Module 5: We Love Our Things
We Love
Our Things
OBSERVE
Objective: to observe that our things last longer when we respect and take care of them
Vocabulary: respect
Reading: Little Blue Chair
Hands-on Activity: Clean Repair Put Away Share
Earth Friends Lesson
Module 5: Lesson 3
Begin Lesson
move & discover: 7 minutes
Materials Make Things
Passing around the materials will be repeated at the beginning of each lesson; however, each week the children will be asked to identify or categorize the materials in a different way.
Materials Needed: a sample* of the following 10 materials
Wood (chair, pencil)
Plastic (marker, block)
Rubber (ball, rubber band)
Metal (toy car, scissors)
Fabric (carpet, clothing)
Glass (window, mirror)
Paper (book, paper)
Ceramic (pot, floor)
Cardboard (box, block)
Leather (belt, bag)
Have the children sit in a circle and then pass around the material samples one at a time. What in our classroom is made of this material? Examples above.
*Samples of materials should be: nondescript (plastic cannot be a straw, metal cannot be a can), about the size of a smart phone, safe with no rough or sharp edges. You can find a good amount at a home renovation store or flooring store.
Curious Question
What is respect? What happens when we respect our things?
Allow the children to share what respect means to them or where they have heard the word. Alternatively, let them share the relationship they have with their things, such as toys, houses, clothing, etc.
Main Lesson
Humans make many things from natural resources. We don't want to use too much of what we find in nature, or what Earth gives us, so we can learn to take care of and respect our things. When we respect and care for our things, we can make them last longer and we won’t need to use more natural resources from Earth.
sit & engage: 5 minutes
Clean Repair Put Away Share
Using objects in the classroom, create different scenarios where the children can practice caring for and respecting their things. Let the children choose how they help.
Examples:
Clean: something that is dirty (from a crayon or spill)—a damp cloth
Repair: something that is broken or in need of repair (paper) - tape or glue
Put Away: something that is messy or disorganized (a puzzle)-a box or bin
Share: something that is hard to share (a favorite toy)—a timer
What can we do with this?
Go through each and let the children decide how they can practice respecting and caring for their things in each scenario.
Closing Sentiment
Humans make a lot of things from what we find in nature. We can make our things last longer when we respect them and treat them with care.
move & learn: 8 minutes
End Lesson
Teachers in the Classroom
Teacher Activity
The Respect Rules
Sit in a circle and explain to the children that we want to take care of our things and help them last a long time.
How can we respect the things we have in our classroom? Let's come up with a list of 5 Respect Rules for Earth Friends.
There are obvious examples, but take some time (maybe a few days) to see what the children come up with. Let this be their list that reflects their idea of care and respect for their things.
Once the children come up with a list of rules, write down the list and pin it to a classroom wall or other shared space so everyone can see it.
Throughout the Week
Discuss: where things come from. Choose 5 materials from the box and talk with the children about what things we can make from these materials.
Create: using any drawing medium, ask the children to draw a natural resource that we use to make our things.
Learn: the different kinds of materials we use to make our things. Pass around the material samples and ask the children to identify what that material is called and what it is made from in nature—the natural resource.
Reading: Little Blue Chair
Vocabulary: material, natural resource, respect
Good Choices
I can put my things away.
I can take care of the things I own.
I can clean up a mess or a spill.
Vocabulary:
material: Humans make all different kinds of things, and our things are made out of different materials.
natural resource: The materials we use to make our things are found in nature, like trees and rocks, and we call these natural resources. Some come from underground, like fossil fuels, rocks, and minerals. Some come from plants, like trees and leaves. Some come from animals. We create all our materials from natural resources
respect: Humans make many things from natural resources. We don't want to use too much of what we find in nature (what Earth gives us) so we can learn to respect and care for our things. When we respect our things, we can make them last longer and use less of Earth’s natural resources.
Families at Home
Hands-on: We learned 4 different ways to take care of our things and make them last longer-clean, repair, put away, share. If you find yourself cleaning, repairing, organizing, or borrowing anything, you can share the activity with your child and talk about how this is a way we can respect our things and help them last longer.
Examples:
Removing a stain on something
Fixing something that is broken
Putting things away-dishes, clothes, a closet reorg
Borrowing something from a family member or neighbor
Visit: a secondhand shop. This is a store for things that other people have already used, but since they have been taken care of, they can be new to someone else. Walk around and talk about what the different things are made out of. Is there something your child wants to buy that they will take care of?
Create: We talked about respect this week and how when we respect and take care of things they last longer. And when our things last longer, we don't have to use more natural resources from Earth to make new things. The children made The Respect Rules, 5 rules for respecting things in our classroom.
You can make The Respect Rules for things in your home too. Have your child suggest ways you can respect the things in your house. What are ways you want to respect the things in your house to make them last longer?