*Lesson 3: Building Your Own Community
Time: 2 Instructional periods consisting of 40 minutes
Essential Question for the Unit:
In what ways do human characteristics alter the physical characteristics of land and impact the environment?
Essential Question:
How would people have to adapt to and adapt the physical characteristics to survive to an uninhabited island?
Guiding Questions:
Standards:
Objectives:
Lesson:
Day 1: Introduction: “As you know, we have been learning about physical characteristics of land and how people adapt to those physical characteristics.” Ask students to name some of the physical characteristics they have learned about for review. Ask how people would adapt to certain characteristics, such as living on a mountain. “Today, you are going to use your knowledge of physical characteristics and human adaptation to create a community.”
Lesson: Students need to know the needs of a community in order to accurately depict theirs. The teacher should define human characteristics, also referred to as needs, as listed under vocabulary. Ask students what we need in a community. After some discussion, provide students with the “Needs of a Community” handout. Explain to the students that they will be able to use this handout for the activity. The teacher should also have the list of physical characteristics available if needed. Explain the activity to students. Students will be creating a community on an island that they have just discovered. The island can be cold weather or warm weather. They can add any physical characteristics they wish. The students will be creating their island through collage*. Explain what collage is. They will be provided with a piece of construction paper, scissors, glue stick, and various materials, such as paper scraps, sticks, rocks, string, yarn, etc. The teacher will have white glue for heavier materials, such as rocks. Explain to students that with these materials they should be able to create a variety of texture within their art. Ask students if they know what texture is. If they are unable to come up with a meaning, then explain. Students should include at least two different textural forms in their collage. Allow students time to create their collages (this may be all of day one, but should not extend more than five minutes into day two). DO NOT model step by step what the students should do, this should be created from the students’ imaginations. DO explain how students might use materials. For example, students may want to use the rocks to represent their mountains if they chose to include one. If students finish on the first day, they can write about the natural resources, climate, and natural hazards of their created community in their social studies journals. If students do not finish in time, allow them five minutes to finish their collage on day two.
Day 2: Introduction: Explain that today is a continuation of yesterday’s lesson. Ask students what they did yesterday. Ask them why it was important. Students will have the first five minutes to finish their collages. They should then begin the writing portion.
Lesson: Once the students have completed their collages, they should answer the question “what are the physical characteristics of your community?” Once they have completed this, the students should then think about how humans will have to adapt to the physical characteristics they have written about, and what needs might be added by those people. The students should then answer the question, “what are the human characteristics of your community?” in their journals. After writing the needs in their journals, the students should refer back to their collage and determine how these needs will affect the natural environment of the community. After looking over the collage and the answer to the previous question, the students should answer the question, “How did the human characteristics change your community?” Once all students have completed the questions, they will share their communities at table groups. They should explain how the human characteristics affect the environment. To conclude, the teacher will explain the importance of being aware of human impact on the environment, such as the amount of resources we use.
Vocabulary:
Materials:
Assessment:
The teacher will informally assess the students’ knowledge of physical characteristics throughout the collage activity. The teacher will assess the students’ knowledge of human adaptions to the environment through their journal writing. The teacher will also assess the students’ use of texture in their collage during the activity, and when the collages are collected.
Adapted from Teachers Pay Teachers "Communities Unit" by Teacher Trap.
Time: 2 Instructional periods consisting of 40 minutes
Essential Question for the Unit:
In what ways do human characteristics alter the physical characteristics of land and impact the environment?
Essential Question:
How would people have to adapt to and adapt the physical characteristics to survive to an uninhabited island?
Guiding Questions:
- What are some physical characteristics we have learned about?
- How do people adapt to live in/near (physical characteristic)?
- What are some things that we need in a community?
- What is texture?
- What do you work do yesterday?
- What was the purpose of what you did yesterday?
- What are the physical characteristics of your community?
- What are the human characteristics of your community?
- How did the human characteristics change your community?
Standards:
- 3.G.1.2 Compare the human and physical characteristics of places.
