What does it mean to be green? This was the question I asked the class as I introduced them to our unit on Planet Earth and global warming. It was no surprise that when I asked them this question the room grew silent and they all stared at me like I had 6 heads. The silence continued for about five minutes until one brave soul raised his hand and shouted, “It means your sick!” Then another said, “It means to dress up for Halloween” and another, “It means like…like… like on Sponge Bob when he ate something green and it turned him all green!”. Well at that moment I knew that we had a long journey ahead of us.
Over the next few weeks we will be learning about Planet Earth. We will learn about what Earth gives us, what it needs from us, and what we can do to help it. The class decided on this unit after I read a story that I came across titled “ Just A Dream” by Chris Vansllsburg. The story was about a boy who saw the future in a dream and he saw the world was not what he expected. The kids were very upset about some of the issues that came up and instantly wanted to do something to help our planet so that in the future it is what they expect it to be.
So here we are at the beginning of our unit study of Planet Earth. Today we learned that being green means to act like a friend by doing thoughtful and giving things toward Earth. We learned that Earth helps to keep us safe, provides us with a home, gives us things that keep us healthy and gives us places to see. For example it gives us trees to climb, camping, beaches, fishing, animals, soil for plants, food, air and water. Lastly, we learned about electricity and how we can get electricity from natural resources such as the sun, wind, and water.
This is a new unit for me so I will be learning right along with the kids. They seem to be really excited about the unit and look forward to doing fun activities to help make earth a better place. If you have any ideas or suggestion feel free to post them. You can see what we are working on by clicking the link to the right that says Earth Unit. I will be posting new information daily so check back often.
