Cour

se-
505

Lear
ningEnv
ironment
alSt
udi
esatEl
ement
aryLev
el

Assi
gnment
-I
Q.1.
Isl earningofEnv ir
onment alstudi
esi mpor t
antatpr imarylevel
?Giver easonsi nyour
suppor tthroughsui
tableexampl es.
Answer :
Yes,learningofEnvir
onment alstudiesisverymuchi mportantatpri
marylev
el.Oneoft hemajor
concernsoft hi
smil
lenni
um ist akinggoodcar eoftheenvironmentwhichnurt
uresallofus.We
have now been l ivi
ng in a situati
on wher e envi
ronmentaldegradat
ion i
s occurri
ng atan
unprecedent edpace.Hencet hei mmedi at
eneedoft hedayi sbr
ingi
ngaboutanawar enessof
theenv ir
onmentandi tsprobl
emsatal ll
evels.

Sincereeffortsar eneededt ore-

est
abli
shourli
nkswi t
ht heenv i
ronment.Wemustpr otectthe
envir
onmentf rom ‘oursel
v es’
.Iti
sourownl i
festyl
e,greed,selfi
shnessandlackofawar eness
thatist hest art
ingpoi ntofal lt
heproblemsr el
atedtot heenv i
ronment.Thegr eatscienti
st
AlbertEinstei
nhassai d“youcannotsolveaproblem wi
tht hesamemi nd-
setwhichcreateditat
thef i
rstplace”.Itisonl ywhenwet r
ulybegi
nt oseeour sel
vesasani ndi
vi
sibl
epar toft he
envir
onment ,and t hen there woul
d be a fundamentalshi f
ti n ourmi nd settowar ds i
ts
conser v
ation.

Teachersplayasignifi
cantrol
eint hesocietybecauseoft hei
rinfl
uenceont hechil
dren
Itisani mport
antst udyareaatt heschooll ev elandi tseffectiveimplementati
onr equiresa
changeint hemindsetofteacher sfrom merecont enttransmitterstothatoffaci
li
tat
orsandco-
l
earners.Itcal
lsforashi f
tincl assroom practicesf rom mer e‘ t
ransmissi
onoft hecont ent’t
o
‘
transact
ionoft hecontentleadingt otransformat ionofbehav i
ors’inchil
dren.Teachers,thus,
becomet hekeyt ot
hesuccessf ul t
ransacti
onofenv i
ronmental educati
oninschools.

Theypl aya centr

alr ol
ein building necessaryabi l
it
ies and competenci
es i
n children for
explori
ng,underst
anding,appreciati
ng and par ti
cipati
ng in envir
onmentalprotection and
conservat
ion.I
nordertoachievethis,t
het eacherneedst obeempower edtocreat
eawar eness,
atti
tudeandconcerninchil
drenandf acil
it
atethem inunder standi
ngandsolvi
ngenv i
ronment al
problems.

Int hisprocess,env i
ronmentbecomesamedi um forengagingy oungmi ndsintheexcit
ement
offirst-
handobser vati
onofnat ureandunder st
andingthepatter
nsandpr ocessesi nthenatural
andsoci alworlds.Int hiscontext
,ithasnecessitatedar el
ookint othecur r
icul
um ofteacher
educat i
on,soast o“ preparetheyoungmi ndstoappr eci
atetheimportanceofenv i
ronmenti na
holi
st i
cmanner ,notonl yforhumansurvivalbutal
sof oral
lli
feformsonEar t
h”.Oneofthemai n
focusesofEnv ir
onment alstudi
esistoexposechil
dr entotheactualworl
dt heyli
vein.

Thel ear
ningsituat
ions/experi
encesofEnv i
ronmentalstudieshel
pchildrento expl
oreand
connectwiththei
rnaturalandhumanmadesur roundi
ngs.Envir
onment
alstudi
eshelpschi
ldr
en
devel
opt heirowni nsightsintothefunct
ioningofsev eralthi
ngsorunderstandi
nghuman
processesint hei
renvir
onment.Such inter
act
ionswitht hei
rsurrounding env
ironmentare
i
mmensel yimpor t
antintheheal
thydevelopmentofchil
dren.Suchinteract
ionsalsoenhance
chil
dren’
slear
ningcapabi
li
ti
esbyprov
idi
ngconcr et
elear
ningexper
iences.

