Earth Rounds: What Fraction of the Earth Can Support Life?

Sometimes kids think Earth has unlimited resources and they don't realize that only a small part of our planet is habitable. Edible Earth Rounds is a tasty activity you can use to demonstrate this concept, and it's a great way to sneak in a fraction lesson, too! Each student will use half an English muffin or sandwich round to create a model of the earth. They'll use jelly to represent the part of our Earth covered with water, peanut butter or almond butter for the land, and other food items to represent the uninhabitable and habitable parts of the land. Check out the photos below for a quick overview of what's involved.

When you introduce the activity, you might want to spend a few minutes discussing the terms "habitable," "inhabitable," and "uninhabitable." Did you know that "habitable" and "inhabitable" are actually synonyms? Usually the prefix "in" means "not," but apparently "inhabitable" is the exception to that rule. Therefore, the only form that means "not able to be inhabited" is "uninhabitable." Are you confused yet? :-)

Green Court Claims Freebie

Common Core Aligned for Reading Informational Text and all Speaking & Listening Standards

About a month ago, I shared a special activity I developed for Earth Day called Green Court Claims. You can read my blog post, "Green Companies? Let the Jury Decide!" for a full explanation of the activity. For now, I'll just share that students investigate companies' claims that their products are "green" or earth-friendly. Students research the facts behind the claim, discuss the arguments on both sides, and present those claims to their classmates. Their classmates become the jury and decide whether those claims are valid in order to reach a verdict. You'll find everything you need in this free lesson packet on my Science page on Teaching Resources. You'll find the Common Core Alignment details at the back of the packet.

The first time I shared Green Court Claims, it was completely untested in the classroom. The only reason I shared it without testing it was because Earth Day was fast approaching and I felt it would be a perfect activity for that special day. So I asked a few bloggers to test out the lesson with their students, and Mandy Neal of Teaching with Simplicity immediately offered to try it with her 4th grade class. I was excited to learn that her class loved it, and that she felt it was a really worthwhile experience for them. You can read about their green claim investigations in her blog post, "You Be the Judge."  After I was assured that everything worked out as planned, I compiled all the directions and student printables in one packet to share with you.

You'll find this activity along with loads of other free materials on my Teaching Resources Science page. Even if you don't teach science, I think this lesson would make a terrific class activity for a study of propaganda, or an excellent jumping-off point for a lesson on writing persuasive essays. If you use the lesson, I'd love for you to return and leave a comment to share how it worked for you. What "green" claims have you read or seen recently that you suspect are not particularly friendly to the environment? When you start looking for them, they are easy to find!






Laura Candler
Teaching Resources

Just a Dream to Save Our Planet

A few weeks ago I posted a question on Facebook asking teachers to tell me their favorite book to read aloud for Earth Day. Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg was the top recommendation, but I had not read it before. I always like his books, so I immediately ordered it from Amazon.com. It's a beautiful picture book about a boy named Walter who imagines an exciting future on Earth - until he has a dream with a series of episodes that take him on an unforgettable adventure. Walter sees what will happen to the Earth if we don't take better care of our planet.

What a great introduction to environmental issues and problems! Thanks to everyone who recommended it. It was written in 1990 so I'm not quite sure how I missed this treasure!

I had so much fun creating a set of activities based on the theme of this book!  Just a Dream to Save Our Planet starts with a quick Think-Pair-Share for students to discuss their visions of the future and is followed by a read-aloud session. After that, you can choose from several cooperative learning and writing activities.

You can download this free packet to go with Just a Dream from my TeachersPayTeachers store. Everything is explained in the teacher directions, but here's a quick list of what you'll find:

• 8 prepared discussion cards
• 4 blank discussion cards
• 9 cards describing the events
• A graphic organizer for sorting the event cards into categories
• Problem-Solution graphic organizers for the environmental issues   

Why am I giving this 15-page packet away for free? I guess because I think it's so important for all kids to explore environmental issues and discuss ways to protect our Earth. So it's my gift to you, and I hope you will make this lesson your gift to your students!

Green Companies? Let the Jury Decide!

Critical Thinking, Researching, and Writing Freebie

Have you noticed how often companies imply that their products or services are “green,” or environmentally friendly? But are they really “going green”? Or are they are just trying to look good and give the impression that their company is helping the Earth?

I started thinking about this when I was looking at label on a jar of peanuts. In bold letters at the top it said “85% Less Packaging” which sounds like a good thing.

But then underneath it in small letters it said “Than glass jar by weight.” So is this good for the environment?

Glass jars which are 100% recyclable have been replaced with plastic jars that are the same size but weigh less. Plastic is bad for the environment; it’s not fully recyclable like glass, and it takes hundreds of years to degrade in a landfill.

So why would a company switch to plastic if it’s not good for the environment? Could it be that plastic is cheaper? Could it be that reducing the product’s weight makes it cheaper for them to ship those jars? I know I'm making inferences, but it sounds to me like they have switched to plastic to save themselves money. Yet they are promoting the switch as being good for the environment! Boo on them!

This situation made me realize that we as teachers have a unique opportunity to encourage critical thinking about environmental issues. We can ask our students to look at these types of claims and evaluate them for themselves.

Take It to Green Court!
Did you ever see the animated kids’ show called Science Court? Someone would sue a company, and the case would end up in Science Court.  The scientific basis for the claim was examined, the jury discussed the evidence, and a verdict was reached. Why not do something similar to examine environmental claims and call it “Green Court”? As soon as the inspiration hit, I knew I had to create a packet of teaching materials to put this idea into action!

Since I no longer have a classroom where I can test out my crazy schemes, Mandy Neal, tested it with her students, and she shared their experiences on her blog, Teaching with Simplicity. As I had hoped, it turned out to be an engaging lesson that activated critical thinking, researching, writing, and discussion skills. Her kids had fun, but they were learning to be critical thinkers, and more importantly, they were also discussing some serious pretty serious real life issues.

Green Court Claims Freebie
After getting feedback from Mandy, I organized all of the lesson resources in one downloadable PDF file and added the CCSS alignment information to the end of the packet. I originally created this freebie for Earth Day, but it's a terrific lesson any day of the year. You can use it when studying propaganda in advertising, as a social studies lesson about the court system, an environmental science lesson, or a research and writing activity. The lessons are aligned with Common Core Informational Text Standards for grades 4, 5, and 6, as well as the Speaking and Listening Standards for all grades.

You'll find the Green Court Claims freebie on my Science page in the Teaching Resources file cabinet. You can also find it on my Laura's Best Freebies page when you sign up for Candler's Classroom Connections. I hope you and your students enjoy this lesson!