Overview

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In Week 2 students will learn how to show environmental responsibility within their home and school communities.  Students will continue knowledge building about trees and forests, expanding their knowledge of ecosystems and how living things interact.  This concept will grow student capacity to make comparisons between communities and ecosystems. Students will learn how to write a newspaper article, choosing a topic that touches on trees and forests and their community. The highlight of the week will be a trip to The Weaselhead Natural Area to learn about trees and ecosystems.  Students will combine Social Studies issues of citizenship with Science Topic E. Trees and Forests.  Students will be invited to consider civil issues from various stakeholders’ views in a bias-balanced program while in the natural setting of an ecosystem.   The week will finish off with the completion and publication of their newspaper articles. 

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Essential Question 

 How can we live more responsibly in our classroom community and at home?

Day 1

• What is a community?

  • Students will discuss how our communities are like ecosystems and how we need to contribute to this system in a productive and responsible way. 

  • Students will watch a video from Jumpingpound website.

  • KWL (Know, Want to Know, Want to Learn) about communities

• Teacher will introduce the idea of collective responsibility in the classroom and school communities.

  • Class will go over school rules (Handbook).

  • Discussion questions: Why are these rules important? Who made these rules? Are they fair? Are they reasonable? Are they complete? Do we have a voice? 

  • Are there rules in our homes?

• Introduce Newspaper article structure, how to organize information using a graphic organizer

  • Students will use facts they have learned about trees​ and forests, propose tree-friendly policies, in writing, to create an article.

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Day 2

• Teacher introduces the practice of responsible citizenship in our school and home

  • Discussion questions: How can we make our school more tree-friendly? How is taking care of trees part of taking care of ourselves?

• Activity: Brainstorm ideas for rules, programs, activities to promote a tree-friendly school and home (reducing paper waste, recycling, planting trees, caring for trees, best trees for the climate of our community)

• Students will learn about trees as part of a forest ecosystem.

  • Students will examine local ecosystems and learn about interactions of all living things within them.

  • Students will create a mind map, in small groups, followed by a compilation of classroom learnings on the active board.

  • Using the mind map, plan a news article, gathering and organizing supporting facts about the importance of ecosystems in the community (Headline, byline, dateline, lead paragraph, supporting details).​

Day 3

• ​What is democracy? How does it work in our community in reference to the environment? ​

  • Students will examine how citizens in the past and today have used their democratic voice to shape the community with regards to trees and forests and the environment.

• Using information from the mind map, learnings from Day 2, students will compare ecosystems with communities using a Venn Diagram.  Use same small groups.

• Students will begin creating a newspaper article as a way to voice their learnings.

  • Know your audience activity: be objective, respectful and cognizant of your audience.​

Day 4​​

• Field trip to Weaselhead (full day).
  
  This field trip combines the civil issues of Social Studies with the environmental issues around Trees and Forests. Students will regard stewardship of the Weaselhead Natural Area as a civil issue, from various stakeholders points of view, while studying the diversity of trees and forests in a natural setting.  

  • Students will ​have a booklet to work through during this field trip which will be handed in and assessed.

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Day 5

• Students will discuss their booklets from the Weaselhead field trip in small groups, and compile a list of learnings to share in a class discussion.  Consider how the field trip has informed and impacted their newspaper article. 

• Students will complete drafts of the newspaper article.

  • Students will be peer editing, revising and giving feedback.

  • Teacher feedback will be given.

  • Students will continue working on revisions to prepare article for publication.​ 

• Students will review the teachings of the Medicine Wheel, specifically the South quadrant.  

• Students will summarize how they can live responsibly in their classroom community and at home. These points of summary will be written in their second Medicine Wheel.

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Assessment​

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Formative:

• Student newspaper articles will travel through feedback loops involving peer-, self- and teacher assessment with revisions until article is ready for publication.

• Teacher will circulate through classroom and observe student participation in small groups.  Each group member will share one of their findings.

• Venn diagrams will be posted in a display of each group's work in preparation for showcase in Week 5. 

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Summative:

• Final newspaper article

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