- 3.G.1.3 Exemplify how people adapt to, change and protect the environment to meet their needs.
- 3.V.3.3 Create art using the processes of drawing, painting, weaving, printing, stitchery, collage, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, and current technology.
- 3.CX.1.5 Use local, natural, or recycled resources to create art.
Objectives:
- Students will create a collage to serve as a model of their island community.
- Students will explain how people will need to adapt to the created community based on its physical characteristics.
- Students will use at least two types of textural elements in their collage.
Lesson:
Day 1: Introduction: “As you know, we have been learning about physical characteristics of land and how people adapt to those physical characteristics.” Ask students to name some of the physical characteristics they have learned about for review. Ask how people would adapt to certain characteristics, such as living on a mountain. “Today, you are going to use your knowledge of physical characteristics and human adaptation to create a community.”
Lesson: Students need to know the needs of a community in order to accurately depict theirs. The teacher should define human characteristics, also referred to as needs, as listed under vocabulary. Ask students what we need in a community. After some discussion, provide students with the “Needs of a Community” handout. Explain to the students that they will be able to use this handout for the activity. The teacher should also have the list of physical characteristics available if needed. Explain the activity to students. Students will be creating a community on an island that they have just discovered. The island can be cold weather or warm weather. They can add any physical characteristics they wish. The students will be creating their island through collage*. Explain what collage is. They will be provided with a piece of construction paper, scissors, glue stick, and various materials, such as paper scraps, sticks, rocks, string, yarn, etc. The teacher will have white glue for heavier materials, such as rocks. Explain to students that with these materials they should be able to create a variety of texture within their art. Ask students if they know what texture is. If they are unable to come up with a meaning, then explain. Students should include at least two different textural forms in their collage. Allow students time to create their collages (this may be all of day one, but should not extend more than five minutes into day two). DO NOT model step by step what the students should do, this should be created from the students’ imaginations. DO explain how students might use materials. For example, students may want to use the rocks to represent their mountains if they chose to include one. If students finish on the first day, they can write about the natural resources, climate, and natural hazards of their created community in their social studies journals. If students do not finish in time, allow them five minutes to finish their collage on day two.
Day 2: Introduction: Explain that today is a continuation of yesterday’s lesson. Ask students what they did yesterday. Ask them why it was important. Students will have the first five minutes to finish their collages. They should then begin the writing portion.
Lesson: Once the students have completed their collages, they should answer the question “what are the physical characteristics of your community?” Once they have completed this, the students should then think about how humans will have to adapt to the physical characteristics they have written about, and what needs might be added by those people. The students should then answer the question, “what are the human characteristics of your community?” in their journals. After writing the needs in their journals, the students should refer back to their collage and determine how these needs will affect the natural environment of the community. After looking over the collage and the answer to the previous question, the students should answer the question, “How did the human characteristics change your community?” Once all students have completed the questions, they will share their communities at table groups. They should explain how the human characteristics affect the environment. To conclude, the teacher will explain the importance of being aware of human impact on the environment, such as the amount of resources we use.
Vocabulary:
- Collage is a design made by pasting or gluing assembled materials on a surface.
- Texture is the way something feels or looks as it would feel.
- Human characteristics are the features that are present in a community because of human presence.
Materials:
- Social Studies Journals
- List of Physical Characteristics for Teacher Reference
- Construction Paper (for each student)
- Scissors (for each student)
- Glue (Sticks (for each student) and White (for teacher use))
- Collage Materials (sticks, rocks, yarn, scrap paper, pompoms, string, etc.)
- Pencils
- “Needs of a Community” Handout
Assessment:
The teacher will informally assess the students’ knowledge of physical characteristics throughout the collage activity. The teacher will assess the students’ knowledge of human adaptions to the environment through their journal writing. The teacher will also assess the students’ use of texture in their collage during the activity, and when the collages are collected.
Adapted from Teachers Pay Teachers "Communities Unit" by Teacher Trap.
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Heading image courtesy of Stephanie Levy.