Unit 1: Environmental Media

Target Objectives: Participants will explore some common environmental media resources and learn how to select media resources that develop environmental stewardship.

Unit One Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this unit, participants will:

~Research appropriate sources of environmental media including movies, online resources and books.

~Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using particular media resources with students

~Develop a lesson plan that utilizes an environmental media source.

Overview

There is a wealth of environmental media available for students at any grade level from preschool to college. The two main challenges when selecting media that will encourage stewardship are selecting age appropriate materials, and selecting materials that engender a sense a hope or empowerment. The quintessential environmental text for my generation was The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. The classic line from that book "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not" was a reminder that the power to shape the world we live in resides with us. The story ends with the protagonist holding up his hands to catch a seed that is being entrusted to him, in hopes that he will plant it and nurture it to begin healing a devastated landscape.It ends in a moment of choice and was an inspiration to many young children who read it or had it read to them.

When evaluating sources of environmental media for students, it is important that the sources we share are also hopeful and lead to a sense of empowerment. It is easy to find news clips,documentaries and even children's books about the devastation of the natural world. Our task as educators who wish to inspire students to work for a better world is to find the sources that do not overwhelm and depress them. Here are some hints for evaluating different media sources. Please refer back to these when you are selecting the media source that you will use in your lesson.

Picture Books: Look at the last page. Does the story end with people making a effort to change the situation described? Or, even better, does it tell about progress that has been made to improve the situation that is described? Look for books that end on a hopeful and empowering note, especially for young children who can be quite disturbed by information about environmental problems.

Movies and Movie Clips: Think about the end of the movie. Does it leave you with a sense of hope or with a sense of anger or sadness? When using a clip, the same criteria apply except with the caveat that a short sad clip can be followed up with other information that can put it in a positive context.

Online Resources Online resources must always be evaluated for credibility and safety. Once this has been done a good online resource is one that emphasizes solutions rather than problems. Students should never be directed to sites that describe a problem without describing action that can be taken to solve it.

Reading

Your first reading asignment is to view these two videos and think about whether or not they would be likely to encourage enviornmental stewardship in children.

Starving Polar Bear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JhaVNJb3ag

The Great Kapok Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw0arFtHeVw

Group Discussion

Before posting in this unit you must review some environmental media resources for possible use in your classroom. Your post must contain the following elements.

A brief description or overview of two resources you looked at, including the one you would like to build a lesson around.
Evaluation of the media using the guidelines from the overview of the unit.
Evaluation of the appropriateness for the age group you teach.
Rationale for using this particular media source (what do you hope to teach with it?)
A question you have about this resource, or the way you are using this resource. Your question should be designed to interest your classmates and lead to information or advice that will strengthen your eventual lesson plan.

In your responses to your classmate's posts you should provide helpful information or share experiences that will deepen the class discussion.

Lesson Plan and Peer Review

Choose one of the media resources that you discussed with your classmates. Develop a lesson plan utilizing your media resource. You may use any lesson plan format that you are familiar with as long as you make sure that your objectives align with your instruction. Share your lesson plan with members of your group by Thursday. All lesson plans must be submitted as google docs in comment mode. After resolving your classmates comments, submit your final version on Monday to the professor, also in comment mode. Plans submitted to peers should not contain mechanical errors. They are not proofreading for you, they are providing constructive feedback that will make your lesson plan more effective.

Use the provided peer review questions to guide your comments to your peers. You must review the lesson plan of each member of your 4 person group by Saturday so they will have an opportunity to make revisions and submit a final version on Monday.

Peer Review Questions (Adapted From Temple University Peer Review Questions for Essays):

Are the lesson objectives stated clearly?
Do the activities within the lesson align clearly with the objectives? Are any assessments tied clearly to the objectives?
Identify any places where the rationale or procedures are unclear.How could they be clarified?
Where would you like the writer to have provided more information?
Are there any factual mistakes or logical inconsistencies? If so, where are they and why are they problematic?
Does the lesson plan seem to be appropriate for the age level it is created for?
Name two strengths of the lesson. Was there a particularly memorable detail?
Name two weaknesses of the paper. Are there any strategies you can suggest to the writer to

help him/her remedy these weaknesses?

For Further Study

A listing of environmentally themed children's movies. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/environmental-movies

A listing of environmentally themed children's books. ( I also recommend anything by Lynne Cherry) https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/environmental-books-for-kids

National Environmental Education & Training Foundation. (2000, September). Environmental-based education: Creating high performance schools and students. Retrieved from http://www.neefusa.org/resources/publications.htm#eepubs

Ready to move on? Here's what's Next

Unit 2: The Outdoor Classroom

Target Objectives: Participants will explore the rationale for teaching outdoors and explore their own teaching setting for opportunities to connect students with nature.

To get back to the Home Page go to :

Marie Daniels Mini Course

and follow this character who will show you the required assignments.