Topic: Taking care of nature

Author: Zyta Sendecka

Target group

Students of the 4th grade of an elementary school (new core curriculum).

Core curriculum

The general aim of education

The students suggest actions to improve the condition of the natural environment.

Criteria of success

• You will name examples of everyday activities that affect the condition of the natural environment,

• suggest actions to improve the condition of the natural environment.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in a foreign language;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences;

• cultural awareness and expression.

Methods / forms of work

Map of associations and directed conversation.

Individual work and work in pairs.

Teaching aids

• abstract;

• interactive or traditional board;

• tablets/computers;

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

Realization

1. The teacher gives the students wide paper strips and instructs them to clearly write or draw associations that come to their minds in relation to the topic of the lesson (time of work: a maximum of 15 minutes).

2. After the set time passes, the teacher writes the words „NATURE PROTECTION” in the middle of the board, and the students pin their cards around the words, read aloud what they wrote, or tell what they drew.

3. On the basis of this association map, the teacher initiates a conversation about the ways of taking care of the environment. The map remains on the blackboard until the end of the classes.

4. The teacher presents the students a photo gallery informing about threats for nature posed by man. The students and the teacher discuss the slides. The teacher conducts a conversation focused on the content of the presentation, asks the students how to prevent or repair the harm done to the environment.

5. The students do exercise 2 themselves.

6. The teacher presents the students the interactive ilustration entitled „How effectively do we use space while travelling” without showing its title. The teacher asks the students to work in pairs to come up with a title for this graphic.

7. The teacher writes down the students’ proposals, and then each student approaches and assigns a point to the proposals (each pupil has 2 points to assign), drawing a dash under the proposal. The teacher presents the title to the students and together they reflect on the accuracy of the title invented and selected by the students and the one proposed in the abstract.

Summary

1. At the end, the teacher proposes to return to the map of associations made at the beginning. Eager students receive strips of paper in a different colour and write down their thoughts enriched with the knowledge acquired during the classes.

2. The teacher asks the students to independently perform exercise 1.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Taking care of nature

All of us enjoy trips to the forest, park or riverside. Sometimes, however, the beauty of the landscape is ruined by trash laying around or noisy music. If we want to enjoy nature around us we must leave it intact. Everything we do has impact on our environment. What should we do to minimise this impact?

Environmental protection is not only about protecting areas where plants and animals live. Many of our habits and activities have a huge impact on the condition in which we leave the surrounding nature. You can also analyze your behavior and assess whether you care about the environment. Let's start by tracking the activities you do from the morning - answer a few questions:

• Do you turn off the water saving it when cleaning your teeth?

• Do you turn off the light when leaving the empty room?

• Do you use energy‑saving light bulbs at home?

• When preparing a meal, do you use products from industrial or organic farming?

We need water for drinking and washing. A lot of water is used by agriculture and industry. Poland – compared to other European countries – has poor resources of water available for human use; water resources are limited - you cannot abstract it forever. This is the reason why we should try to save it. You and your family may save water by washing more clothes at one go rather than dividing them up into several smaller batches.

And how do you save electricity? Remember not only to turn off the lights, but also to unplug TV sets, computers and other devices you are not using currently. Even though one device may use little electricity, more devices consume huge amounts of it.

Every day we may behave in a way which is beneficial or harmful to nature. Make sure that you put your litter in the right bins, rather than just throw it on the pavement. You will also benefit the environment, if instead of taking a car you use a bike, public transport or simply walk to work or school. When shopping make sure the products you buy are not covered with excessive amount of plastic. It is also a good idea to learn where they come from. It takes a lot of fuel to transport products from a far‑away place in Poland or Europe.

• The activities performed by us every day have a big impact on the state of the environment.

• Activities conducive to nature are, for example, saving water and electricity.

• It is worth taking part in social actions aimed at environmental protection.