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Lesson Plan: Understanding Our Environment

This lesson plan provides an overview of a unit on environmental science. It outlines objectives, national science standards covered, and a schedule that divides content between regular and block scheduling. The schedule allocates time for teaching key concepts, skills practice, homework, and assessments. Suggested activities address topics like defining environmental science, classifying resources, and calculating rates of rainforest clearing. Additional optional resources are also listed.

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JosieA_Y
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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1K views

Lesson Plan: Understanding Our Environment

This lesson plan provides an overview of a unit on environmental science. It outlines objectives, national science standards covered, and a schedule that divides content between regular and block scheduling. The schedule allocates time for teaching key concepts, skills practice, homework, and assessments. Suggested activities address topics like defining environmental science, classifying resources, and calculating rates of rainforest clearing. Additional optional resources are also listed.

Uploaded by

JosieA_Y
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson Plan

Section: Understanding Our Environment Pacing


1 block = 45 minutes

Regular Schedule Block Schedule

with lab(s): 3 days with lab(s): 1.5 days

without lab(s): 2 days without lab(s): 1 day

Objectives
1. Define environmental science, and compare environmental science with ecology. 2. List the five major fields of study that contribute to environmental science. 3. Describe the major environmental effects of hunter-gatherers, the agricultural revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. 4. Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable resources. 5. Classify environmental problems into three major categories.

National Science Education Standards Covered


SAI 1: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry. LS 4e: Human beings live within the worlds ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected. ST 2a: Scientists in different disciplines ask different questions, use different methods of investigation, and accept different types of evidence to support their explanations. Many scientific investigations require the contributions of individuals from different disciplines, including engineering. New disciplines of science, such as geophysics and biochemistry often emerge at the interface of two older disciplines. SPSP 3a: Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and improve their existence. Natural resources have been and will continue to be used to maintain human populations. SPSP 6b: Understanding basic concepts and principles of science and technology should precede active debate about the economics, policies, politics, and ethics of various science and technology related challenges. However, understanding science alone will not resolve local, national, or global challenges. HNS 3: Historical perspectives.

KEY SE = Student Edition ATE = Annotated Teacher Edition CRF = Chapter Resource file

Block 1
FOCUS 5 minutes q Using the Figure ATE. Students use the photo in the chapter opener to hypothesize why plants in the rain forest canopy might be better adapted for the desert than a wet region. q Bellringer Bellringer Transparency, ATE. Ask students to brainstorm a working definition for the term environment.

MOTIVATE 5 minutes

q Identifying Preconceptions Understanding Environmental Problems, ATE. Students


discuss how local environmental problems may be part of a larger global problem. (General)

TEACH 30 minutes
q Reading Skill Builder Brainstorming, ATE. Students generate a list of fields of study that contribute to environmental science and compare it to Table 1. (Basic) q Skill Builder Vocabulary, ATE. Students list meanings for common suffixes and prefixes used in science, including -ology, at the back of their EcoLog. (General) q Teaching Transparency Major Fields that Contribute to Environmental Science. Students should think of how an environmental scientist might use information from each major field. q Reading Skill Builder Reading Organizer, ATE. Students create a concept map of fields of study that contribute to environmental science. (General)

HOMEWORK 30 minutes

q Mid-Section Review SE. Assign questions 15 for review, homework, or as a quiz.

Block 2
TEACH 30 minutes q Skill Builder Writing, ATE. Students list positive and negative effects of the Industrial Revolution and then write a short essay on whether or not the Industrial Revolution has improved quality of life. (Advanced)

q QuickLab Classifying Resources, SE. Students classify resources that make up classroom objects as renewable and nonrenewable. (General) q Skill Builder Math, ATE. Students calculate how much rainforest is being cleared in different time periods, based on a rate of 26 hectares per minute. (General) q Using the Figure Population Growth, ATE. Students look at Figure 11 and then make their own estimates of the world population in 2050. (General)

CLOSE 10 minutes
q Section Quiz Section 1, CRF. Students answer ten questions that review the lesson content. (General) Also in Spanish q Concept Review Worksheet, Science and the Environment, CRF, Study Guide. Complete worksheets for this chapter. (General) Also in Spanish

HOMEWORK 30 minutes
q Section Review Section 1. Assign questions 16 for review, homework, or quiz. q Active Reading Worksheet Section 1, CRF. This exercise assesses reading comprehension of the material covered in the section. (Basic)

OTHER RESOURCE OPTIONS


q Inclusion Strategies ATE. Students create environment postcards by gluing magazine photos to index cards. q Reading Warm-Up SE. Have students answer the questions in their EcoLog. q Homework Tasmanian Tigers, ATE. Students research the status of the Tasmanian tiger to discover whether it is extinct or still living in Tasmania. (General) q Alternative Assessment Identifying Causes, ATE. Students classify environmental problems as examples of resource depletion, pollution, extinction, or a combination and identify which are local, regional, or global issues. (General) q Reading Skill Builder Paired Reading, ATE. Paired students take turns reading aloud from the text and listening and taking notes. Students put notes in outline form. (Basic) q go.hrw.com For resources and reference materials that go with the textbook, visit the HRW website and type in the keyword HE6 Home. q Video Select Videos related to the chapter topics may be found at go.hrw.com. Type in keyword HE4 SENV. q Internet Connect Careers in Environmental Science, SciLinks code: HE4010. Students use Internet sources to find out about careers in environmental science. q Guided Reading Audio CD Program Science and the Environment Script. Assign Section 1. The audio program is a reading of the chapter content for ELL students, auditory learners, and struggling readers.

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