Topic: The topic of this lesson will be the environment and resources. We will focus on what we use from the environment and the distinction between natural resources (from the environment) and man-made resources.
Rationale: Our environment and its resources is a very important topic because both are dwindling due to our inability to take care of our planet. The students need to understand that we get many of our resources from the environment so it is vital for us to keep it clean and prosperous otherwise we will suffer the consequences of our carelessness later on. This lesson is a great start to get us toward reaching that goal. Students do not yet understand how all of their belongings and necessities are made or where they come from so they are not aware of the importance of keeping them. Once they understand that we have natural resources that come from the environment they can be more conscious of their actions that can damage this.
Prior Knowledge: The students will have to have an understanding that we get some (but not all) of our resources from the environment. They will also need to have a general idea of what kinds of resources come from the environment and what kind people make. There are many possible misconceptions that could be brought to this lesson by the students. They may believe that all resources are man-made and people make everything that we use – that resources do not come from the environment - or they may believe the opposite and think that all of our resources come from the environment. They may also have the misconception that in order for a resource to be considered natural, it must come straight out of the environment in the way we use it. For example, when we get water for the environment it does not change and we do not manipulate it. However, when we use trees as a natural resource, we can cut it up or shave it down and use it that way. The students may not understand that this still counts as a natural resource. This is also one way the students’ imaginations will be captured. They will need to imagine all the different things we use just one natural resource, like trees, for. It will capture their imagination that this one resource is used for so many things like building things, making paper products, shelter, for burning, etc. This goes for every natural resource because they have many uses and this will capture the students’ imaginations thinking about this. Same goes for imagining all the things a natural resource can be turned into – a tree can become a whole building, or a small piece of paper, or smoke, etc.
NJ Standards:
6.6.E.1 Describe the role of resources such as air, land, water, and plants in everyday life.
Objectives Assessments
Students will be able to name resources Students will participate in making a class list of the resources
that come from the environment. we can think of that come from the environment.
Students will be able to distinguish between Students will successfully complete the sorting activity.
natural resources and man-made resources.
Hook: To begin the lesson, we will write the word environment on the whiteboard and ask the students to tell us everything they know about the word that we just wrote. Once we finish this, we will let the students know that we get things from the environment and nature that we use for ourselves. Here we will introduce the term natural resource.
Activities, Questions, Examples, and Groups: To begin the lesson, we will bring the students down to the carpet. We will call them down based on who is sitting quietly and ready. The students have assigned seats on the carpet. Once they are sitting correctly and quietly, we will do the hook of our lesson. Next, we will show the class some natural resources that we have brought in (trees/wood, water, soil, air, sunlight, etc.) and for each one we will talk about why it is a natural resource (where in the environment we find it) and what we use it for. For example, for trees/wood, we would talk about how we find it in forests or growing in other places and make a list of things we use it for like to make paper, to burn fires, to build things, etc.
Next in the lesson, we will ask the students if they know anything about resources we do not find in the environment. We will ask for any examples they can think of. Then we will explain that these are man-made resources and explain this more in-depth by telling the students that the resources we have that are not found in nature are made by people and these are called man-made (or synthetic) resources. We will now ask the students to come up with more examples now that they know the full definition of the word. We will have some examples of our own that we have brought in. For some of these man-made resources, we will investigate how they are made and what resources they require in order to be made. For example, a school desk may be made up of wood, metal, glue, nails, plastic, etc.
Closure: We will use the closure of this lesson to assess the students’ comprehension of the topic. On the whiteboard, we will make 2 columns: natural resources and man-made resources. We will then have a bag filled with pictures and names of various resources; each will be attached to a magnet. The students will pick out one of the resources and have to stick it in the appropriate column and then explain to the class why the resource they picked should go in the column they put it in.
Materials: natural resources (cup of soil, water, sticks from a tree, picture of a sun, cup filled with air, etc.) man-made resources (plastic, rubber, glass, metal, etc.), whiteboard, magnets, photos of man-made and natural resources for sorting activity
Individualization: This lesson will require a lot of imagination from the students and this will result in many ways for individualization. In a discussion we will talk about natural and man-made resources for our auditory learners. We will also make lists of the different resources and how we use them for those who life writing and repetition. We will even have examples of both kinds of resources to show the class and help our visual learners actually see these resources and look for the differences between natural and man-made. The sorting activity used for our closure, as well as bringing in the resources for the class to see, will really benefit our hands-on learners.
Follow-Up Activities: After this lesson, the students will have learned that resources can be broken up into natural resources and man-made resources. Future lessons will break down resources even more and teach the students about renewable natural resources and non-renewable natural resources. This will also lend itself very well to some extension lessons on recycling and conservation – the students will need to learn about how to keep these natural resources around so we can keep using them – and ways we pollute and ruin these natural resources.
