Curriculum planning chart Generative Topic (Blythe et al, 1998): Trees as a Natural Resource Name: Heather Brubach

Concept ("The student will understand")

Natural resources benefit their environment's ecosystem as well as human lives and communities Individuals can make a difference in protecting our natural resources and environment Throughout history and around the world humans have both harmed and helped the environment Informational texts can help us to organize information and learn about the world around us Social Studies 8.3.6.A: Explain the social, political, cultural, and economic contributions of individuals and groups to United States and World history. Science S4.B.3.1.2: Describe interactions between living and nonliving components (e.g. plants water, soil, sunlight, carbon dioxide, temperature; animals food, water, shelter, oxygen, temperature) of a local ecosystem. S4.B.3.2.2: Describe and predict how changes in the environment (e.g., fire, pollution, flood, building dams) can affect systems. BIO.B.4.2.4: Describe how ecosystems change in response to natural and human disturbances (e.g., climate changes, introduction of nonnative species, pollution, fires).

Subject: 5th Grade Science

Standard

Assessment: (How will you have evidence that they know it?)
Concept Map of main ideas and messages that we can learn from Wangari Maathai and the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya Complete Chart aligning problems/issues with strategies and impacts Dialogue with students in response to the book and video clip, listening for identification of problems, benefits of trees and why she was successful Complete chart aligning problems/issues with strategies and impacts Completed Venn Diagram comparing Wangari and John Muir Create/perform a hypothetical scenario of what would happen if Wangari and John Muir met up for coffee.

Facts ("The students will know")

Wangari Maathai is an environmentalist and activist who cares deeply about tree conservation and the welfare of women in Africa Kenya is a country in Africa that experienced government supported deforestation The Greenbelt Movement of Kenya is and organization started by Wangari Maathai to promote tree conservation in Kenya John Muir is and environmentalist who spent his life studying natural environments and believed that the forests needed to be preserved. A grassroots movement is a political movement driven by the ideals of a local community The Sierra Club is a grassroots organization that helps preserve the national forests and other

Skills ("The students will be able to")

Explain how trees helped the women in Kenya Identify at least 3 problems in the story (cause, effect and solution) Describe strategies activists can use to ignite change

Problems to pose ("Guiding questions" or "unit questions")

Why are natural resources important? How can humans be stewards for and protect the environment?

Activities

Read Mama Miti aloud and take notes on the main messages Watch video clip of Wangari Maathai Create a concept map for the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya

Describe and compare the motivations and strategies used by different activists to address environmental issues Identify at least one problem that John Muir helped to find a solution for and describe his solution

Read selected portions of John Muir's biography and selected writings Read informational text about the Sierra Club and the U.S. Forest Service

Concept ("The student will understand")

Standard

Assessment: (How will you have evidence that they know it?)

Facts ("The students will know")

wild environments. The U.S. Forest Service is a government organization that oversees the management of national forests and public land. Tree Tenders is a program in Philadelphia that engages community members in volunteer urban forestry activities.

Skills ("The students will be able to")

Problems to pose ("Guiding questions" or "unit questions")

Activities

Natural resources benefit their environments ecosystem as well as human lives and communities Individuals can make a difference in protecting our natural resources/environment We can learn about the world around us by making careful observations and keeping a record of them Individuals can share their knowledge and opinions to persuade others to make a change

Science S4.B.3.2.2: Describe and predict how changes in the environment (e.g., fire, pollution, flood, building dams) can affect systems. BIO.B.4.2.4: Describe how ecosystems change in response to natural and human disturbances (e.g., climate changes, introduction of nonnative species, pollution, fires). S4.B.3.1.2: Describe interactions between living and nonliving components (e.g. plants water, soil, sunlight, carbon dioxide, temperature; animals food, water, shelter, oxygen, temperature) of a local ecosystem. Literacy PA S.S.1.4.5.C Write persuasive pieces, include a clearly stated position or opinion and include supporting details, citing sources when needed.

Clicker quiz on identifying benefits of and/or threats to urban trees Students will create a checklist for volunteer urban foresters to know what to look for when assessing urban tree health Students will create Public Service Announcements to promote the Tree Tenders program and encouraging the community to protect the urban trees in their neighborhood.

Identify threats to trees in an urban environment Explain why urban trees have a shorter lifespan than trees in other environments

How are our natural resources threatened? How can humans be stewards for and protect the environment? Why are natural resources important?

Guest Speaker from Tree Tenders or reading informational texts about them Interpreting scenarios of real urban trees and the problems they face

Strategies/Characteristics of a persuasive argument include: appealing to people's emotions, using statistics and interesting facts to back up your claims, The purpose of a public service announcement is to increase awareness of issues of public concern and to persuade the public to participate in action surrounding that issue.

Persuade community members to value trees in their neighborhood Communicate the benefits of trees in an urban environment

Why are natural resources important? How are our natural resources threatened? How have humans impacted the natural world? How can humans be stewards for and protect the environment? What makes persuasive writing successful? How can we ignite change in our communities?

Students will respond to examples of real public service announcements (explain if they were or weren't persuaded by them and identify what was or wasn't effective) Students will work in table groups to write an outline and then script for a public service announcement about the Tree Tenders program.

Concept ("The student will understand")

Standard

Assessment: (How will you have evidence that they know it?)

Facts ("The students will know")

Skills ("The students will be able to")

Problems to pose ("Guiding questions" or "unit questions")

Activities

CC.3.6: Writing: Students write for different purposes and audiences. Students write clear and focused text to convey a well-defined perspective and appropriate content. CC.1.2: Reading Informational Text: Students read, understand, and respond to informational text with emphasis on comprehension, making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence.