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New York Sea Grant’s 2023 Black History Month Reading List

New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has issued its 2023 Black History Month Reading List. This year’s suggested list includes far-ranging books that touch on subject matter such as:

An environmental justice comic book

A book about the winner of the first NAACP Spingarn Medal

Pioneering cell biologist Ernest Everett Just

Biographies of mathematician Katherine Johnson and the NASA Apollo 11 mission

Stories of Harriet Tubman and freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad 

Among the 2023 Black History Month itinerary:

Enviro-Time: Recommended Environmental Reading Lists for Children (includes over 40 books that will connect young people in the Great Lakes, and beyond, to their local communities and ecosystems in new and unique ways).

The books on these lists will introduce children to scientists from a diversity of backgrounds, to real life accounts of innovation and exploration, and to fun stories that highlight the wonder of the natural world. Each book on this list is also paired with a complimentary lesson that can be incorporated into classroom learning, used in remote instruction, or done at home with friends and family. Additionally, New York Sea Grant has compiled a list and map of locally owned, independent bookstores throughout New York’s Great Lakes region where you can order these books. 

Freedom Seekers: The Underground Railroad, Great Lakes and Science Literacy Activities (a new Sea Grant-developed curriculum that teaches students about connections between the Underground Railroad, Great Lakes and science).

“One of the lessons in the Freedom Seekers curriculum connects history, ecology, and today’s activities at a site that is popular with community members and has been the focus of local organizations including Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper and the Friends of Broderick Park,” notes Nate Drag, who recently joined New York Sea Grant as its Great Lakes Coastal Literacy Specialist.

“Teachers and students using the curriculum are invited to put themselves in the role of consultants to make recommendations for enhancing Broderick Park on Buffalo’s West Side, a National Park Service ‘Network to Freedom’ Site and a RAMSAR Wetland of International Importance,” says Drag, who is based at the New York Sea Grant office at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

“We hope you find this resource to be thoughtful and useful for connecting educational materials on the Underground Railroad, Great Lakes literacy and science teaching,” says Monica L. Miles, who originated the concept for the Underground Railroad-Great Lakes curriculum. “These activities are meant to be a launching point for students to continue to engage in robust, well-rounded conversations about the Great Lakes, an area with rich environmental resources and cultural history.”

These educational resources, and others, are freely available from New York Sea Grant at www.nyseagrant.org/gleee.

Black History Month takes place throughout the month of February.

The post New York Sea Grant’s 2023 Black History Month Reading List appeared first on Buffalo Rising.

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