Shani Thompson Galloway Global Collaborative Project EDN 595Dr. Elizabeth Crawford

Deforestation: Is it really worth it?

Shani Thompson Galloway Global Collaborative Project EDN 595Dr. Elizabeth Crawford

“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Project Overview

Deforestation is an important global issue affecting our world. Some of the causes of deforestation are logging, agriculture, cattle, construction, movement of people, and mining (Ivanovic, 2015). Due to its destructive nature, deforestation is causing harm to wildlife, humans, and the environment. Approximately 200 orangutans are left in the Sumatran rainforests. They are becoming extinct because of the western dependence on palm oil (or its derivatives) in commercial products (Chamberlain, 2013). About 70% of all plants and animals in this world live in forests. Losing their habitat could cause their extinction. Some studies even predict that all forests will disappear in the next 10 years if deforestation continues at its current rate (Ivanovic, 2015). The goals of this project are for children to develop an awareness of the causes of deforestation, the impact it is having on the world, and become global problem solvers by creating solutions to deforestation. Students will be introduced to multiple perspectives on deforestation, research the issue, communicate their findings to diverse audiences, take action and promote change. This project fosters global competence by allowing students to develop an awareness of a global issue while fostering curiosity, compassion, and empathy. Students will collaborative with other global learners every 2-3 days via iEARN or ePals partnership.

Targeted Grade Level(s) and Project Length

This project is designed for 3rd grade students and should be completed in approximately 4 weeks (20 days). The timeline is an estimate based on your class and how much time they need in each area. The global classroom that we will collaborate with will continue to communicate throughout the school year after the project is complete. From the beginning of the unit, have students start collecting multiple empty food packaging and/or empty personal care items from home to bring in for their collage.

Project Learning Goals

Students will be able to:

• define and identify causes of deforestation (e.g. logging, agriculture, and construction).
• explain how living things (e.g. animals, plants, and people)are affected by deforestation
• identify where deforestation occurs in the world
• understand various perspectives on deforestation
• understand the role deforestation has on the economy (palm oil, meat industry, etc.)
• compare and contrast the National Forests of the U.S. with rainforests in other parts of the world
• describe the conservation efforts being used today to combat deforestation
• take action locally and globally to stop deforestation

Essential Questions

• What is deforestation?
• What are the causes of deforestation?
• What are the effects of deforestation on humans, animals, and the environment?
• How are humans impacting the environment?

• How are animals impacted by one’s food choices?
• How do U.S. National Forests compare with rainforests?
• How is the global economy affected by deforestation?
• How can you use your knowledge of palm oil consumption to make globally sustainable choices?
• How can we protect a natural resource like trees?
• What are possible solutions to deforestation?

Enduring Understandings

Students will understand that:

• deforestation is the destruction of rainforests for other uses

• deforestation is caused by logging, mining, cattle ranching, and agriculture: cash crops, and palm oil harvesting
• deforestation results in destruction of homelands, loss of species, and compromised ecosystems
• people have an impact on the environment
• the rainforests orangutans live in are being destroyed to harvest palm oil which is an ingredient in many western diets and products
• US National Forests and rainforests are both ecosystems that contain interconnected living things. They differ, however, in that U.S. National Forests consists of mainly trees and animals and a rainforest is home to diverse and unique plants and extinct animals
• the global economy is affected by deforestation through the supply and demand of ingredients found only in the rainforest

• people and the environment are interconnected
• protecting natural resources is important because Earth is our only home and it supplies our needs as humans
• anyone can take action and create change in their community and around the world.

National and State Standards

Common Core State Standards
3. RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
3. W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
3. SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
North Carolina State Social Studies Standards
3.G.1.2 Compare the human and physical characteristics of places.
3.C&G.2.2 Exemplify how citizens contribute to the well-being of the community’s natural environment.
3.E.1.2 Explain how locations of regions and natural resources influence economic development (industries developed around natural resources, rivers and coastal towns).
North Carolina State Science Standards
3.E.2.2 Compare Earth’s land features (including volcanoes, mountains, valleys, caverns, and islands) by using models, pictures, diagrams, and maps.
3.L.2.2 Explain how environmental conditions determine how well plants survive and grow.

