Giving Tree / Poems for the Green Age

By Deborah Aracic, Independent Elementary School, Castro Valley Unified School District

In response to Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree and Pat Moon's Earth lines: poems for the Green Age, children discuss the importance of trees and forests; a project depicting the student's image of forests and describing their ideas about protecting them is produced. (A simple topo map and a 3-D model will have been produced previously.)

Grade: 1

Focus Question: Why are forests important?

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Using reading comprehension skills to respond to and discuss the poems and stories
• Learning about environmental interaction
• Learning fundamental mapping skills
• Using writing skills to describe feelings about forests and forest protection

California Academic Standards Addressed:

Literary Response and Analysis 3A.2, 4A.1, 4B.2, 4C.1, 4D.1, 6A.2, 6B.1
Social Studies 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3
Science 1A, 1E, 3A, 3B, 3D, 3F

By Leah Aguilera, Redwood Day School

Visualization activity involving the book Water Dance being read aloud omitting the word "water"; discussion of forms and properties of water; writing exercise involving imagining being inside a water drop

Focus Question: What's water really like?

Grade: 2, 3

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Comprehending water's natural properties
• Learning about water's importance to life
• Thinking about water as a limited resource

Lakes and Rivers in Folktale and Reality

By Diane Wang, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, San Leandro Unified School District

Comparison of folktales featuring the Siberian Lake Baikal and the Chinese Lake Dongting in conjunction with study of maps and geography (mineral and water cycles)

Grade: 4

Focus Question: What do folktales tell us about the rivers and lakes of Siberia and China?

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students will learn ways in which folktales have been used to describe significant features of rivers and lakes
• Students will learn about the interdependence of rivers and lakes in the water cycle
• Students will become familiar with the physical aspects and cultural significance of Lake Baikal and Lake Dongting
• Students will learn about environmental changes to river and lake systems

California Academic Standards Addressed:

Language Arts Content Standards: Structural Features of Literature 3.1; Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level Appropriate Text 3.4; Writing Applications 2.4
History Social Studies Framework: Geographic Literacy
Science Content Standards: Life Science 3; Earth Sciences 5; Investigation and Analysis 6a
Math Content Standards: Number Sense 1.6; Measurement and Geometry 1.4; Mathematical Reasoning 1.1, 1.2, 2.0; Statistics, Data Analysis and Probability 1.3

By Stephen Pedersen, Marina Middle School, San Francisco Unified School District

Collection and analysis of waste around school site; field trip to NorCal Waste Systems

Grade: 6

Focus Question: When you "throw something away," where is "away?"

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students will gain an awareness and knowledge of human-generated waste and the way it is treated
• Students will learn about practices which reduce consumption and waste and the relationship between these practices and natural resource conservation

California Academic Standards Addressed:

Social Studies Content Standards 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.2.1, 6.5.1

By Andrea Maoki, Melrose Leadership, Oakland Unified School District

Study of Popul Vuh (reading guide supplied) and performance of playlet derived from it; completion of worksheet on beliefs and features of the Maya

Grade: 7

Focus Question: What were the customs and beliefs of the ancient Maya?

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students learn about using mythology (or other literature) to investigate a people's culture and beliefs
• Students encounter a number of concepts central to another culture, in this case the Maya

California Academic Standards Addressed:

C.D.E. World History 7.7.2, 7.7.4; Writing Applications 7.2.2a-c

By Lynn Tu, Everett Middle School, San Francisco Unified School District

Lecture and discussion of various factors in the fall of feudalism; construction of flow charts showing impacts and interrelationships of these factors (2 class periods)

Grade: 7

Focus Question: Why did feudalism come to an end?

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Increased understanding of the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of Medieval Europe
• Learning which elements of these structures were instrumental in bringing about the end of feudalism and how they interacted
• Recognizing the influence of environmental factors in medieval Europe
• Learning how the new European society differed from the feudal past

California Academic Standards Addressed:

7.6

By Candice Fukumoto, Marina Middle School, San Francisco Unified School District

Synthesizing elements of year-long study of empire growth and decline, each student creates a perfect empire, accompanied by a 5-7-page written description and three-dimensional model

Grade: 7

Focus Question: What would the perfect empire be like?

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Implementation of concepts learned in the study of the rise and fall of empires, specifically their: origins; geography; environmental concerns; government; social structure; culture; economy; transportation

California Academic Standards Addressed:

By Patricia Moses, Golden West Middle School

Each student assigned a river to research using a list of "interview questions"; construction of a scrapbook of current events pertaining to rivers, organized by themes

Grade: 7, 8

Focus Question: What would a river tell you if you could interview it?

Expected Student Learning Questions:

• Students will make connections regarding the geography of regions through rivers
• Students will examine and research information on river systems
• Students will make connections to environmental challenges and history both human and physical
• Students will understand that environmental issues are not new

California Academic Standards Addressed:

World History: 7.1, 7.3, 7.4, 7.6, 7.7; U.S. History 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.12

By Elizabeth Aracic, Miramonte High School, Acalanes Unified High School District

Opening lecture; computer-lab research (resources provided); construction of map depicting journeys of two oral-history focus families and the fictional Joads; group summary; 200-word essay comparing real and fictional experiences

Grade: 9

Focus Question: What was the real experience of the Dust Bowl migrants?

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students will learn about the historical phenomenon of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and be able to compare it with literature describing it
• Students will learn geographical and environmental causes of the Dust Bowl
• Students will acquire a deepened understanding of the experience both of the real-life migrants during the westward migration and of the characters in the Steinbeck novel
• Students will learn how to synthesize data into an integrated map format

California Academic Standards Addressed:

Reading Comprehension (Focus on Informational Materials): 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7; Literary Response: 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6; Writing Strategies: 4.0, 4.5, 4.6; Writing Applications (Genres and their Characteristics): 5.0, 5.2a, 5.2b; Listening and Speaking Strategies: 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9

By Sheri Moore, Global Educator's Network/Consortium, University of Louisville, Kentucky

Grade: K-8

Focus Question: How is a society's culture and history reflected in its landmarks?

Expected Student Learning Outcomes:

• Exposure to important East Asian cultural and historical concepts
• Learning about the history and significance of various heritage sites