THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

Grade Level: 3-5

Academic Areas: Science, Health, Physical Education, Family and Consumer Science

Duration of service: Year-Long

Character Virtues: Respect, Giving, Responsibility, Civic Virtue and Citizenship

Service Areas: Environmental

 

Service Learning Project:

After a study of ecosystems and conservation, students will create a model ecosystem that reflects their own natural environment. Students will then apply this knowledge to designing, building, and maintaining their own actual ecosystem. Students will develop community partnerships to help them engage in conservation efforts for the community. This may include beach clean-ups, park clean-ups, tree planting, and other beautification efforts. Students will solicit the local political forces for financial support and local community members for physical labor and donations of goods and services. Students will be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of these areas by organizing and orchestrating clean-up days, planting days, and picnics to celebrate their new, clean, and healthy environment.

Goals and Objectives

Academic

Learning Goal: Students will create and maintain a healthy environment that supports authentic ecosystems.

Standard: Health, Physical Education and Family Consumer Science Standard # 2 and # 3 MST Standard # 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5,7

Learning Goal: Students will research birds, plants, and trees indigenous to their community and apply this information to the design of the ecosystem and beautification of their community.

Standard: MST Standard # 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 and 7 ELA Standard # 1, 2, 3,

Learning Goal: Students will create media projects demonstrating their understanding of the information learned in this unit.

Service

Community need: Preservation of natural resources, creating healthy and inviting environments for recreation

Possible Community Partners: Local Assemblymen, Local businesses, community residents, conservation foundations, historical societies, BOCES, local garden centers

Objective: Students will donate their time to design and develop a sample ecosystem that reflects their own community within their academic setting.

Objective: Students will organize clean-up days, planting days, etc. to help beautify and maintain an area of need in their community.

Character

Virtue: Giving

Objective: Students will give their time and energy toward the research, development, and maintenance of both a sample ecosystem and their own natural environment.

Virtue: Civic Virtue and Citizenship

Objective: Students will create a healthy and safe environment to create a better community for residents and visitors. As a result, students will have a sense of belonging and ownership to their community environment.

Virtue: Respect and Responsibility

Objective: Students will take responsibility to clean up their community and gain greater respect for the place in which they live.

Key Activities

Key Planning Activities

  1. Students will research and design a model ecosystem in their academic setting.
  2. After determining the needs of their model ecosystem, students will write letters to local politicians and businesses requesting financial assistance and donations of goods and services.

 

 

Key Service Activities

  1. Students will organize a "Clean-Up Day" based on the needs of the neighborhood.
  2. Students, in collaboration with their community and other conservation resources, will construct their desired ecosystem and maintain their project site.

Key Reflection Activities

  1. (oral – responsibility) Students will hold a mock town meeting in which they take on the roles of different players in the project. Some students will take on the role of students presenting their ideas and the possible benefits of the project while others will play skeptical community members and will ask challenging questions about the project.
  2. (written – civic virtue and citizenship) Students will write persuasive essays describing the importance of the interdependence of an ecosystem and how it promotes a healthy and inviting environment.
  3. (performance – giving) Students will create and share a PowerPoint presentation documenting their project with the school and community.

Celebration Activity

Students will host an opening picnic in the newly improved site to which all of the contributors and community members will be invited. Students and guests will sing the song "This Land is Your Land."