Lesson Plan

Day 1: Thinking about What Is Natural (45 min.)

Copy a class set of the Thinksheet and Family Page. (See Ready to Print.)
Gather several objects for display in the front of the room (i.e., plant, rock, soil, shoe, glass bottle, plastic jar, worm). Note: Try to have a mixture of living, nonliving, "natural", and "unnatural" (human-made) objects.
Review Related Resources and order/gather those you will use during the investigation.
Select a "natural" environment for study (i.e., forest, field, pond, etc.).
Select an "unnatural" environment for study (i.e., classroom, etc.).
Decide how you will evaluate progress during and after the lesson. (Suggestions are provided at the end of the lesson.)

Introduce What is Natural? to your students. This activity challenges you to:
- hypothesize about which objects are natural
- classify objects as abiotic (nonliving) or biotic (living) (future photo)
- trace human products to their natural resources using matter cycles (See example.)
- create your own definition of nature (natural) through observation, classification, and discussion
Tell students what behaviors you expect of them before, during, and after the lesson.
- scientific thinking
- respectful listening
- speaking in appropriate voices
- participating
Explain how the activity is grouped:
- a whole class introduction
- an outdoor and indoor activity
- a whole class discussion
- an assessment
Display several objects in the front of the room (i.e., plant, rock, soil, shoe, glass bottle, plastic jar, worm). Ask three or four students to classify these objects into two groups: living and nonliving (future photo). Discuss the characteristics of living things. (See Background Information.)
Introduce the terms biota and abiota. (See Background Information.)

Introduce the Thinksheet.

Complete the questions in the "Think it Through" section of the Thinksheet. Answers will vary.

Think/Pair/Share: Have students Think/Pair/Share their responses.

Think: Reread responses silently.

Pair: Share responses with a partner.

Share : Discuss responses as a class.

Complete the chart in the "Think it Through" section by having students reclassify the objects in front of the room as either natural or non-natural. Note: Keep these items for use at the end of the lesson.

Hypothesis: Students record their hypotheses on the Thinksheets.

Share hypotheses aloud. Stress that a good hypothesis may or may not be right, but will:

Answer the question (What is Natural?)

Day 2: What Is Natural Outdoors? (45 min.)

Ready...

Copy two Data Sheets for each student. Enviro-Note: Make two-sided copies. (See Ready to Print.)
Gather the following materials (optional):
- One ZipLoc bag per student to collect abiota for samples or biota for short term observation (Click here for tips.)
- magnifying lens

Get Set...

Introduce the Data Sheet. Explain that it will be used to collect data during the Outdoor Environment hike.

Outdoor Environment ("natural" environment): Go to the selected environment(s) of study, pausing to allow students to individually record observations on their Data Sheets. NOTE: Point out human products (i.e., aluminum can, water fountain, plastic wrapper, etc.) that ALL students will record on their Data Sheets. Try to get one of each type (glass, plastic, metal, wood). (future photo)

Day 3: What Is a Matter Cycle? (45 min.)

Ready...

Make overhead transparencies of Matter Cycle pages for use during class discussion. (See Ready to Print.)

Review the list of "unnatural" items students created on their Data Sheet.

Go!!!

Choose an "unnatural" object from the display that is made from either metal, glass, wood, or plastic. Note: A plastic wrapper will be used to illustrate class discussion below, but any "unnatural" object will work. Have students construct a matter cycle with you that shows a connection to nature. Choose the appropriate overhead transparency master below:
Point to each place in the cycle and ask students to determine whether or not this part of the cycle is a "natural" part. (i.e., "Raise your hand if you think the earth is natural...Raise your hand if you think prehistoric plants and animals were natural... Raise your hand if you think petroleum from these plants and animals is natural...Raise your hand if you think a plastic wrapper from this petroleum is natural.")
Expect many students to consider human products to be unnatural. Ask students to explain their reasoning. A common response is that the wrapper was "manufactured" or "made in a factory."
Have students reconstruct the Plastic Matter Cycle on a piece of paper.
Display the Wood Products Matter Cycle #2 (paper wasp).
Point to each place in the cycle and ask students to vote whether or not this part of the cycle is a "natural" part. Expect students to agree that ALL parts are natural. Point out to the students that the hornet also manufactures a product (paper) for a factory (the nest), in a factory (its body)! This product does not look like the beginning resource (leaves).
Have students reconstruct the Paper Wasp Matter Cycle on a piece of paper.
Take another vote on the plastic wrapper. Discuss how this vote compares to the original vote. Expect fewer students to call the wrapper "unnatural." Ask students who changed their vote to explain their reasoning.
Discuss the remaining "unnatural" objects using the above discussion format. Ask students if they think any of these cannot be connected to natural resources. Construct matter cycles, vote, and discuss. (See matter cycle links above.)
Display the Beaver Matter Cycle. Ask how this matter cycle is similar to the cycles created using "unnatural" objects. Point out to students that beavers, just like human beings, often change the environment through their actions (i.e., flooding, tree cutting, etc.).
Direct students to their second Data Sheet (for use indoors).
Indoor Environment ("unnatural" environment): Go to the selected environment(s) of study, pausing to allow students to individually record observations on their Data Sheets. NOTE: Point out human products (i.e., aluminum can, water fountain, plastic wrapper, etc.) that ALL students will record on their Data Sheets. Try to get one of each type (glass, plastic, metal, wood). (future photo)
Classroom Discussion
- Have students share aloud abiota they found
- Have students share aloud biota they found.
- Have students share aloud objects which are "natural."
- Record for display objects which are "unnatural." Direct students to record these objects on their Data Sheet.
- Discuss how this list of "unnatural" items compares with the list from the Outdoor Environment.

Management Tip: Put student names on 2"x2" squares of construction paper. Choose from these cards and allow students to pass or play when called to improve total class participation during discussion.

Day 4: How Are Matter Cycles a Part of My Everyday Environment? (45 min.)

Day 5: PutItAllTogether (45 min.)

Summarize the Main Points
- Every environment contains biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) components.
- Living things need SWEAT:
  - Space
  - Water
  - Energy
  - Air
  - Time

A matter cycle is a way of showing the history and future of various matter. Matter cycles can be constructed for any solid, liquid, or gas object found on the earth.
Human and nonhuman products come from natural resources.

Complete the "Make Sense of It" section of the Thinksheet.
- Resort objects from the beginning of the lesson.
- Revise hypothesis.
Compliment students for appropriate behaviors during the lesson.
Share Rationale: Students need to know that humans and nature are interconnected. Humans and their products are from the earth's resources and will return to the earth's resources. Once students understand that everything around them has a "natural history," everyday objects begin to have a deeper significance. Stewardship becomes possible.
Evaluation
- Formative: anecdotal notes of teams in progress, incidental questioning of students' rationale for what they are doing (during activity), observation of teamwork, status of the class (end of each unfinished activity day)
- Summative: Choose one or more of the following (see Ready to Print)
  - Proficiency Assessment
  - Higher Level Thinking Assessment
  - Team Evaluation

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