Our Fall Unit of StudyMicro-Concept: Resources Macro-Concept : Survival
As the school embraces the importance of service leadership, and the over-arching concept of sustainability, it is first necessary for children to develop an appreciation and an understanding of the importance of nature and what it gives to us to help sustain life. In this unit of study students will explore the precious gifts that nature gives to us. These gifts are known as natural resources. Natural resources are considered “a regions minerals, energy, land, water, forests, wildlife & biodiversity. These resources can be classified into two groups: renewable resources and non-renewable resources. Natural resources have to be conserved for their biological, economic and intrinsic values.” The next goal of this unit is for students to understand that nature gives us materials/resources that we can then turn into products that are useful for us to survive. A system that we’ve set up to help us do that is the “Tree to Factory” model. I want my students to understand that a pencil doesn’t start off as a pencil, or a chocolate bar doesn’t start off as a chocolate bar, but the materials used to make up the pencil or the chocolate bar started with some natural resource that was given to us from nature. The last two concepts that I want students to understand are that communities are built around natural resources and that these resources must be shared. In other words everyone depends on natural resources for their survival, including animals. This unit will set the stage for students to engage in a service leadership project in the spring. During that time students will select a cause, and “do something” about what they discover as they learn about resources, and the distribution or conservation of these resources. Science: We will study wood and paper by looking at the FOSS kit. In the Wood and Paper Module students are introduced to a wide variety of woods and papers in a systematic way. They observe the properties of these materials and discover what happens when they subject them to a number of tests and interactions with other materials. Students learn that wood and paper can be recycled to create new forms of paper or wood that have new properties. Finally, they use what they know about the properties of these marvelous materials as they change wood and paper into a variety of products. Throughout the module, students have many opportunities to make comparisons between different kinds of wood, different types of paper, and wood and paper. The concept of trees as natural resources is introduced, and students become aware of the need to conserve and reuse natural resources. 1. Wood is a resource that comes from different kinds of trees and it can be conserved. 2. Some woods are processed and transformed by people. 3. We will also learn about the foods that nature gives us to keep our bodies healthy Case Study 1): We will learn about the Harvesting, fermentation, drying and the transport of the cacao bean to a factory to produce products for human consumption; specifically we are looking at how a cacao bean becomes a chocolate bar. Case Study 2): We will learn about the process of using of collecting, separating, fortifying, pasteurizing, homogenizing, packaging of Cow’s milk how we use it for many items that we eat (e.g. diary products) Social Studies: · Students will explore the use of natural resources to build communities and create useful products to help people survive. · We will look also at natural resources specific to California and other regions. · Look at man-made processes to produce and distribute resources. · Analyze how some cultures use resources. Literacy: The students will explore and write How To Books. |
Overarching Questions:
How can nature help us to survive? How do we take something from nature and turn it into something useful? Concept Questions: What are raw materials? What is a factory? What are resources? What is a natural resource? How do natural resources help us to survive? What’s the difference between natural resources and man-made resources. Identify some natural resources and man-made resources. What is renewable energy? What’s nonrenewable energy. Content Questions: Social Studies How does a factory work? Where does chocolate come from? Where in nature can you find cacoa beans? How does the land help us to survive? Who needs natural resources? Why? What does "tree to factory" mean? Identify how you can turn a natural resource into a useful product. How do cultures/communities use resources to help them to survive? |