Overview
Animals have always held a very special place in my heart! In Kindergarten I overheard my father say he was going to spray our bushes to kill the snails. I ran and grabbed my mom's purse, went to the bushes and preceded to hand pick each snail up and put it in the purse. When I had gathered all I could find I went to the curb and set each one of my "friends" free in a nice little row. I learned three valuable lessons that day! First, I was not able to save all of my "friends." Some got run over, some stayed in the bushes and were sprayed. Second, I felt a wonderful warmth inside of me because I was able to save some of these beautiful creatures with magnificent shells. Third, always ask your mom before you borrow her purse!
In elementary school I lived in a house that was located in the middle of a trailer sales and rental lot. My first job in our family business was to make friends with any children who came to the lot and entertain them. My animals were the best entertainment! Of course we had a dog, cat, parakeet and tropical fish tank, but my playmates were most interested in my pet goat, chickens, rabbits, homing pigeons and baby alligator. My love and fascination of animals started at a very young age and has continued to grow into a deep respect and awe of the creatures who share this home we call earth. Recently I have learned that we must go beyond respect and awe to a place of personal responsibility and action. We must seek answers to difficult questions such as: What can we do to stop climate change which affects all living things? What is our role in reducing air and water pollution? Why do animals become endangered? What part can we play to keep endangered species from becoming extinct, and threaten species from becoming endangered?
As a young child I understood I must do something to save my "friends" the snails, but my choice did not have a good outcome because my little brother found delight in the sound of crushing shells as he stomped on the snails and the curb was not a good place to relocate them. A better solution may have been to plead with my Dad not to spray them or put them on my neighbors' bushes (I was too young to leave my yard.)
This unit is written to help my students not only build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals and how humans affect ecosystems but to go beyond basic knowledge to personal responsibility and action. I want to empower the students to become part of the solution to help save animals from extinction through doing something. It is not enough that my students "become acquainted with what happens when changes occur when the environment becomes overpopulated and the use of resources increases" (North Carolina Standard Course of Study) but that they see solutions and the part they can play in bringing about needed change! I want to raise my student's awareness of how climate change affects all living things, ways that they can personally reduce global warming and become change agents for a healthier world!
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