Introduction and Rationale
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's really just not.” - Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
The curriculum unit I plan to create in the Energy: Past, Present, and Future seminar will be for my first-grade students. In this unit, students will be learning about environmental conservation through the lens of Dr. Seuss’s, The Lorax. In the story, the main character opens a factory and begins to cut down trees and release pollutants in the surrounding community. This has impacts on the local wildlife causing them to relocate. When the last tree is cut down the Onceler is left to reckon with the harm he has caused the environment. This is an entry point for students to learn more about the natural world. The main topics students will learn in the unit are the human impact on the environment, deforestation, photosynthesis, water pollution, air quality, the greenhouse effect, and climate change, which all connect back to the story.
The creation of this curriculum unit is important for early childhood students because it explains causes and solutions for environmental issues in a developmentally appropriate manner. Children are aware of the environmental issues facing our planet. They may hear family discussions, read books about the changing environment, or see climate protests on the news. It is important even young children have an informed understanding of climate change and its causes.
Demographics
My students are bright, intelligent first graders with great curiosity and eagerness to learn. Kellogg is a K-8 neighborhood public school on the south side of Chicago that was on the brink of closure several years ago. Since then, enrollment has increased, with between 30-40 students per class. Kellogg has one class per grade level with an IB program beginning in grade six. Kellogg is the only majority-Black neighborhood school in CPS to earn the Illinois State Board of Education designation of “Exemplary”.
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