ThescopeofEnv i
ronmentalstudi
esattheschoollevelmaybesummar i
zedasenabl i
ng
chil
drento:
•Connectwi t
hthei
rnatur
alandhumanmadeenv i
ronmentunder
standi
ngourdependenceon
thevari
ouscomponentsofenvi
ronment(
biot
icandhumanmade)

•Dev
elopaholi
sti
cunderstandi
ngoftheirenv
ironment
•Develop a mul
ti
disci
pli
nary per
spectiv
et o under
standi
ng ofourenvir
onment
ali
ssues/
pr
obl
emsandappr eci
atetheimpact/sofourdail
yacti
vi
tiesoni
tsi
ntegr
it
y.

Schoolspl ayacr it
icalr oleinsuppor t
ingandhel pingchi ldr
enexpl oret heirenv i
ronmentand
constructt hei
rownmeani ngf rom theirinteract
ions/ experi
ences.Byst r
ucturingandor ganizi
ng
l
ear ni
ngexper i
encesf orchi ldrent oexpl or
e,under standandexpr esst heirexper i
ences,the
transaction ofEnv i
ronment alst udiesi nt he pr i
mar ystage contributest o dev elopmentof
concept ualunderstandi ng,at t
itudesandv al
ues,skillsandhabi ts/practi
cesr elat
ingt or angeof
subjects/focusar easatt hepr imaryl evel.Suchl earningexperiencesal sointroducechi l
drento
someoft hehiddenbenef i
tssuchasDev el
opmentofappr eci
ationandr espectf ornat ureand
naturalr esources,di versityt hatexi tsi nt he env i
r onment,abi l
it
yt o expr ess f eel
ings and
thoughts, etc.

Q.
2.How wi
lly
ou desi
gn r
eall
if
e based l
ear
ning i
nyour

cl
assr
oom f
ort
eachi
ngl
ear
ningofEVS?

Answer
:

Obj
ect
ives&Out
comes
St
udentswil
lnamewaystoi
mprov
ethei
rimmediat
eenv
ironment
byreduci
ng,
reusi
ngandr
ecy
cli
ngi
nthei
rli
ves.

Mat
eri
alsNeeded

 Apenci
l
 The“Reduce,Reuse,Recycle”wor ksheet
 Acrayonormar kerforeachst udent
 Acomput erwit
haccesst oYouTube
 6largesheetsofchar tpaperwi th2l abel
ed“
1Reduce,
”2
l
abeled“2Reuse,”and2l abeled“3Recy cl
e.”

Pr
ocedur
e

Openi
ngt
oLesson

 Postt
hepr
e-madechar
tpaper
sar
oundt
her
oom.
 Directstudentstot heReduce,Reuse,Recycl
echartsplaced
aroundt heclassroom andaskthem iftheyknow whateach
wor dmeans.
 Leadst udent
sinadi scussi
onofwhattheydointhei
rhouse,or
whaty oudoi ntheclassr
oom t
oReduce,ReuseandRecycle.

BodyofLesson

Model
ing

o Show t hev i
deof r
om HappyDanci
ngTur t
lecal
l
ed“Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle.
o T heyspeakr atherqui
ckl
ysoy oumaychooset owatchit
mor ethanonce.
 Ift hev ideo isnotav ai
l
able,l
ead adiscussi
onaboutwhat
student salreadyknowaboutReduce,
ReuseandRecycl
e.

Gui
dedPr
act
ice

 Passoutthewor
ksheet.
 Tel
lstudent
stofil
linanyexampl esfrom thev
ideoofwhat
peopl
ecandotoreduce,reuseandrecy
cle.
 Show thevideoagain(orrevi
ew thedi
scussi
on)sot
hatt
he
st
udentscancompl et
ethei
rchart
s.
 Discussasaclass.

