• 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.

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. 

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.