Students will be able to identify places by their characteristics--both physical and human.
Estimated time: 50 minute period
Instructional Strategies:
Teach students the words and music to Home on the Range. Discuss how the song describes a particular place. Ask: What kind of place is it? What are its physical and human characteristics? What other songs do you know that describe particular places?
Give each student a folded piece of paper on which is written the name of a place that is known and easily described. Ask each student to write a description of the place without naming, then exchange descriptions with another student. After that ask how many students were able to identify the place from its description alone. Ask also, what makes one description easier or harder to guess than another.
Homework:
Complete attached exercise at home and be ready to discuss in class tomorrow.
Word Bank:
physical characteristics-natural features that distinguish a place
human characteristics-features that are created by people and which distinguish a place.
architecture-the art of building design
culture-the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group
politics-The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
livelihood-a means of supporting one's existence, esp. financially or vocationally; living.
Students will be able to list ways that people affect their environment every day and list the ways that seasonal actions affect the environment. Students will focus their discussion on how people can change their behavior and improve the environment.
Estimated Time: 50 minute period
Instructional Strategies:
A discussion of the homework assignment regarding place will open the lesson. This will segue into a discussion about the surroundings that people live in. Students will list ways that people affect their environment every day (for example, driving cars, using water, disposing of garbage, smoking cigarettes). Then they will make a second list of the ways people affect their environment through seasonal activities (for example, watering lawns, burning leaves, fishing and hunting). The class will make a comparison chart of the two lists and students will discuss which activities are more harmful or more helpful to their environment. The class will discuss the findings and students will suggest ways that people can change their behavior and improve their environment.
Homework: Students will watch the news on television, read newspaper/magazine or look at the news on the internet for items about climate change. They must write a summary of the item and an opinion about the information that was presented. Attach the summary to the news item for submission. Television news item is to be referenced with channel, reporter and time.
Word Bank:
environment-surroundings
positive-good
negative-bad
interaction-a mutual or reciprocal action
global warming-the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases.