Week 5: Environmental Stewardship

Weekly Focus

Children learn how human activities affect the environment and explore ways they can help reduce their impact on the land, water, air, and other living things.

Week at a Glance

Understand how human activities affect the environment
Identify ways to reduce human impact
Learn about recycling and conservation
Make personal choices to help the environment

Kindergarten students learning about environmental stewardship

Weekly Overview

Theme

Environmental Stewardship

Focus Areas

Human impact
Conservation
Recycling
Personal choices

Key Vocabulary

environmentprotectreducereuserecyclepollutionlitterconservationstewardshipresponsibility

Making Environmental Stewardship Concrete

For young children, environmental stewardship needs to be made concrete and actionable. Focus on simple actions they can take themselves, like using both sides of paper, turning off lights, picking up litter, and watering plants. Create a class 'Earth Helpers' chart where children can add a sticker or mark each time they do something to help the environment.

Daily Plans

Monday: How Does Planet Earth Feel?

Daily schedule and activities

Morning Activity

Morning Circle: Introduce puppet 'Earth' who is feeling sad

Literacy Focus

Discuss why Earth is sad and how humans affect the environment

Math Focus

Sort pictures of helpful and harmful human activities

Afternoon Activity

Draw pictures of ways to make Earth happy

Materials Needed

Earth puppet
Pictures of environmental impacts
Sorting mats
Drawing supplies
Chart paper

Assessment Notes

Observe students' understanding of how human activities can affect the environment both positively and negatively.

Featured Activities

Earth Puppet Conversation

Students interact with an Earth puppet who shares feelings about pollution and environmental damage, then brainstorm ways to help.

Duration

30 minutes

Materials

Earth puppet
Pictures of environmental issues
Chart paper
Markers

Learning Areas

Science

Social-Emotional Learning

Communication

Recycled Bird Feeders

Students create bird feeders from recycled plastic bottles, learning how to repurpose materials while helping local wildlife.

Duration

45 minutes

Materials

Plastic bottles
String
Scissors
Bird seed
Wooden spoons

Learning Areas

Science

Fine Motor Skills

Environmental Stewardship

Sorting Recyclables

Students sort various classroom materials into recyclable and non-recyclable categories, then count and graph their findings.

Duration

35 minutes

Materials

Collection of classroom items
Sorting bins
Graphing materials
Labels

Learning Areas

Math

Science

Classification Skills

Beautiful Junk Art

Students create art projects using recycled materials, learning how items can be reused instead of thrown away.

Duration

50 minutes

Materials

Bottle caps
Cardboard
Yarn scraps
Buttons
Glue
Scissors

Learning Areas

Art

Creative Thinking

Environmental Awareness

Celebrating Environmental Stewardship

End the unit with a celebration that reinforces children's role as environmental stewards. Create certificates for 'Earth Helpers' or 'Plant and Animal Protectors.' Have children share one thing they've learned and one action they plan to take to help the environment. Consider planting a class tree or garden as a lasting reminder of their learning.

Resources

Books

"The Earth Book" by Todd Parr
"Michael Recycle" by Ellie Bethel
"The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss
"Compost Stew" by Mary McKenna Siddals
"Why Should I Recycle?" by Jen Green

Printables

Environmental impact sorting cards
Reduce, reuse, recycle posters
Earth helper pledge cards
Recycling bin labels
Environmental stewardship certificates

Home Connection

Send home a family activity sheet that encourages parents/caregivers to involve their child in environmental stewardship activities at home, such as recycling, conserving water, or planting seeds.

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