Earth and Human Activity

For the last lesson of Unit 2, students analyze two different human impacts on the environment (cutting down forests and littering waterways) and come up with different solutions, in the form of drawings, to communicate ways people can reduce those impacts. Students use their human activities analysis to construct an explanation about how people affect the environment around them, but can make choices to reduce their impacts on the environment.

• Human activity can have a negative impact on the environment.
• People can design solutions that reduce the effects on the environment.
• A common conservation slogan is “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” This three-pronged approach is designed to minimize the negative effects that humans have on the environment.

• What would happen to all of the animals that live in a forest if people cut down all of the trees to build houses? How can people reduce the effects of cutting down all of the trees?
• How does the trash get into the water?
• How do you think the litter/trash in the water affects animals and plants that live in or near the water?
• How can we make less trash?
• How can people reduce negative effects on the environment?

Misconception: Evidence of ice ages and warm periods in the past means there is no reason to believe human activity harms the environment today.

Fact: Humans are playing a role in polluting Earth, human made waste including plastics and chemicals from industrial production are damaging the environment. 

Animal : a living thing that needs to eat other living things for energy and breathes in oxygen

Habitat : a place where life grows; provides plants and animals with clean water, air, food, and shelter

Shelter : a structure that protects animals from other animals and weather

In this investigation, students discuss two different photos that depict different human impacts on the local environment and then draw pictures to communicate possible solutions to reduce those impacts. After exploring some nonfiction texts that explain human impacts on the environment such as deforestation and water pollution, students engage in a classroom discussion to consider possible solutions to reduce the negative impacts. Students then present their solutions to the class, explaining how they reduce the effects of people on nature.