ICT Integration

Students will use Google Earth to locate and Google Maps Engine Lite to pin rainforests around the world. Students will be using the DeforestACTION Collaboration Centre via tigweb.org to read blogs by Eco Warriors and watch live video feed of rainforests (EarthWatchers). Students will collaborate with peers from around the world using iEARN or ePals. Students will create a Wordle anchor chart of content specific vocabulary words. Also, students are going to use canva.org to create a digital flyer as a summary tool and create a digital scrapbook/presentation of their learning using Glogster or Prezi.

Proposed Calendar of Activities and Exchanges

Day 1
Pose the following question to students, “What do endangered orangutans have to do with the cookies your family buys at the grocery store?” Allow students to Think-Pair-Share with a partner. Write some student responses on the board. As a class, generate a What do we need to know? and How do we find out? list to answer the question. After, divide students into small groups of 4 or 5 and give each group a different brand of cookie packaging. Have them read the label for ingredients and discuss what each ingredient could be and where it came from. Go through the ingredients to see if any of them could come from rainforests? Project an image of a healthy rainforest and ask students to See-Think-Wonder about resources that come from the rain forest's natural resources. Each student should have 3 post-it notes and place their thoughts under the appropriate column under the picture.
Day 2
Independently, students need to come up with as many words as they can that come to mind when they think of the word rainforest. Students will create a Wordle document as their own personal anchor chart. Create a class anchor chart and add learned vocabulary as you proceed through the unit.
Day 3
Begin by discussing what is a rainforest and where are they located. Using Google Earth (load software prior to lesson), identify locations on the map using the Bright Links projector. Ask students to Think-Pair-Share with a partner why they think rainforests are “special”. Have one partner share the other partner's answer. Using Google Maps Engine Lite students will pin the location of rainforests on the map. Read Nature’s Green Umbrella: Tropical Rainforests by Gail Gibbons. Add new vocabulary words to the class anchor chart. Discuss as a class anything new they learned from the story and then give each student the Tropical Treasure Hunt. Have student’s complete questions 1, 2, and 5 on with a partner.
Day 4
Project an image of a devastated rainforest for students to look at. Have students use the Think-Puzzle-Explore method to question the image shown. Students should place their post-it notes under the appropriate column under the picture. Ask students if they know what deforestation is. Write answers on the board in a web. Discuss with students the idea that all living things have needs. Create a three column T-chart separating the needs of people, plants, and animals. After the list is created discuss any similarities or differences they see. Read Life in the Rainforest: Animals, People, Plants by Lucy Baker. Have students discuss the connections that all three have to the rainforest. Ask students what would happen if one of those needs were taken away. Explain that deforestation is the taking away of an essential need. Discuss how trees are a need. Next, watch the video What is Deforestation?andNegative Effects of Deforestation then answer questions 6 and 7 from the Tropical Treasure Hunt worksheet with a partner.
Day 5-6
Students will research the national forests in North Carolina and the only rainforest in the U.S., El Yunque in Puerto Rico. Students will use the following websites U.S. Department of Agriculture ,NC Forestry Service, El Yunque National Forest, Forest at Home, and USDA El Yunque to gather information and answer the Get to Know Our Forests worksheet for both forests with a partner. Students will compare and contrast the North Carolina forests and the rainforest in Puerto Rico using a Venn diagram focusing on how the forests are used, treatment of each, and what is being done to protect them.Invite a professor of grad student from NC State University to speak to the class about deforestation and its impact on North Carolina and abroad. Begin collaborating with another classroom that lives near or in a rainforest via iEarn or ePals. Students can share what they have learned so far and start learning about the areas in which they each live. Students can begin to discuss the local habitat and ecosystem of their community with the partner class.
Day 7-8
Students will explore the causes of deforestation around the world. In groups of 4, students will use the Kids and Conservation blog to research four different reasons for deforestation: logging, mining, cattle ranching, and agriculture: cash crops. Students will use a graphic organizer to collect their information. Each member must learn their information because those groups will be split into a group that has all four deforestation reasons and each member must teach the other members about what they learned. Students will create a poster or slideshow to demonstrate their new knowledge.
Day 9
