Page 277 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 11 How Can I Design, Implement, and Evaluate Instructional Activities? 248
11. Discuss wasteful practices with students, such as overwatering laws, lengthy showers, and so on. Have students brainstorm others. Then have each student draw a picture of a wasteful practice that he or she might help eliminate.
12. Draw attention to the picture of Mt. McKinley on page 201. Tell students to pretend that this is not a protected national park and that they will determine its future. Divide the class into two groups. Have one group represent an environmental protectionist point of view and the other group represent ski resort developers. Provide time for stu- dents to prepare their arguments and to present their debate. Explain to students that ideally we need to balance our use of resources and our protection of them. We cannot preserve all places as they are.
13. Create a large outline shape of a tree from used paper grocery bags. Attach it to the bulletin board and title it “Save This Tree.” Then have students brainstorm a list of things they can do to save paper and trees. Have students write their ideas on pieces of paper bags, which they can color and cut into the shape of leaves to attach to the tree shape.
14. Have students work in small groups to create “Save Our Water” checklists. Their lists should include tightly turning off faucets; fixing drips and leaks; never letting water continue to run while brushing one’s teeth; and using less water for showers and baths. Have the groups share lists and then compile a composite class list.
15. Have small groups compose letters to the Environmental Protection Agency. Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20406. Each group can request different information, such as a list of EPA agencies and their locations; information about what the EPA does; pamphlets about air pollution; brochures about how to start a recycling center; or information about a specific problem in the stu- dents’ own community.Have students share the information they get.
16. Conduct a class discussion. Focus it on the question: “How does farming in the San Joquin Valley depend on nat- ural resources?”
17. Have students draw a factory polluting the air, water, and soil. Suggest that students include billowing smoke takes, a pipe dumping waste into a nearby river, and huge containers of waste in back of the factory. Then have the students make a second drawing of the same factory showing the pollution reduce through the use of filters, sealed containers, and so on.
18. Have students predict what would happen to a town in which no one stopped air, soil, or water pollution. Have each student write a paragraph describing the town after 10 years of unchecked pollution.
19. Have students work in small groups. Use waste materials such as plastics, packaging, newspaper, and string to make a model of a national park.
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