Environmental Education Lesson

Curriculum Expectation: Grade: 4

Language: Using Knowledge of Form and Style
in Writing 2.1 Write more complex texts using a
variety of forms (e.g., … a report, including jot
notes, comparing the environments of two or
more regions in Canada; …)
Visual Arts: Creating and Presenting D1.3 Use
elements of design in art works to communicate
ideas, messages, and understandings (e.g., create
a poster using colour and cropping of space to
propose a solution to climate change; …)

Minds On... The way in which I envision this lesson to take

place is in groups of 4 students who are paired
together based on their preference of which
country they want to research. Prior to
introducing the group assignment to the class I
want to give students one example of a country
that is trying to help in the fight against climate
change. I will play the first episode of a Netflix
show called, “Down to Earth”, where the host –
Zac Efron and Darin Olien – travel to Iceland to
see how they care for their physical
environment. The purpose of showing this
media example is to get students excited and
thinking about the type of research they will
embark on when completing their own
assignment. Once students have been grouped
together I will explain the requirements of the
activity.

Action... I want each group to research one

environmental initiative in their selected country
and to discover how long it has been
established, as well as how the initiative has
helped to take care and/or improve the planet.
To ensure that students are on the right track, I
would have them submit a list of research
questions they want to investigate before
moving onto the research stage. After giving
students 3 weeks to research I want them to
 present their findings in a creative way (this
stage will take 2 weeks). Some suggestions I
can provide to the class include – creating a
collage that displays the research they have
done (i.e. newspaper headlines, images of the
initiative taking place, the creators of the
initiative etc), developing a video presentation,
or creating a brochure. In addition to the
suggestions I have posed I am open to hearing
the suggestions of my students on how they
want to present their findings to the class.

Consolidation... To mark the completion of this assignment I will

have students complete an individual written
reflection. Students will answer the questions –
How does protecting the planet bring us closer
to God? Would you like to be involved in an
environmental initiative in your community? If
you answered ‘yes’ to the second question, what
steps could you take to achieve this goal? If you
answered ‘no’ to the second question, what are
some other ways you can take care of the
planet?