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Project Description
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To begin, students brainstorm the concept of Earth resources available to humans, which may also be utilized by other organisms. Students are then separated into collaborative groups to investigate broad categories of resources, including living resources (plant and animal), soil resources, land resources, alternative resources, and sustainable resources. Other resource categories might be considered, depending on the results of the brainstorming activities.
Students are directed to investigate their resource categories by considering four questions: 1) How are the resources affected by the environment? 2) How do the resources affect the environment? 3) How do humans use the resources? and 4) How do humans abuse the resources? The rubric is reviewed with the whole class prior to breakout into separate groups. Each group assigns one group member to record group brainstorming results, and to record the initials of each speaker as she contributes to the discussion.
Each group member is assigned an idea to research for homework, which addresses the main themes generated in the group brainstorming discussion related to their particular research category. Internet and/or print resources can be utilized; the teacher suggests possible keywords or phrases for Internets searches and provides a variety of print resources. (For instance, with regard to plant resources, one student may address populations of plants in various communities, another may consider the role of plants in habitats, another may research how plants define biomes, etc.) Each student will report back to her group about what she found out about her part of the topic. The group will make further decisions regarding what else needs to be determined about the topic.
As she continues to continue researching information about her part of the topic her group is considering, each student should interview three older people (parents, older siblings, neighbors, etc.) about the four questions above. Interview information should be recorded in writing to share with other group members. Alternatively, a student can use her computer to record movie interviews (iMovie), if she has that capability on her computer.
Finally, each group creates a poster about their findings and composes a statement in essay form to present to the group at large at the "EnviroSummit."
The Grade 7 Science curriculum at my school involves a study of human body systems and heredity. As a segue from the Grade 6 Earth Science curriculum, and spiraling back to Grade 5 Ecology, I organized the first six weeks of the academic year into short thematic units about classification, ecosystems, diversity, and interactions. Human involvement in each topic was addressed, culminating in the EnviroSummit at the end of the fifth week. Health is integrated into the Science curriculum. To do so, students considered stewardship of the Earth as a concept related to a healthy lifestyle. |
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Rubric Information
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| Rubric Title | Humans as Environmental Partners |
| Rubric ID | 1442542 |
| Teacher Name | Vicki Rosenberg |
| School | The Albany Academies |
| Subject | Science |
| Grade | 5-9 |
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Project Includes
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| Standards | Some of the New York State Standards related to Living Environment are met by this project. Mine is an independent school; we are not required to adhere to state standards. The project also meets some national standards, but these were not considered directly.
Some of the National Standards meet by this project are:
NS.5-8.3 Life Science
NS.5-8.6 Personal and Social Perspectives
NT.K-12.3 Technology Productivity Tools
NT.K-12.4 Technology of Communication
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| Teacher Tips | I would like to devote more time to this project, and to relate it more carefully to national Science standards. I'd like to see some community service derive from this topic, particularly an effort to help our entire school community understand their place in the broader ecosystem. With more time, I would also have the students engage in periodic peer- and self-assessment, following expectations stated in the rubric.
Using RubiStar helped me to focus myself and my students on how to organize this topic. It spells out exactly what students need to do to complete the project successfully. It can be adjusted to work for a variety of topics that involve a combination of group and individual work. I think my students appreciate having rubrics to guide their preparation almost as much as I do.
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