Lesson+2+-+Deciding+directions

= = =** Lesson 2 - Deciding Directions **=

Identifying Environmental Issues
The teacher works with students to analysis environmental issues and determine a focus for the unit. During this stage students and the teacher need to ask and answer a range of basic questions to decide a specific focus as a whole class.
 * Deciding directions**

Students develop their awareness of how and why natural factors (for example, changes in the weather) and human activities affect their environment and their lives.
 * Learning focus

Contributing focus question In this lessons students will be looking at why environmental issues are important and how they affect their lives and the lives of others.

Lesson objective(s)** Students will develop an understanding of what is meant by the concept of global warming after reading the story //The Polar Bears' Home// and develop their knowledge about the reasons why these environmental issues are important. After a group discussion, students will determine what environmental issue that has been discussed that they are concerned about and want to find out more about. As a class and with teacher guidance, students will decide what it is they want to focus on in terms of the environmental issues of concern, and develop a range of questions that they want to find answers to in this unit of study.


 * Materials**
 * //The Polar Bears' Home - A story about global warming// by Lara Bergen
 * A4 white paper
 * Coloured Pencils


 * Duration** - 60 minutes


 * __Introduction__**

Remind students of the previous lesson and ask students to recall the environmental issues discussed last lesson. Have a short discussion about this and asking students to put up their hand to share their ideas and what they have learnt.

Explain to students that today we are going to read a story about global warming. Ask students to put up their hand if they can tell you what global warming is. Clarify with students that global warming is the rise in the temperature of the earths surface that has been continually increasing over time.

Before reading the story, //The Polar Bears' Home - A story about global warming//, ask students to predict what they think might happen in the story.


 * __Body__**

Have a group discussion with students about the story just read to them. Ask students what happened to the polar bears' home? Why was it that their home was melting away? What do you think might happen if the polar bears' home keeps on melting?

Defer students thinking to why are environmental issues important? As a group create a list of reasons why environmental issues are important. Provide examples of environmental issues for students and ask them why they think these are problems for our environment.

Ask students to write and draw a picture of an environmental issue that they are concerned about. Have a list of environmental issues on the board for those students to choose from if they can not think of one.
 * Global warming
 * Saving energy
 * Saving water
 * Recycling


 * __Conclusion__

When students have finished ask students to sit in a circle and share their picture of the environmental issue they are concerned about, asking students why they think this issue is important.

As a class, ask students to brainstorm a range of questions that they would like to find out about the environmental issue that they are concerned about. Write students questions on the board that you can later transfer to the display area for the unit.

Some good initial questions for deciding direction for a unit include: **
 * What would happen if...?
 * What are we likely to see when...?
 * How can we explain...?
 * Why is this happening?

Collect students posters of their environmental issue concerns and place on the display area for the unit. Create a poster of the questions that students came up with and place on display also. It is a good idea when using inquiry learning in a unit of study to have stages of the inquiry process displayed around the classroom also. For example for deciding direction you would have the students posters of their concerns and the questions that they want to find out about. It might be a good idea to rename some of the stages to language that students are familiar with at level 1.