Ask the compelling question that was posed at the beginning of the unit to the class, “What do endangered orangutans have to do with the cookies your family buys at the grocery store?” Have their answers changed or suggestions become clearer? Students will be introduced to another reason for deforestation by watching a video on the Sumatran orangutansthat are on the brink of extinction due to palm oil harvesting. Ask students if they know what palm oil is and what it is used for. Use the website Deforestation Education to learn more about deforestation, palm oil, and animals affected by palm oil harvesting. Using a 3-2-1 exit ticket, students will state three new things they learned, two “ah-ha’s” that came to mind, and one big question they still have. Students should connect with iEARN or ePals classmates to update each other on their learning. Ask students to bring in one of the wrappers or empty packaging from a favorite food from home to share with the class for the next day’s lesson.
Day 10-11
Have students take out their empty food wrapper or box and peruse the ingredient list looking for palm oil. Scroll through the Products that Contain Palm Oil link from the Deforestation Education website looking for palm oil derivative names. Have a few read the ingredients on their packaging to see if any have the word palm oil or its derivatives. Then look at the website to see if any of the students’ favorite food items are listed. Now ask “What do endangered orangutans have to do with the cookies your family buys at the grocery store?” to students to see if they are able to make a connection. If not, help them to recognize that the products we consume may support deforestation because they contain palm oil and the need for palm oil means cutting and burning down the habitats of wildlife such as orangutans. Introduce the vocabulary word sustainability and discuss that harvesting of palm oil can be done in a wise and not wise manner. Look at the list again, see which products are produced sustainably and not sustainably and what they think it means to be eco-friendly (add to vocabulary chart). Have students create a flyer summarizing the lesson (connection between trees, palm oil, orangutans, and food) using canva.org, a website that allows you to click and drag images and place text on a digital canvas.
Day 12
Have students make a list of 10 reasons why trees are important with a partner. Compare their lists to the Top Ten Benefits of Trees list. How are the lists alike/different? Read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry to the class and discuss how the main character changed. Break students up into partners. One partner will be the animal (who needs the tree) or tree that is going to be cut down for palm oil and the other partner will be the logger sent in to cut the tree down. Students will act out their roles for a few minutes and then switch roles with their partner. Discuss how they felt in each role to understand their perspective. Scroll through the Products that Contain Palm Oil link again to see if any of the personal care items that student's use are listed. Have a class discussion about the economic impact of needing more food and products made from palm oil will mean for the rainforest.
Day 13
Have students find the ingredient list on all the packages they brought in. They should highlight the palm oil ingredients or its derivatives and glue it to their individual collages entitled “Are you Supporting Deforestation? If so...STOP!” Each collage should be placed outside the classroom in the hallway when complete. Students will complete the final task of the Tropical Treasure Hunt worksheet by writing a speech (in the voice of the animal they choose) telling adults about the forest destruction and ways they are affected. Students should connect with their iEARN or ePals collaborating class on this day to update them on their learning.
Day 14
Visit the website Kids Saving the Rainforest so students can see some of the work that is being done to save rainforests in Costa Rica and possible ways they can take action globally such as adopting a mango tree, sponsoring a monkey, or donating their birthday money. Students will use the DeforestACTION Collaboration Centre via tigweb.org website to read blogs by Eco Warriors (combatting deforestation) and watch live video feed of rainforests (EarthWatchers) to gather ideas.
Day 15-18
Students will use either create a Glog using Glogster or a Prezi to create a digital scrapbook/presentation to summarize their learning. Based on the amount of time it may take for students to navigate this site and feel comfortable this part of the lesson can be extended to three days. Students must include a definition of deforestation, five reasons for deforestation and where it is happening, who is affected, the palm oil connection (with names of real products), provide two conservation efforts being used, and two steps that they will take to stop deforestation locally and globally in a way that is meaningful to them (see rubric). Students will present their Glogs or Prezi’s to their classmates and collaborating class via iEARN or ePals.
Day 19-20
Watch the Magic School Bus: In the Rainforest video and discuss accuracy of the television show to the information they researched. Read the story The Rainforest Grew all Around Them by Susan Mitchell. Give students the recipe for Rainforest cookies to share with their families or make the cookies in class (depending on school’s food policy).
Extensions: More opportunities exist to explore the deforestation/meat connection using and taking community action at

