Lesson 1

Edit 0 12 …
Introduction: This activity will be an engaging way for students to participate in the beginning of this unit and grasp the ideas of renewable and non-renewable resources to begin their learning of sustainability.
Lesson Plan 1
Name: Joanna Longmuir
Grade: 5
Subject: Social Studies
Content: (Topic) Renewable and Non-renewable resources
Teaching Strategy: Direct, indirect, experiential
Learning Outcome: Explain the importance of sustainable management of the environment to Canada's future

Indicators:
Differentiate between renewable and non-renewable resources
Assessment: Since this lesson is being done in groups and it is the introductory lesson for the unit the assessment will be used "for" learning. The teacher will have a student checklist and observe understanding. Does the group have an overall understanding of renewable? Non-renewable? this will give the teacher an idea of who is "getting it" and who isn't so that he/she can adapt the lessons and teaching from the data collected
Adaptive Dimension: To make this lesson easier you could have an older grade pair up with a younger grade of students or have stronger learners paired with weaker learners. You could also save the definition of sustainability to discuss at a later date. To make this lesson more difficult you could find more difficult resources to put on the cue cards and give each group more cue cards. You could also have the students write the definition of sustainability on the board instead of having it up there.
Lesson Preparation
Equipment/Materials/Resources/:
Mystery envelopes, cue cards with pictures of non-renewable and renewable resources on them, chart paper, Three definitions of sustainability e.g. Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (http://www.sustainabilitydictionary.com/), lists of “clues” or online resources (see "Resources")

Presentation:
Set: The students will be grouped into tables of 4-5 people. Jobs for each group member will be assigned: leader, reporter, recorder, etc. There will be a mystery envelope on each table. On the board there will be three definitions for the word sustainability. The teacher will ask the students to choose which one they think best describes the word. This will activate their prior knowledge. They will be given a few minutes to look in a dictionary or search on the internet for the answer in their table groups. The teacher will then bring the students back to discussion and ask the students what they came up with. After hearing from each table group the teacher would tell the students that each of the definitions for sustainability was correct. Sustainability will be an ongoing theme throughout this unit. The specific topic of this first lesson is renewable and non-renewable resources. The teacher will then introduce the topic of renewable and non- renewable resources by making a KWL chart on chart paper. This will allow the students to hear eachother's ideas and figure out what non-renewable and renewable might mean. The chart will be constantly added to throughout the unit as they obtain more knowledge.
Development: The teacher will say, "You have a mystery envelope on your table. There is a number on your envelope. There are hidden envelopes around the classroom. As a group you must look for another envelope labelled "Clues" hidden around the classroom with the same number on it." This will hopefully create excitement, wonder, and engagement in the activity. This will also allow for a "brain break" to re-activate the student’s minds. This physical activity will also help them to remember what they learnt this day. This will also promote teamwork and working together for a common goal. Once each group has found their matching envelope they will be seated at their desks with two mystery envelopes. Each group will then open each of their envelopes. In one envelope will be three cue cards with pictures of renewable and non-renewable resources and in the other envelope labelled "Clues" will be a list of resources to use to find the answers. They will be told to make a guess if each cue card item is renewable or non-renewable. The group will either use the classroom computers or go to the library and use the resources listed to find out if each item on their cue cards are renewable or non-renewable.
Closure: When the groups have been given some time to do research on their cue card items the class will meet back at the tables. There will be a big "T" chart on the wall. One side will say renewable and the other will say non-renewable. Each group will go up to the chart one at a time and place their cue cards under whichever category they think it belongs and say why they know it belongs there. At the end there will be a complete list of plenty of renewable and non-renewable resources with pictures. The teacher would check the answer key to be sure each cue card was placed under the right category. As a class we would then look for commonalities in each row and talk about why some are renewable and some are not.