Teach Native American Contributions in STEM

Native American Heritage Month gives your students a chance to learn about Indigenous history, cultures, and communities. In STEM class, it can also help them see how Native American contributions show up in science, space exploration, agriculture, and more.

Use these Newsela STEM resources to help students explore Indigenous scientists, real-world conservation work, and the cultural and scientific importance of heirloom seeds. Each resource can support a full lesson, quick discussion, or cross-curricular extension that helps students connect science to people, places, and communities. 

[What are Native American contributions in STEM?](id-what)

Native American contributions in STEM include the work, knowledge, and discoveries of Indigenous scientists and communities. Students may explore these contributions through topics like astronomy, agriculture, biodiversity, and conservation.

For Native American Heritage Month, these lessons can help them see that STEM isn’t separate from people or places. Scientific discovery often grows from lived experiences, collaboration, cultural knowledge, and careful observation of the world. 

Native American scientists and Indigenous STEM representation 

This collection gives you several ways to show students that Native American contributions to STEM include both individual scientists and community-based knowledge. Use the resources to find the best entry point for your class.

You might start with one article for a quick discussion, or let students compare two resources and see how STEM work connects to culture, identity, land, and community.

Indigenous conservation and wildlife collaboration in STEM

This lesson helps students look at conservation as a shared STEM challenge. They’ll read about scientists in Washington state working with Indigenous tribes to help save the Olympic Peninsula cougar, then track how different people, communities, and even animals contribute to the project.

The activity gives students a concrete way to connect Native American contributions to environmental science, collaboration, and ecosystem thinking. It also includes an extension where students read about wildlife crossings and write a letter about whether a crossing could help the Olympic Peninsula cougars.

[Native American Heritage Month STEM lesson ideas](id-lesson)

These lesson ideas help students connect Native American contributions to space exploration, agriculture, and biodiversity. Use them during Native American Heritage Month, then return to these themes whenever your STEM units cover them.

Nicole Mann and diversity in space exploration

This lesson helps students explore why representation matters in STEM. They’ll start by looking at NASA’s Explorer 1, then read about astronaut Nicole Mann and highlight how her family, culture, and spaceflight experience shape her perspectives.

Students then compare Mann’s story with other examples of representation in the space program before reflecting on the challenges they might face if they chose to become astronauts or travel to space.

Heirloom seeds, Indigenous culture, and biodiversity

This lesson helps students connect heirloom seeds to culture, agriculture, biodiversity, and evidence-based writing. They’ll start with a 3-2-1 reflection, read about heirloom okra, and write a blog post about why heirloom seeds matter to both people and plant biodiversity.

The extension lets students choose an additional article about seed preservation, including Native American seeds being reunited with their tribes. They’ll use a paired-text analysis worksheet to explain why preserving plant varieties worldwide matters.

Keep teaching STEM all year with Newsela Learning Suite

Native American Heritage Month can be a meaningful starting point for these STEM conversations, but it doesn’t have to be the only time your students explore Indigenous contributions in science.

With Newsela Learning Suite, you can find science resources, activities, and assessment tools that help students connect STEM topics to real people, places, and communities year-round. Use these lessons in November, then return to the same themes when your class studies conservation, space, exploration, agriculture, or the ways culture and science shape each other.

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