Land Use Issues
by Paula Jones
Background:
This is a five lesson unit on ecology. Ecology is the study of living things in their natural surroundings or environment. This is everything, living and non-living around them.
Objectives:
- Students will identify living and non-living things in their environment.
- Students will identify neighborhood trees, plants and grasses of the MT Greenwood area.
- Students will compare MT Greenwood's trees, plants, and grasses to those that originate in Illinois
Materials:
shoe box, tree identification book, grass identification book, plant identification book, tracing paper, crayons, chart paper
Time Allotment:
This unit is taught during late May when grasses and plants have bloomed. Each class period is 40 minutes. This unit consists of five lessons taught over a two week period.
Lesson 1
To introduce the lesson, the students take a walking trip outside of the school. Each student has a shoe box which they use to collect at least 5 different living and 5 different non-living objects. Display their charts and graphs and compare the results. Use tracing paper and crayons to make leaf prints.
Lesson 2
The students discuss what is their environment. The discussion should focus on the environment is made of all that they see and things they don't see when they look around. Chart the different environments they suggest. Discuss how they are the same and how they are different. Each child draws themselves in many environments. Example: school, swimming, theaters, amusement parks, doctor's office, church, home, etc.
Lesson 3
The students will perform plant experiments to show the effects of different environments. Place radish seeds in two damp paper towels. Place the paper towels in ziploc bags. Put one baggie in a dark place and the other in direct sunlight. The students check the seeds in two days. They will observe they both grow, but one in direct sunlight is healthier. Discuss how a healthy environment is the best to live in. the students write a story about their environment. They will discuss if it is healthy or not. They must also discuss what they can do to make it a better place to live.
Lesson 4
The students take a field trip to the Botanical Garden to view the Illinois Prairie. They will use their tree, plant, and grass books to identify the vegetation found. They will also see the many different types of prairies that exist.
Lesson 5
The students take out the box with the living and non-living objects. They compare their findings from the neighborhood to the Botanical Gardens. A speaker from the Sierra Club will present a short video on the Illinois Prairie and answer questions.
Evaluation:
Students must correctly identify three out of five plants and trees that are in the MT Greenwood area. They must also explain what an environment is and give examples.