Rationale: Our environment and its resources is a very important topic because both are dwindling due to our inability to take care of our planet. The students need to understand that we get many of our resources from the environment so it is vital for us to keep it clean and prosperous otherwise we will suffer the consequences of our carelessness later on. This lesson is a great start to get us toward reaching that goal. Students do not yet understand how all of their belongings and necessities are made or where they come from so they are not aware of the importance of keeping them. Once they understand that we have natural resources that come from the environment they can be more conscious of their actions that can damage this.
Prior Knowledge: The students will have to have an understanding that we get some (but not all) of our resources from the environment. They will also need to have a general idea of what kinds of resources come from the environment and what kind people make. There are many possible misconceptions that could be brought to this lesson by the students. They may believe that all resources are man-made and people make everything that we use – that resources do not come from the environment - or they may believe the opposite and think that all of our resources come from the environment. They may also have the misconception that in order for a resource to be considered natural, it must come straight out of the environment in the way we use it. For example, when we get water for the environment it does not change and we do not manipulate it. However, when we use trees as a natural resource, we can cut it up or shave it down and use it that way. The students may not understand that this still counts as a natural resource. This is also one way the students’ imaginations will be captured. They will need to imagine all the different things we use just one natural resource, like trees, for. It will capture their imagination that this one resource is used for so many things like building things, making paper products, shelter, for burning, etc. This goes for every natural resource because they have many uses and this will capture the students’ imaginations thinking about this. Same goes for imagining all the things a natural resource can be turned into – a tree can become a whole building, or a small piece of paper, or smoke, etc.
NJ Standards:
6.6.E.1 Describe the role of resources such as air, land, water, and plants in everyday life.
Objectives Assessments
Students will be able to name resources Students will participate in making a class list of the resources
that come from the environment. we can think of that come from the environment.
Students will be able to distinguish between Students will successfully complete the sorting activity.
natural resources and man-made resources.
Hook: To begin the lesson, we will write the word environment on the whiteboard and ask the students to tell us everything they know about the word that we just wrote. Once we finish this, we will let the students know that we get things from the environment and nature that we use for ourselves. Here we will introduce the term natural resource.
Activities, Questions, Examples, and Groups: To begin the lesson, we will bring the students down to the carpet. We will call them down based on who is sitting quietly and ready. The students have assigned seats on the carpet. Once they are sitting correctly and quietly, we will do the hook of our lesson. Next, we will show the class some natural resources that we have brought in (trees/wood, water, soil, air, sunlight, etc.) and for each one we will talk about why it is a natural resource (where in the environment we find it) and what we use it for. For example, for trees/wood, we would talk about how we find it in forests or growing in other places and make a list of things we use it for like to make paper, to burn fires, to build things, etc.
Next in the lesson, we will ask the students if they know anything about resources we do not find in the environment. We will ask for any examples they can think of. Then we will explain that these are man-made resources and explain this more in-depth by telling the students that the resources we have that are not found in nature are made by people and these are called man-made (or synthetic) resources. We will now ask the students to come up with more examples now that they know the full definition of the word. We will have some examples of our own that we have brought in. For some of these man-made resources, we will investigate how they are made and what resources they require in order to be made. For example, a school desk may be made up of wood, metal, glue, nails, plastic, etc.
Closure: We will use the closure of this lesson to assess the students’ comprehension of the topic. On the whiteboard, we will make 2 columns: natural resources and man-made resources. We will then have a bag filled with pictures and names of various resources; each will be attached to a magnet. The students will pick out one of the resources and have to stick it in the appropriate column and then explain to the class why the resource they picked should go in the column they put it in.
Materials: natural resources (cup of soil, water, sticks from a tree, picture of a sun, cup filled with air, etc.) man-made resources (plastic, rubber, glass, metal, etc.), whiteboard, magnets, photos of man-made and natural resources for sorting activity
Individualization: This lesson will require a lot of imagination from the students and this will result in many ways for individualization. In a discussion we will talk about natural and man-made resources for our auditory learners. We will also make lists of the different resources and how we use them for those who life writing and repetition. We will even have examples of both kinds of resources to show the class and help our visual learners actually see these resources and look for the differences between natural and man-made. The sorting activity used for our closure, as well as bringing in the resources for the class to see, will really benefit our hands-on learners.
Follow-Up Activities: After this lesson, the students will have learned that resources can be broken up into natural resources and man-made resources. Future lessons will break down resources even more and teach the students about renewable natural resources and non-renewable natural resources. This will also lend itself very well to some extension lessons on recycling and conservation – the students will need to learn about how to keep these natural resources around so we can keep using them – and ways we pollute and ruin these natural resources.
