Kenneth P. Rogers
Curriculum unit's purpose is to familiarize the middle grade student with the environmental concerns with the modern world. This is a survey course on solving ecological problems. It introduces the student to basic ecological terminology and explores the difficulties when making decisions about the environment
The unit carefully examines the three main areas of pollution; land, air and water. Each area is analyzed extensively by looking at actual examples of problems that exist.
The strength of the curriculum is when the students are presented with case studies and asked to make decisions concerning what to do about a specific problem and decide where the monies will come from and how much will be spent to correct the problem. They also look at what may happen if they decide to do nothing about the problem.
There is a vast array of interdisciplinary activities that can be adopted in the use of this curriculum. Heavy stress is placed on Social Studies and the art of compromise and working with others. However, there is a lot involved in the areas of math, science, geography, language arts, and reading. A lot of the activity utilizes cooperative and small group learning situations.
(Developed for Environmental Science and Science, grade 5; recommended for Environmental Science and Science, grades 5-8)
