GRADE LEVEL Fourth Grade
ORGANIZING IDEA Mankind and Nature in Harmony
TITLE / SUBJECT Doing Our Part for the Environment
TIME FRAME 30 minutes
OBJECTIVES: Students will reflect on their personal impact on the environment as well as that of industry.
TEKS:
Social Studies (4.9) Geography. The student understands how people adapt to and modify their environment.
Social Studies (4.21) Science, technology, and society. The student understands the impact of science and technology on life in Texas.
Science (4.10) Science concepts. The student knows that certain past events affect present and future events.
LIBRARY SKILLS: Students will listen for information acquisition from both non-fiction and fiction sources.
MATERIALS:
Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg
A River Ran Wild by Lynn Cherry
PROCEDURES:
Introduction: Tell students that you will be sharing two books today that go along with their study of the environment in the classroom. Both of these books address environmental problems and methods to correct or lessen them. Ask the students to share briefly what they believe are some of the problems of the environment today.
Read: Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg. Remind students that this is a fiction book, but even so a person can still learn from it. After reading lead a discussion regarding how they as individuals can help the environment each day.
Read: A River Ran Wild by Lynn Cherry. Before reading tell students that not only must individuals be mindful of the environment but so must those involved in industrial production. Tell students that the next story they will hear is non-fiction. Read the “Author’s Note” prior to the story as an introduction. After reading the story, ask the students if they learned of other methods to help improve the environment from the information presented in the story. (Community activism, petitions, letter writing campaigns, contacting lawmakers, etc.)
Conclusion: Challenge the students to be more aware of their own impact on the environment. Suggest that they take a closer look at roadsides and waterways as they ride in the car to see just how much impact individuals have when they show little concern for the environment.
EVALUATION:
1)A self-evaluation of personal habits could be developed for the students, to be used both prior to this unit of study and in conclusion.
2)As a follow-up discussion, perhaps a week later, students could be asked to share their observations of the roadsides and waterways as well as their reaction to what they saw.
RESOURCES:
For further reading, the following titles may be available in your library or from interlibrary loan:
Rachel Carson : friend of nature by Carol Greene
Global warming : the threat of Earth's changing climate by Laurence Pringle
Farming and the environment by William E. Manci
War and the environment by Elizabeth Sirimarco
A river ran wild : an environmental history by Lynne Cherry.
Healing the land by Terri Willis.
Just a dream by Chris Van Allsburg
The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden
Earth care : world folktales to talk about [compiled] by Margaret Read MacDonald.
Judy Moody saves the world! by Megan McDonald
The following websites might also be useful to enhance the unit: