Science Curriculum Unit: Grade 5
Lesson:
“Green” houses: learning about
good environmental practices.
VSC Standard:
Recognize and explain that decisions influencing the use of natural
resources may have benefits, drawbacks, unexpected consequences and
trade-offs.
Time Frame: 2-3,
30 minute lessons, plus additional time at home.
Overview:
Students will read an article from the Time for Kids website on a “green
house. As a whole group, the class will visit
the Smart Home website and brainstorm ideas for their own “green houses.” They will develop a list of items that could
be included in their model.
As a longer term project, students will work at home
and create a model green home incorporating at least 5 elements learned from
the class research.
Time
for Kids.com
This is a link to an article on the green home featured at the Chicago
Museum of Science and Industry. http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1890235,00.html
(date viewed 10/17/09)
The
Smart Home An overview
of the exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. The overview contains pictures and text as
well as a link to a podcast with the architect.
By using all of these elements the teacher could reach the varied types
of learners within the classroom. http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/smart-home/
(date viewed 10/17/09)
Best On-line News Sources for Elementary and Middle
School
National Public Radio http://www.npr.org/ (date viewed 10/17/09)
Time
for Kids http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids
(date viewed 10/17/09)
Scholastic
New for Kids http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/scholasticNews.jsp?FromBrowseMod=true&Ns=Pub_Date_Sort|1&CurrPage=scholasticNews.jsp&TopicValue=Scholastic%20News
(date viewed 10/17/09)
The experts agree that in order for children to
become competent, life- long learners they must be able to read and interpret
nonfiction material. Current events have
the ability to connect real life with learning.
Students can immediately see the relevancy of a topic because it is
something that has really happened. In
addition, current events can be used across the curriculum. There are news stories that are relevant to
science, language arts, math, technology… the list goes on and on. Finally, current events can provide
connections to students as humans. It
helps people relate around the world.
In my opinion, the most important factor a new
source must have is reliable, unbiased information. Because of this, I believe NPR is the best
source for news. National Public Radio
is a privately supported nonprofit that provides news, talk and entertainment
without commercials. I find their
website to be engaging and organized. In
addition to national and world news, they have a local focus as well. The content on the website includes articles,
photographs, audio and video.
Due to the fact that my lessons would be tailored to
elementary and younger middle school students, I chose the two student centered
news websites. I believe those sites
would provide the right level of reading and content. I think the two websites are easy to navigate
and visually appealing to students. I also
appreciate that any advertising is minimal and would be appropriate for the age
level of the students.
My other favorite news website is the Washington
Post online. http://www.washingtonpost.com/
I find their website to be relatively easy to
navigate, although I prefer to read the actual paper because it is more
comprehensive on a daily basis. The
Washington Post would be a good source for local and national news. Although, if I used this site in a lesson, I
would try to link directly tothe article in order to avoid pop up advertising.