Day #1: Teacher-created PowerPoint slide show will scroll from slide-to-slide every 15 sections as students do a quick-write about what thoughts and feelings are invoked by the videos. (10 min)
Day #2: the students will randomly draw several index cards from the previous day’s closure activity. Read & discuss.
Objectives and
Purpose:
Students will identify specific human-environment interactions unique to the borderlands by participating in a carousel activity, writing a personal reflection, and responding to a wiki-prompt.
Day #1: Slide show and brainstorm to introduce the idea of human-environment interactions, and will ask student volunteers to share out what they noticed during the slide show (anticipatory set). A student recorder will list main ideas on the white board.
Then describe expectations for the carousel activity, in which students will read, take notes, and discuss a variety of articles.
Day #2: The teacher will review the concept of human-environment interaction through Q&A format.
Then the students will divide back into their carousel groups to begin reading the next self-selected article in the cycle. In two days, The student will not be able to make it through all eight articles, but the content will still be discussed verbally and through the wiki activity.
Modeling:
Day #1: The teacher will directly define the meaning of human-environment interaction, and will provide three positive and three negative examples. Then TSW use peer scaffolding during the carousel groups.
Day #2: The teacher will verify understanding of human-environment interaction through Q&A format. Then the students will use peer scaffolding during the carousel groups.
Check for
Understanding:
Can students answer the following:
How is a skyscraper a human-environment interaction?
Why is water important in the location of human habitations?
In what ways might the roof of a home in Montana be different than the roof of a home in along the U.S.-Mexico border. Why?
How do building materials differ from one geographical region to the next, and why?
How might animals benefit from human-environment interactions?
What role might a hurricane or earthquake play in human-environment interactions?
Guided Practice:
Day #1: Small Group Carousel Activity: the students will be divided into eight small groups, each of which will be provided with one of the articles (listed in the materials). Groups will be given 15 minutes in which to read the article, take notes on important facts, and discuss the human-environment interactions in the article. After 15 minutes, each group will rotate to a different article, where they will again read the article, take notes on important facts, and discuss the human-environment interactions in the article.
Day #2: Small Group Carousel Activity: the students will read two more articles, using the same routine as the previous day.
Independent Practice:
In science journals, the students will write a personal reflection about the most interesting or important human-environment interactions from the articles.
Closure:
Day #1: On an index card, the students will respond to the following questions: What do we mean by human-environment interaction? Name one positive and one negative human-environment interaction specific to life in the borderlands.
Day #2: Pair-Share the meaning of human-environment interaction; what do you know about this today that you didn’t understand yesterday? (Volunteers will share out if time)
Evaluation: Students Self
The students will log onto the class Moodle site to add input to the class wiki prompt: State at least on problem related to human-environment interactions in the borderlands, and add why this problem is difficult to solve. Then TSW respond to another student’s wiki.
Extension: Conduct independent research on an area of interest and create a comic strip demonstrating human-environment interactions specific to the borderlands.
Remediation: Watch & discuss the video: Wild vs. Wallhttp://arizona.sierraclub.org/conservation/border/borderfilm.asp
