Sample Lessons
Human Needs Game
Essential Questions
What do I need in order to live?
Learning Targets
I can, reacting to selections and reflecting on personal experience, develop an argument to support a position; I can explain my ideas in a clear, logical and comprehensive manner; and I can analyze concepts and perspectives and relate these to my own life.
The Game
The following activity is based on a leadership game I played when I was a student. Of all the things I learned in high school, this is one of the activities that I remember most. The game was originally geared to promote international relations, but I am adapting it to help students understand what they need to live both a personal and universal level. The game is simply a first step that leads to more in depth discussion and exploration.
This exercise may do more than introduce students to the global warming curriculum, as it also promotes community-building in and out of the classroom. Students are asked to take care of their team mates while working together to achieve a common goal. If this activity is done at the beginning of the year, it may serve as an impetus for classroom bonding.
Goal: Everyone on the team must have enough food.
Obstacle: All teams are pre-equipped with food, utensils, plates, cups, etc., but the distribution is uneven. For instance, one team has all the cups but nothing to put in them. Another team has plenty of at least one kind of food, but no way to eat it. One team has very little of anything while another has more than they need.
Materials: Enough cups, beverages, plates, plastic-ware, napkins, and food for the class. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. It may be possible to arrange for a class potluck, where students can contribute. It is worth noting that symbolic items such as cards or chips do not elicit as much emotional attachment as food.
Rules:
- The whole team must have enough food within 15 minutes.
- Only one person from each team may negotiate for food. The negotiator is responsible for communicating the needs of his or her team to the other negotiators.
Procedure:
- The desks are arranged in clusters and allotted food is distributed prior to the arrival of students. (In the case of a potluck situation, arrange for "Distributors" to distribute specific items to each team.)
- Students sit in teams.
- The teacher explains the rules and objectives.
- Students choose a negotiator and begin the game. The teacher helps students keep track of remaining time.
After the game, students discuss and assess what happened. Did everyone get enough food? In other words, were basic lunch (or snack) needs met? How do people feel after the experience? Did the negotiators have a hard time taking care of their team? If so, what were the difficulties? What changes could be made to make the experience better? The discussion will change based on the overall experience, as the results of the game will vary with different groups. Some participants will aggressively go after the food while others seem to easily give up their share. The class may want to observe how different teams, particularly the team that had more than they needed, responded to the experience. In some cases the team is generous. Usually, however, this team does not see a need to even negotiate with the others, as they already have what they want.
This game parallels different nations. The U.S. is typically represented by the team that has more than it needs. Later in the unit, during a lesson on the Kyoto Protocol, it would be wise to refer back to this activity. How does the U.S. handle international negotiations regarding global warming? Why might the U.S. respond as it does?
Journal
Ask students to describe what they need in order to live in a journal. We saw what teams needed in order to satisfy basic lunch needs. What do students need in their own lives? After they've written for a few minutes, ask students to pick one or two things and describe why they need them. What makes these things so important?
Discussion
Ask volunteers to discuss what they need in order to live. As a class, discuss basic human needs. Mention things such as food, air, water, crops, sun and rain.
Imagine
What if we knew that floods were going to wipe out certain cities while other places suffered droughts with no hope of rain, and even others froze in a sudden Ice Age? What if we knew that people were going to suffer from new diseases, that polar bears and other animals were going to become extinct, and that storms and hurricanes like Katrina were going to become more frequent? What if we knew all of this, and we knew that we could stop it, or at least slow it down? What would students do? What if they knew that they, like every other person in their city, were putting something in the air to make such a life a reality? What would they do then?
Explain that the world we just imagined illustrates the possible effects of global warming. Ask students what they know about global warming and examine any misconceptions they may already have. Let students know that global warming is caused by an increase of greenhouse gases, and that they will learn more about how to keep some of the basic things that we need in order to survive on this planet.
Assessment
Assessment is based on discussion and journaling. The student shares what he or she already knows and perceives about essential elements of survival, community attitudes, and global warming.
"I Come From" Poem
Essential Question
How does my environment affect my identity?
Learning Targets
I can reflect and respond to texts for complexity, self-significance, and cultural perspectives; I can apply appropriate metaphorical, grammatical and rhetorical devices to my writing; and I can evaluate how well I use facts, ideas, tone, and voice.
Procedure
Students think of a weather condition (hurricane, snow, drought, hail, etc.) or a place with a specific climate that they are most like. They write, "I am like…." and finish the thought, creating a simile. Show how to change simile to metaphor by changing the line to "I am…" Students then use write five lines, one for each sense, to show how they are like the weather condition. In this way, they are using imagery. They should be encouraged to use their imagination.
The class reads example poems about identity. "Where I Come From" poems can be found through an internet search. Poems about identity (along with nature and place poems) are also included in From Totems to Hip-Hop, edited by Ishmael Reed. Note any reference to the influence of music, language, food, family members, environment, history, or expectations of society. Students make a list of things that exist in their own lives.
The use of anaphora by repeating "I come from" at the beginning of each line may help students write. They also use words and lines from both the metaphor exercise and their list to construct a longer poem. Once the poem is complete, students read them out loud while the teacher listens for specific literary elements such as alliteration, rhyme, or tone. The teacher may return to specific student poems to point out how various literary elements were used. Students take notes and begin to construct a glossary of terms.
Assessment
Students use specific techniques to write a poem. They also describe the purpose of literary elements in a glossary of terms.
Greenhouse Jar
Essential Question
How does a greenhouse work?
Learning Targets
I can identify and answer a research question; I can gather and analyze information and synthesize ideas; I can make a claim, list my reasons for supporting my claim, and support my claim with evidence.
Procedure
The necessary materials include three glass jars, three thermometers, one black cloth, and one white cloth. Students put thermometers in each jar and seal only the first and second jar, leaving the third open. They cover the bottom of first sealed jar with white cloth and the bottom of the second sealed jar with black cloth. Place all three jars under direct sunlight for ten minutes.
Students predict what will happen. Will the temperature of one jar be higher than another? Why? They write a lab report that includes a description of the exercise, the procedure they follow, and their observations. They also include an analysis of their results.
The sun's glass will be transparent to the sun's radiation, allowing visible light to pass through. Glass also traps infrared radiation, thus heating the inside of the jar, more so in the sealed jars than in the open jar, where the infrared radiation is able to escape.
The sealed jar with the black cloth on the bottom will trap more infrared radiation than the others, as dark colors absorb more infrared radiation. If the jar were a perfect black body with an albedo of 0, it would absorb everything and reflect nothing. In this case, the jar does reflect some radiation, but not as much as the jar with the white cloth. The white cloth at the bottom of the other jar represents an albedo. White or light colors reflect radiation, so less heat is absorbed.
The atmosphere of the Earth is very much like these jars. The greenhouse effect is like a sealed glass jar that is transparent to visible light while it traps infrared radiation. The Earth is warm due to the greenhouse effect. Oceans tend to function like the black cloth: they absorb more solar radiation and thus add to the heat. The ice, snow, and clouds are like the white cloth. They reflect the sun's radiation. The greenhouse effect increases as we emit more carbon dioxide, and as a result of this increase, the ice is melting. As the ice melts, the albedo decreases, and this contributes to global warming.
Assessment
Students write a lab report that records their observations and findings. Students describe how the glass jars represent the Earth's atmosphere.
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