Human Use of Resources—This Land is Your Land Summary: The classroom-based This Land is Your Land lesson plan from TeachEngineering.org is designed for 4th grade students, with scaling suggestions for 3rd and 5th graders. Because the instructor uses maps of the local area, the activity is place-based, relevant and supports potential field experiences. “In this […]
Place—Field Trip Sites Summary: Planning a field trip to learn about the Oregon coast? Connect students with your field trip destination prior to your visit, to better prepare them for the experience and to reduce some of the novelty that could inhibit effective use of time while on site. Concepts to teach: Preparation Phase, spatial […]
Place—Mapping the Connection Summary: This focus area begins with the recognition that the ability to read and understand maps is essential to place-based learning, and can help students construct ideas about the relationship between where they live and the ocean. Students practice reading different kinds of maps, and they use maps to find out how […]
Stewardship—Citizen Biomonitoring Summary: Students contribute to the scientific understanding of a local ecosystem by collecting water quality data and reporting results to the community. Concepts to teach: Stewardship, action, water quality, process of scientific inquiry Goals: Students engage in scientific inquiry and come to see themselves as scientists as they collect and report data about […]
Stewardship—Landscaping Projects Summary: In the previous topic guides, students learned about the human impacts affecting land and water ecosystems. In this topic guide, students take action to improve or restore a local area to improve the health of the ecosystem. Concepts to teach: Ecosystem, habitat, stewardship, sustainability, invasive species, erosion Goals: Students plan improvements to […]
Human Impacts—Invasive Species Impacts Summary: The Oregon Sea Grant Extension WISE Program (Watershed and Invasive Species Education) provides teacher resources for teaching about invasive species in Oregon. WISE teachers have created, tested and posted their lesson plans online, and we highlight some of those projects in this focus area. Concepts to teach: Invasive species Goals: […]
Human Impacts—Effects of Erosion Summary: Students explore their schoolyard or other local site to determine how human activity may have impacts on animal habitats, animal populations, and/or plant populations. Concepts to teach: Habitat, adaptation, erosion, impervious surfaces, invasive species, turbidity Goals: Students will apply their knowledge about land use to their local outdoor site, and […]
Human Use of Resources—Water Use Summary: How much water do we use? By exploring online water use resources and conducting personal surveys at home and in the classroom, students will gain an understanding of how humans utilize water resources. Concepts to teach: Water use, resource, conservation Goals: Students will gain a better understanding of the […]
Human Use of Resources—Land Plan Challenge Summary: Community planning can balance human needs and the health of natural resources. In this classroom modeling activity from Windows to the Universe, “students use simplified maps to plan towns, being conscious of water resources, and then learn how their town fits into the larger community.” Concepts to teach: […]
Human Use of Resources—Land Use and Land Cover Summary: Students use Google Earth to make land use maps, and compare current and historic land uses. Concepts to teach: Land use, land cover, Google Earth, historical changes in land use Goals: Students become familiar with using Google Earth mapping software to learn more about and identify […]