“I am going to read a list of items and I want you to think about if the item is something that you need or something you want. What is the difference between a want and a need?” Have students discuss this. “When you WANT something, you wish you can have it, but you can live without it. When you NEED something, you HAVE to have it, it’s essential. And you can’t live without it.” Place Want and Need signs (S-K2-17-1_Want and Need Signs.doc) on the floor across from each other. “If you think this item is a want, stand next to the Want sign, and if you think it is a need stand next to the Need sign.” After saying each item, have students explain why they chose to stand there. Here is the list of items: food, clean air, toys, computers, cars, materials to build a house, money, clothes, friends, medicines, agriculture, animals, plants, soil, and any other items you would like to add. “Some of the items that I listed were natural resources. Do you know what natural resources are?” Write the term natural resources on the board or a large piece of paper. Read this passage by the poet Carmen Agra Deedy:
Everything comes from something,
Nothing comes from nothing.
Just like paper comes from trees,
And glass comes from sand.
“Natural resources come from the environment. Many of them are essential for our survival while others are used for satisfying our wants. Let’s make a list of natural resources that you know and use.” Write down answers from students on the board or piece of paper. Some examples could be agriculture, air, plants, animals, coal, fossil fuels, rock and mineral resources, forestry, soils, and water. You may need to guide students if they are not coming up with answers. Write the terms renewable resources and nonrenewable resources on the board. Explain to students that renewable resources can be replenished or reproduced easily such as sunlight, air, and wind. Others can be used up by humans but can be replenished such as agriculture plants, while others take a long time to replenish, such as forests. Nonrenewable resources are formed over long periods of time. Minerals and fossil fuels cannot be replenished once they get used. It takes millions and millions of years for fossil fuels to form, so they are nonrenewable natural resources. Explain fossil fuels and how oil is one of the most important natural resources.
“Natural resources are something of value people get from the environment, such as air, water, plants, animals, rocks, and minerals. We depend on natural resources to survive and nearly everything we use involves natural resources in some way. But our need for natural resources affects the environment. How could the environment be impacted?” Have students discuss. Have students share ways they use natural resources. Some examples could be: We use plants for food and many other uses. We use trees to make paper products, but we also harvest wood for building materials and to make furniture. We use animals like cattle for food and dairy products, but we also rely on them for leather. We use rocks and minerals to make a variety of materials, including glass, metal, and ceramics. We convert fossil fuels into energy to power and heat our homes and fuel modes of transportation, including planes, buses, boats, and cars. We also use petroleum, a fossil fuel, to make a variety of materials, including plastics.
Write the words conservation and sustainability on the board. Help your students understand that people are using up natural resources faster than they can be replaced. For example, forests are being cut down in order to supply our demand for wood and land. “Our dependence on natural resources is creating many problems in the environment, including loss of habitat for plants and animals and pollution. Collecting and burning fossil fuels for energy can damage the environment, polluting air, water, and land.” More information about conservation and natural resources can be found at: http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/conservation/.
Brainstorm different ways people can conserve natural resources. Create a chart with students. Record student responses. “We can conserve water by taking shorter showers, turning off faucets when we do not need running water, and fixing leaky pipes. We can recycle glass, metal, paper, and plastic to conserve and protect our natural resources. We can reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use by turning off lights and appliances when we do not need them, using public transportation and carpooling, and riding bikes instead of driving.”
- Sing the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle song at
- http://www.teachnology.com/worksheets/early_childhood/songs/recycle/
Activity 1
Prior to the activity, cut out brown construction paper to create a tree trunk. Display the trunk in the classroom. Read through the activity’s directions (S-K2-17-1_Truffula Tree Directions.pdf).
Begin the lesson by reading aloud The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Some students may have heard this story before but it is a wonderful story to hear again. Stop and discuss the changes to the natural resources of land and the consequent effects on each animal in the story (Brown loots, Swomee swans, Humming fish). “The land was beautiful, and colorful trees grew everywhere until... Once-ler came to town. The land was left gray and desolate. There is only one tree seed left, and it is up to the reader to decide what will be done with it. What would you do with it?” Ask students questions about the story:
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“Why did the Once-ler keep ‘biggering and biggering’ his factory?”
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“What do you think he could have done differently while still ‘biggering’ his business?”
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“Can you cut down trees but still keep enough in the forest for animals?”
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“How do trees help the Earth: plants, animals, and air?”
Discuss the word environment. “What makes up an environment?” Ask about the environment in the story. Ask what kinds of environment students know. Explain how environment is indoors and outdoors, good and bad, country and city: it is wherever we are. Brainstorm how to correct problems and issues in The Lorax and in our world (e.g., protecting and renewing natural resources, not dumping waste into ponds, replanting trees, keeping the air clean, etc.).
Give students one precut Truffula leaf (S-K2-17-1_Truffula Leaf Stencil.doc). “With your truffula leaf I want you to write and draw how you would solve the Lorax problem.” Have students share possible answers if students need additional ideas. After students complete their truffula leaf, staple or tape on to the pre-made trunk and have students share ideas with the class.
For additional discussion questions and activities that accompany The Lorax, go to http://www.idle-free.info/Images/lorax_activity.pdf.
“We need certain things to survive. We use natural resources daily. Our activities affect the environment so it is important to be aware of this and help the problem.” Have students do a think-pair-share with a classmate and discuss how they use natural resources and how they could conserve natural resources at home and school. Have students share with the class.
Extension:
- This activity is for students who might need an opportunity for additional learning:
- Using the example “paper comes from trees,” ask students to create an illustration that shows both paper and trees. Have students research where the paper your students use is made, and where the trees used to make it were grown. Additionally, students could pick a product and find information about their product:
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Name of product
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Name of a natural resource used in the product
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Is this a renewable or nonrenewable resource?
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Where does this resource come from?
More information about this extension can be found at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/16/gk2/everything.html
