Lesson 1

Objective:

1. The learner will seek scientific and technological solutions to environmental problems.
   
2. By keeping a journal, students will be able to keep a record of all in class activities as well as practice writing skills.

Activities:

1. Design an experiment using a commercial insecticide to observe the effects on insect development.
   
2. Discuss what effects insecticides have on food chains.
   
3. Write results in journals

Materials:
Journals and three to five commercial insecticides.

Vocabulary:
chemical, insecticide, ecology

Assessments:

1. List the active chemicals used in insecticides.
   
2. Assess how harmful chemicals may affect the ecological balance of nature.
   
3. Describe the importance of insects and spiders in the food chain.

Lesson 2

Objective:
The learner will identify the relationships among living things and their environments.

Activities:

1. Identify the locations of the major ecosystems on a world map, paste pictures of animals and plants in their proper biomes.
   
2. Draw a scene representing the description of one ecosystem, include the typical plants and animals that live in that particular environment.
   
3. Discuss the factors that determine the carrying capacity of an ecosystem and limit the size of population.
   
4. Illustrate the carbon dioxide/oxygen, water, and nitrogen cycles.

Materials:
globe and world map, old magazines (preferably National Geographic), glue

Vocabulary:
oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, biome, population, ecosystem

Assessment:

1. List the typical plants and animals found in a particular ecosystem, list the physical factors that determine that the organisms live there.
   
2. Define a population and list four factors that limit the population growth in an ecosystem.
   
3. Describe the importance of element cycles, explain how people and other animals are dependent upon plants for the air they breathe.

Lesson 3

Objective:
Students will learn how waste material places limits on population.

Activities:

1. In groups of three students will observe how the accumulation of waste material can serve as a factor in limiting population growth.
   
2. Students will arrange the apparatus to show how yeast cells are poisoned by the alcohol they produce as they use the sugar in apple juice to make alcohol and oxygen.

Materials:
petri dish, yeast, apple juice,

Vocabulary:
waste, apparatus, alcohol, rubber band, acetic acid

Assessments:

1. Analyze the results over a two week period, note the conversion of sugar to alcohol and then to ascetic acid.
2. Check journals to see if experiment recorded correctly, if not, explain to students, if necessary repeat experiment.

Lesson 4

Objective:
After this lesson, students will understand the condition of the Earth today

Activity:
On students way home observations will be made of buildings, litter, what kind of day it is, how much noise is being made, exhaust from automobiles.

Vocabulary:
pollution, ozone, Greenhouse effect, environment

Homework:
Write a one page report on your observations on your way home.

Lesson 5

Objective:
Students will understand what will occur if changes are not made to save earth

Activities:

1. Students will write a one paragraph report on the positive changes they see in the environment and list things they can do and will do to help save planet Earth.
   
2. Students will recycle newspapers
   1. recycle newspapers by cutting a 30 x 30 cm sheet of newspaper into small pieces
      
   2. place the newspaper pieces into a blender
      
   3. add 200 ml of water to the blender
      
   4. blend the paper until pulp is observed
      
   5. pour the pulp onto a piece of wax paper
      
   6. smooth out the pulp using a roller
      
   7. use a sponge to remove as much of the water from the pulp as possible
      
   8. allow the pulp to dry

Materials:
newspaper, water, sponge, roller, blender, 250 ml beaker, wax paper

Vocabulary:
recycle and pulp

Assessment:
List simple and compound machines used to recycle newspaper.