I
ndependentPr
act
ice

 Expl
aintheact
ivi
tyt
othest
udent
sbef
oreyousepar
atet
hem
i
ntogroups.
 Splitst udent si nto6gr oupsandt elleachst udentt ogeta
mar kerorcr ayon.
 Assi gneachgr oupt oachar tpaperandhav et hem discussand
thenwr it
easmanyi deasast heyhav ethatar eNOTf rom t he
videoonway st or educe, reuseorr ecycle( dependi ngonwhi ch
char tpapert heyar eassi gnedt o).
 Af t
erabout5mi nutessi gnalf orst udentst omov etot henext
char tpaper .Hav et hem r eadanddi scussal lofthei deast hat
thepr evi
ousgr oupwr otedownandt henaddanynew i deas
thatt heymayhav e.
 Af t
erabout5mor emi nut essi gnalf orstudent st omov etot he
nextchar tpaper .Hav et hem r eadanddi scussal loft hei deas
thatt hepr eviousgr oupwr otedownandt henaddanynew
i
deast hatt heymayhav e.
 Instructst udent st ogogett heirwor ksheetandpenci lf r
om
th
theirdesksandt hengowi ththei rgroupst ot he4   chartpaper ,
whi chwi llbear epeatofoneoft he3Rs.
 Hav et hem di scussanyi deasf rom thischar tpaperandnot i
ce
i
ft her ear enew i deast hatt heydi dn’tseei nt hef ir
stchar t
paper .
 Instructst udent st ocompl etet hissect i
onoft heirwor ksheet
withi deasf rom t hegal l
er ywal k.
 Repeatwi t hchar tpaper s5and6,al lowingst udent st i
met o
compl etetheirwor ksheet s.
Closing
Hav estudentsgobacktothei
rdeskanddi
scusstheacti
vi
ty.Ask
whatnewi deastheyl
ear
nedforhowtoReduce,
ReuseorRecy cl
e
andaskhowt heywi
ll
appl
ythesei
deasi
ntheimmediat
efuture.

Assessment&Ev
aluat
ion
St
udentswi
llbeaskedt
ocompl
eteawor
ksheetandcont
ri
but
e
i
naclassdi
scussi
on.
 Cour
se-
505

Assi
gnment
-I
I

Q.
1.Sel
ectanyTopi
cofy
ourchoi
cef
rom t
ext
bookofEVSofanyl
evel
andsuggestanact
ivi
ty
t
oteachthi
stopi
c.

Answer
:

Topi
c:Renewabl
eorNon-
Renewabl
e

Mat
eri
als:

❑“EverydayI t
ems”wor ksheet( oneperpai rofstudents)
❑“Renewabl eResour ces”wor ksheet(oneperpai rofstudents)
❑“Nonr enewabl eResour ces”wor ksheet(oneperpai rofstudents)
❑“Renewabl eorNonr enewabl e?”wor ksheet(oneperst udent)
❑Glue( onebot t
leperpai rofst udents)
❑Scissor s(oneperpai rofst udents)
❑Newspaper( onesheetperst udent )
❑Apl ast i
ccont ai
ner, alumi num can, steelcan,gl
assbot tl
e,appl
e,paperandl
eat
herbel
t
❑“Natur alResour ces”ov erhead
❑“Wat erCy cle”ov erhead
❑Rubr icov er
head
❑Rubr i
cs( oneperst udent )

Pr
epar
ati
on:

Bepr
epar
edt
oputst
udent
sinpai
rsf
orpar
toft
heact
ivi
ty

Di
scussi
on

1.Holdupt
hepl
ast
iccont
ainer
,al
umi
num can,
steel
can,
glassbot
tl
e,appl
e,paper
,andl
eat
her
bel
t.

2.Putupt he“Nat ur
alResources”overhead,andcov erupthebott
om hal f(
thepict
uresofthe
i
tems).Tellthestudentsthatal
loftheseitemsar emadef rom nat
uralresourcesandthatthese
resour
cesar eei
thernonrenewableorrenewabl e.Explai
nthatnonrenewableresourcesexi
ston
Earthi
nl i
mitedamount s,
e.g.,f
ossi
lfuels(coal,oi
l,
andnat ur
algas)andmanymi neral
s(e.
g.,
i
ron,gold,andbauxite,
thesourceofalumi num.

