This narrative about taking care of the Earth introduces students to the themes and concepts of population growth and ecological stewardship.
The text includes questions for students to consider and simple metaphors for young learners.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The text is designed for teachers to read aloud to students.
The text includes discussion questions and potential answers.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with the words necessary, enrich, ability, and benefit. Consider going over these words in advance with students to increase understanding, or supplement the text with familiar synonyms.
Teachers must provide an email address to access the PDF.
Differentiation
Teachers could read this text to students before embarking on a class project on recycling, reducing waste, preventing litter, or conserving water.
Students could make a list on the board of ways to take care of the Earth. After, students could circle the individual actions (e.g., turn off the faucet while brushing my teeth, always put my trash in a trash can) and underline the community actions (e.g., start a recycling program in the neighborhood, invest in clean energy).
Try pairing this resource with this word web activity, this game about population density and carrying capacity, and this game about sharing resources.
Scientist Notes
The resource highlights the interrelationships existing between nature and humans, and the need to improve sustainable natural resource management to cater to the growing population. This is suitable for the classroom.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
K-ESS3-3 Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.8.K-2 Compare how people in different types of communities use local and distant environments to meet their daily needs.
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.7.K-2 Identify ways to take action to help address local, regional, and global problems.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