Project Assessment with Scoring Rubric

Learning Objectives / Strong Evidence
3 points / Some Evidence
2 points / Little to No Evidence
1 point
Define deforestation, identify possible causes, and give a location of where deforestation occurs / Student is able to clearly define deforestation, name 5 or more causes of deforestation, and give an accurate location for where deforestation occurs / Student can either define deforestation, name 3-4 reasons for deforestation, and gives a location OR meets less than 2 of the objectives. / Student is not able to define deforestation, names 2 or fewer reasons for deforestation, and/or is unable to give a location for where deforestation occurs.
Name living things that are affected by deforestation and give an example of the consequences for one of the living things named. / Student is able to name 3 or more living things affected by deforestation and can give 2 examples of the consequences for one of the living things named.
Example:
Orangutans are affected by deforestation. This means that orangutans will have no food or shelter and they can die. / Student can name 2 living things affected by deforestation and are able to list 1 consequence. / Student is able to name 1 or fewer living things affected by deforestation and are unable to list any consequences.
Compare and contrast U.S. National forest with a rainforest / Student clearly shows how the forests are alike and different with 9-10 examples. / Student is able to show some ways the forests are alike and different with 6-8 examples. / Student is able show 5 or fewer examples of how the forests are alike and different.
Understand the role deforestation has on the economy (palm oil connection) / Student is able to make an insightful connection between animals in the rainforest, palm oil harvesting, and foods/products they buy in the U.S.
Example:
The food my family buys at the store may be made with palm oil. Trees in the rainforest are cut down to harvest palm oil. Animals, like orangutans live in trees that produce palm oil. Therefore, the food or products my family uses may be causing deforestation. / Student is able to make some connection between animals in the rainforest, palm oil harvesting, and foods/products they buy in the U.S.
Example:
My family may buy things with palm oil in it. Palm oil comes from trees in the rainforest that animals live in. Those trees are being cut down. / Student is not able to make a connection between animals in the rainforest, palm oil harvesting, and foods/products they buy in the U.S.
Example:
Palm oil is a product that comes from trees in the rainforest.
Describe the conservation efforts being used today to combat deforestation / Student is able to clearly provide 2 conservation efforts being used to combat deforestation i.e., Eco Warriors, Earth Watchers, reforestation, recycling, using products without palm oil, etc. / Student is able to provide 1 conservation effort being used to combat deforestation i.e., Eco Warriors, Earth Watchers, reforestation, recycling, using products without palm oil, etc. / Student is not able to provide any conservation efforts being used to combat deforestation i.e., Eco Warriors, Earth Watchers, reforestation, recycling, using products without palm oil, etc.
Take action locally and globally to stop deforestation / Student is able to describe a practical, local and global solution and can explain how it helps stop deforestation / Student is able to give a practical, local and/or global solution but does not explain how it helps stop deforestation / Student is not able to
give a practical, local or global solution and does not explain how it helps stop deforestation
Collaboration and effort / Student consistently
demonstrates participation, and shares learning with partner class on iEARN or ePals. / Student participates and shows learning on iEARN or ePals. / Student does not participate in learning process and does not share their learning on iEARN or ePals.

References