3.Holduptheit
ems, oneatatime,andaskstudentvolunteer
stoclassi
fythem asmadef r
om a
nonrenewabl
eorrenewableresour
ce.Uncovertherestoftheoverhead,andrev
iewtheitems
thatwerenotdi
scussed(i
.e.
,gasol
ine,bi
kehelmet,etc.
).Bri
efl
yexplai
nhownat ural
resources
aretakenfr
om t
heEar t
handmadei nt
oproducts.

4.Letst
udent
sknowt hatresourcescanal
sobeclassi
fi
edasper
pet
ual
resources.Theseare
f
ormsofnatur
all
yrecurr
ingenergythatar
ebeyondhumanmanagement
,e.g.
,sun,wind,f
all
i
ng
water
,ti
des.Putupthe“
Wat
erCy
cle”ov
erhead,
andexpl
ainhowt
hewat
ercy
clei
sanexampl
e
ofaperpet
ualresour
ce.

5.I
ntroducet heconceptofconservat
ion.Askstudent
swhet hert
her
eareway sthattheycan
usefewerresources.Shareonewayt hatstudentscanconservenat
ural
resources.Forexampl
e,
byri
dingabi ketoschoolinsteadofdri
vinginacar,st
udentscanconserv
efuel,whichcomes
fr
om anonr enewableresource.

Pr
ocedur
e

1.Div
idethecl
assi
ntopai
rs.Giv
eeachpairofst
udent
st hefol
lowi
ngworksheet
s:“Ever
yday
It
ems,”“
Renewabl
eResour
ces,”“Nonr
enewabl
eResources.”Al
sogivet
hem apairofsci
ssor
s,
andgl
ue.

2.I
nstr
ucteachpairt
ocutoutt
heit
emsandclassifyt
hem bygl
uingt
hem i
ntooneoft
het
wo
possi
blecat
egor
ies:r
enewabl
eornonr
enewabl
er esour
ces.

3.Revi
ewwi t
hthewhol
ecl
asswhi
chi
temst
heycl
assi
fi
edasr
enewabl
eornonr
enewabl
e
resour
ces.

Wr
ap-
Up

1.Askstudent
swhattheythi
nkwi
l
lhappent
ononr
enewabl
eresour
cesi
fwecont
inueusi
ng
them.(
Theywillbedepl
eted.
)

2.Askst udentswhet hertheythinkr enewableresourcesareal waysavai

labl
eforever.Passout
onesheetofnewspapert oeachst udent ,andhav ethem rolli
tuptorepresentatree.Putal
lof
the“t
rees”togetheratthef rontofthecl asstorepresentaf or
est.Askthestudentswhatwould
happeniftheyneededt ocutdownt ent r
eesay eartoprovideenoughpaperf orthei
rschoolbut
onlyf
ivetreeswer ereplantedeachy ear(thenatur
alresourcewi l
lbedeplet
ed).

3.Askt hest
udentstoturnt
oapar t
nert obrai
nst
orm someway sthattheycanconser
ve
nonrenewabl
eandr enewabl
eresources.(Usel
ess.Userenewabl
er esourcesi
nst
ead,e.
g.,
a
paperbaginplaceofaplast
icbag.Reusebagsandr ecycl
ethem.)

4.Passoutthe“RenewableorNonr enewable”worksheet
,assi
gnstudent
stonameonei t
em
f
rom eachofthefourcat
egories(fossilf
uel
s,mineral
s,pl
antsandanimal
s)andexpl
ainhow
t
heycanconservethenatural
r esources.

Fi
nalAssessment

Hav
estudent
sident
if
ytenit
emsintheclassr
oom,writ
ingt
henatur
alr
esour
ceusedt
opr
oduce
t
hei
tem andwhet
herther
esour
ceisrenewableornonr
enewabl
e.
Q.2.Di
scusst
herol
eoflear
ningresour
cesinlear
ningofEVS.Selectany
oneresour
ceanddi
scussit
sutil
it
yinteachi
nglearni
ngofconceptsof
EVS.

Answer
:
Rol
eofl
ear
ningr
esour
ces:

1)Real-
li
febasedexperi
ence,i
nphysical
,biol
ogical
,soci
alandcult
uralaspect
sofli
fear
e
appropri
ateforEVS.Useofl
ocal
r esourcesandmat er
ialf
aci
li
tat
er eal
-l
if
ebased
l
earning.

