The Environmental Explorer  Jill Conner  Highland Park School

Overview of Lesson		Materials
Connection to the Curriculum,Standards and Skills		Body of Lesson - Procedure & Assessment
Grade Level		Activity One
Purpose of Lesson		Assessment of Lesson
Primary Geographic Question		References
Secondary Questions

Overview of the Lesson

People use the environment in many different ways.  They use it to meet their basic needs, such as providing fresh drinking water and food.  People change the environment by building houses, constructing reservoirs to store fresh water, or to level a hill for a shopping center.  The look of the environment in any one place is the result of both natural features, such as vegetation, soil, and climate, and human features, such as, buildings, roads, and other things people have made.

Geography Standards

Standard 4:  The physical and human characteristics of places.

Standard 14:  How human actions modify the physical environment.

Standard 18:  How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

Alabama Course of Study:  Social Studies Content Standards (Grade 7)

Standard 7:  Evaluate the impact of human activity on landscapes over time using maps and graphs.

Standard 12:  Predict the short- and  long-term effects of human activity on the physical environment.

Standard 14:  Identify changes over time in an ecosystem resulting from human intervention.

Standard 28:  Identify changes over time indicating the process of urban growth in the United States.

Geographic Skills

Acquiring geographic information: observe the natural environment and chart the activities and effects of human intervention. Interpreting spatial data; identifying environmental problems.

Grade 7

To observe, analyze, and evaluate the environment to determine ways in which human have altered the natural environment.

To what extent should people be able to alter or modify the environment?

If it is okay to alter the environment, what ways should it be altered and to what extent?

If the environment is permanently changed or damaged, how might this affect the future?

• One copy of the "Environmental Explorer Data Sheet" handout for each student
• Poster Paper and Markers
• Paper plus (+) and minus (-) signs that are large enough to be seen across the classroom.
• Brief statements on environmental issues (prepared by teacher)
• News articles about environmental issues (optional)
• Overhead projector (optional)

Activity One

• Introduce students to the term "environment".  Begin a discussion on the natural features and the human features of the environment and how they are different.  Explain that people make changes to the environment in order to live.  But, these changes are viewed differently by different people and cultural groups.
• Distribute the handout "Environmental Explorer data Sheet".  Have students read the questions.  Tell them that they will be going outside to observe the environment around the school and to fill out their data sheets.  Give students a time limit for observations and set boundaries for their exploration.  Then send the students outside as a class, in groups, or individually to complete this activity.
• As students return to the classroom, have them list their discoveries of the natural and human environments on poster paper or an overhead transparency.  After each student has contributed at least one observation, read aloud the observations that have been listed in each category.  Discuss observations and responses of the students to this activity.
• Students may find that not every feature fits into one of the two categories.  Suggest they add a third category of "adapted environment".  Have students cross out features in the other categories that should be put in the new category, and discuss why there is a need for this category.
• Write a list of statements about environmental issues that you will read to students to elicit their opinions.  The subject matter may be related to the local, national, or global environment.  Some samples might include:
• Local
• New homes should be built next to the park.
• The marsh at the edge of town should be filled.
• National
• The U.S. should prohibit all offshore oil drilling
• More land should be protected as national parks.
• Global
• Pollutants, such as fossil fuels that contribute to global warming, should be controlled, or alternative energy sources should be developed.
• Commercial fisherman should have the right to fish wherever they want.
• Post a plus sign for agreement and minus sign for disagreement at opposite ends of the room.  Have students stand in the center of the room while you read the statement.  If students agree with the statement, they should move to the plus sign.  The closer to the sign, the more they agree with the statement.  They may choose to stay in the middle, indicating a neutral position or move toward the minus sign for disagreement.  After students are positioned, have them explain their stance on the issue.  Have them also attempt to explain the opposite of what they believe.  Students may question each other during this activity.
• To conclude, review the terms natural environment, human environment, and adapted environment.  Discuss some of the positive and negative aspects of each environment.  Students may also enjoy creating small murals that depict the natural, human, and adapted features of their local environment.  Have them place small color-coded stickers on features to represent each of three environments discussed.

Give students a list of ten environmental features and ask them to categorize each as natural, human, or adapted.  Ask students to write letters to the editor of the local newspaper stating their positions on local environmental issues.  Have students sign and mail the best-written and defended letters.

Environmental Explorer Exercise by the National Geographic Society