Discuss how families are interdependent with the environment,
and the economy. For example, if we walk rather than ride in the
car we are:
- saving money (economy),
- we are doing a healthy activity (personal well-being,
cutting back on health care costs),
- we are saving resources (economy, environment), and
- cutting back on pollution (environment, well-being
of society).
Make webs to illustrate this interdependence.
- Learn about the four Rs, recycle, reduce, repair, and reuse.
Have students suggest ways that that they can apply each of the
four Rs in the home (e.g., turning lights out when leaving the
room, turning the tap off when brushing teeth). Identify
resource people who may provide suggestions. Interview parents
or older students for ideas. Make a mural, poster, or song to
share these understandings with others.
- Have students pick one action as a personal goal. Make
a template to assess progress.
- Emphasize that each small action helps the environment and that
students' actions are important. Learn aboutother`Rs'
such as rethink and refuse. Help students understand that it is
necessary for us to Rethink our actions. Sometimes we
need to Refuse. We need to refuse to smoke or refuse to
buy certain products.
- Use stories and other resources to learn that people all
over the world and throughout time have valued the importance
of maintaining the balance of nature and that we can use their
wisdom to plan for the future.
- Develop understandings about citizenship. Learn
about responsible citizen behaviour related to looking after
ourselves, others (eg. safety, diet, environment). Incorporate
local or current events that are relevant to the students, for
example, local acts of vandalism. Use poems, songs, and verses
to learn about the local community, province, and country.
- Use stories that show the importance of small contributions.
Help students understand that when dealing with big problems
such as environmental concerns and peace, their actions, no
matter how small, are part of the solution.
- Integrate the environmental aspect of conservation with the
science program, looking at interdependence of plants and
animals.
Assessment of Citizen Action: Decisions About How I Conserve
Resources
How will you try to conserve resources? Choose an objective and
write it on the template. Assess your progress every Friday. Use a
happy face, neutral face, or sad face to indicate your progress in
meeting your objective.
The above rating scale may be used for self or peer assessment of
citizen action. Older students could use a numeric rating scale (1
= great, 2 = okay, 3 = needs improvement). This format could also
be used as a checklist simply indicating with a check mark or
"x" whether the action was completed.
Students and teachers should work together to identify a list of
possible objectives. Students then choose one or a few objectives
they will pursue.
Criteria teachers choose to use for this activity might include:
- Student lists objectives for each week.
Student consistently chooses realistic objectives.
Student meets chosen objectives.
- Student generally/sometimes lists objectives for each week.
Student generally/sometimes chooses realistic objectives.
Student generally/sometimes meets chosen objectives.
- Student seldom lists objectives for each week.
Student seldom chooses realistic objectives.
Student seldom meets chosen objectives.
Social Studies Grade One