2)EVSai
mst oenhancecognit
iveabil
it
y,capacit
yandr esourceful
nessinchil
d,andt
o
makehercuri
ousaboutsoci
al phenomena–st arti
ngwi t
ht hefamil
yandmov i
ngont
o
thewi
derspace.Usi
nglear
ningresourcescreati
vel
yonecanachi ev
et hi
s.

3)Byusingl
ocalr
esources,
teacherscanhelpstudent
st oconst
ructthei
rownknowl
edge,
dev
elopski
ll
sandv al
uesprovidi
ngthem dir
ectlear
ningexper
iences.

4)Wit
hthehelpofl
ocal
resourcesy
oucanbui
l
dst
rongr
elat
ionshi
pwi
thsoci
etyand
nei
ghbor
ingcommunit
ies.

5)St
udent
scanconnecttot
heworl
dar oundt
hem t
hrought
hei
rst
udi
esandv
ice-
ver
sa,
whi
chisani
mportantpar
tofl
ear
ning.

6)St
udent
swi
l
lbecomeawar
eoft
hei
rimmedi
ateenv
ironment
.

7)St
udent
swi
l
lbesensi
ti
zedt
owar
dst
heconser
vat
ionoft
hei
rimmedi
ateenv
ironment
.

I
nst
it
uti
onalResour
ces

I
nstit
utes,especial
lypubl
icservi
cesectorones;canbev eryeff
ectivelocall
earni
ngr esour
ces.
Eachinsti
tutehasitsownuni quemandateandv isi
onwhi cheventuallycont
ri
butestot he
devel
opment /economicgoal ofthesoci
ety.Ateachercanplanandcoor di
natevisi
tstorelev
ant
i
nstit
utes.Thisalsoensuresreal
-li
fel
inkbuil
tint
otheteaching-
learningprocess.Somesuch
possibi
li
ti
esexistintheform of:

Publ
icFaci
li
ti
es:

Publi
chospi
tal
s,busstati
ons,postoff
ices,
policest
ati
onsPubl
i
cli
brar
ies,
banks,
vet
eri
nar
y
hospi
tal
s,gr
am panchayatoff
ices,of
fi
ceoft heMunici
pal
it
y

MuseumsandHi
stor
icalSi
tes:
Museumsofnat
ural
hist
ory
,pal
aces,
par
ksandgar
dens,
labor
ator
ies,
col
dst
orage

Ot
herest
abl
ishment
s:

Pl
antnur
ser
ies,
windf
arms,
uni
ver
sit
ies,
dams,
zoos,
fi
rest
ati
ons

Commer
cialandI
ndust
ri
alsetups:

Powerhouseuni
ts,
fact
ori
eswhi
char
enothar
mful
forchi
l
dren,
shoppi
ngmal
l
s,l
ocal
mar
ket
s,
et
c.

Localf
air
sal
sopr
ovi
degoodoppor
tuni
ti
esf
orl
ear
ning:

Byv i
sit
ingFai
rsstudent
scanlear
nhowmar ketwor
ksandcanr
eal
i
zet
hel
ocal
rit
ual
s,dr
essi
ng
st
yle,
modeofl i
vingofdif
fer
entki
ndofpeopl
e.
 Cour
se-
505

Assi
gnment
-I
II

Q.1.Whyt her
eisaneedofcont i
nuousandcompr ehensi
veev al
uat
ionin
EVS teaching l
earni
ng? As a pr
imaryt eacher,how continuous and
comprehensiveeval
uati
onhel
psyouinteachinglearni
ngprocessofEVS?

Answer:

Learning is a conti
nuous pr
ocess,so shoul d be t
he ‘assessmentof
l
earning’.Assessmenthelpstheteacherdiagnosegapsanddi ffi
cul
tiesin
l
earning.Ifthesear eaddr
essedassoonast heyarenoticed,theflow of
l
earningcancont inuemakingtheLearni
ngpr ocesseff
ici
entandef f
ecti
ve.
Classroom assessmentshouldbegear edf oraccompl i
shingt hi
sjobf or
everypupil.Thusgoodassessmentprocessshouldbecont inuous.

