standards

3

3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the effectiveness of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and affects organisms living there.

4

4-ESS3-2. Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.

5

5-ESS3-1. Evaluate potential solutions to problems that individual communities face in protecting the Earth’s resources and environment.

6

6-LS1-8. Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.

7

7-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

Biology

B-LS4-6. Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.

Earth Science

E-ESS3-7. Create an argument, based on evidence that describes how changes in climate on Earth have affected human activity.

Lesson Links and Educational Resources

This issue of Coastal Heritage focuses on the impact writers have on their communities through their work. The following lesson links and educational resources expand on this theme of connecting science, history, and art.

Previous Coastal Heritage Issue: The Arts of Science

Since 1982, the Consortium has been publishing Coastal Heritage, a free, quarterly publication that features a single important coastal topic within each issue. A past issue from Winter 2011, The Arts of Science: A Search for Visual Ecology, also highlights the work of connecting art and science to inspire conservation. Find this issue, and other archived Coastal Heritage issues, on the Consortium’s website.  (K-12)

Poets in Schools

Marcus Amaker, a former Charleston Poet Laureate mentioned in this issue, offers a local program to bring poetry to schools. Consider requesting a poet in your school and check out the additional resources on the Poets in Schools website including lesson plans and resources for poetry. (3 – 12)

They Never Had It Made: Writing about Obstacles and Resilience with Nikky Finney

A lesson plan by Lisa O’Neill from the University of Arizona Poetry Center will introduce students to Nikki Finney’s poem, “He Never Had it Made”, and provide guidance to creating their own poetry centered around similar themes. (6 – 12)

Nikky Finney’s Website

Listen to Nikky Finney read a version of her poem, “He Never Had It Made”, at the investiture of her father, Ernest A. Finney, Jr. as the first Black Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the state of South Carolina. (3 – 12)

Field Trips

The Gibbes Museum of Art

Continue bridging art and science for your students! The Gibbes Museum of Art has several standards-aligned program offerings that can help your students build an understanding of connecting science, history, and art. (K – 12)

Charleston Gaillard Center

From special rates on education performances to educational programs and curricula, the Charleston Gaillard Center offers a wide range of resources and opportunities to engage in arts enrichment. (K – 12)