Assessmentoflearni
ngi nEnvir
onment alst
udiesthereforedemandsthat
theassessmentprocessiscompr ehensiv
e.Assessmentshoul dbecarri
ed
outbyself,peer
s,teacher,par
entsoroccasionall
ybyot herschoolst
aff.
Thishel
pstocreateaholist
icpi
ctureofthechil
d’sdevelopment.

Thel ear
ner
sneedt ousehead, handandhear ttoattai
ntheEnvironmental
studi
esobject
ives.Thus,t
het eachershoul dpr ovi
deoppor t
uni
tiestothe
l
earnerstouseallthefi
vesenses,logicalthinking,andcreati
vethinki
ngas
well as to develop and express t hei
rf eeli
ngs. Consequentlythe
assessmentshouldbebasedonl earningt aki
ngpl acethroughallthefi
ve
senses,l
ogi
calthi
nking,
imaginati
onandt hefeelings.

Thet eachermayuseor al
,wr i
tt
enand performancemodest o assess
chil
d’slearni
ng.Shewil
lneedt osometi
mesassesseachchi ldi
ndividual
ly
,
butatot herti
mesassessgr oupsorassessthewhol ecl
asstogether.The
teachershouldnotov eremphasizeanyonef orm ofassessment,bei t
writt
enoror aloracti
vi
tybased.Suchdi ver
seandbal ancedassessment
makesassessmentcompr ehensi
ve.

Wecansayt hatanassessmentwi
llbegoodandeffect
iveonl
ywhenthe
assessmenthasbeenvali
d,rel
i
abl
e,fai
randfl
exi
ble.Thesearet
hefour
i
mpor
tantf
eat
uresofgoodassessment
.

1)Valid assessment 
is t
he one whi
ch i
s r
elev
ant 
to 
the 
EVS 
objecti
ves 
a
nd also tot he learni
ng experiences prov
ided.Itaddresses the
essent i
alskil
lsandknowl edgeanddi mensionsofcompet ency,as
well asmor eimportantl
yvalues.

2)Reli
able 
assessment 
produces 
consistent 
outcomes when appl
i
ed 
by
 
diff
erentteachersi
nar angeofcont exts.Objecti
veassessmentl
ike
‘
mat ch the pair
s’isl i
kel
yt o be mor er eli
abl
et han subj
ect
ive
assessmentsuchasessaywr it
ing.

3)Fairassessmentdoesnotdi
sadvant
ageanystudentandt akesi
nto
accountt he per
sonal
i
tyand pr
efer
ences ofeverystudentbeing
assessed.

4)Flexi
bleassessmentt
ool
sandprocessesmakeanassessmentsui
t/
relev
antinarangeoft
eachi
ngl
earni
ngcontext
s.

For
mat i
ve assessmenthelps t
he t
eacherdi
agnose i
mpedi
mentsto
l
earni
ngandhel pthet
eachert
akeacorr
ecti
veact
iont
henandther
e.

Summativeassessmenthelpedtheteachertodi
agnosemaj
orgapsi
n
thest
udents’
knowledgeandunderst
anding.

Variouski ndsofselfassessmentaswel laspeerassessmentcanadd

muchv aluetot heoveral
lassessmentpr ocess.Appr eci
ati
onbyselfand
classmat esmakest hechi l
df eelbetteraboutsel f.I
tcanhelpthechil
d
buildselfesteem.Dur i
ngcooper ati
velear ning,groupmember sareoft
en
askedt or atetheposit
ivesocialbehav iorofot hermember sli
kehelpi
ng
andencour aging.Awor dofcaut i
on,t het eacherneedst otakecareso
thatselfandpeerassessmentnei therbecomeat ool
ofexcessi
veprai
se
norunduecr it
ici
sm f
oranychi ld.

ThusCCEmeans:st udentswillbeeval
uat
edonaround–the-yearbasis
i
nsteadofbei
ngt estedinthroughay ear
-endonl
yexam.Gi vi
ngev ery
chi
ldanopport
unit
yt oexperi
encesuccessandenj
oylear
ning.Lookf or
var
ietyofabi
l
iti
est hatachildi sgoodatandalsohelpt hechildby
suppor
ti
ngher /hi
mtofi
llt
hegapsi
nlear
ningt
hroughmanyandv
ari
ed
i
nformalassessment
s.