As it is Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere our work for this project was focussed around Earth Day issues. We discussed caring for our Earth from the point of view of the effects on plants and animals, the need to save our natural resources, as well as the beautification of our environment. The story Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney was only one of the titles that we read, and was chosen because it talks about visiting different cultures around the world. Our theme in class this term has been on Me and My Place in the World. The children have been developing an appreciation of how they are the same and different to children across the world. This is helped by a nice mix of cultures represented in my class. Discussing Earth Day and ways in which we need to care for our planet fitting nicely into this theme.

 

During our project the children:
- listened as I read books to them about caring for our environment.
- worked on Earth Day booklets to write about some of the issues we discussed.
- collected recyclable containers and we graphed them in class.
- listened as I read them Miss Rumphius, and we discussed her actions.
- grew bean seeds after we discussed the importance of growing new plants for our Earth.
- used the computer drawing program Kid Pix to create pictures and posters to illustrate their learning.

 

As a class we composed some sentences to tell about what we did during this project. These are listed here below.

 

We learnt about ways we could help our Earth.
We learnt that we should save our rainwater by turning the taps off when we brush our teeth.
We learnt that we should turn off lights when we leave a room.
We learnt that we should not throw rubbish in the sea.
We learnt that we should save our trees.
We learnt that we can recycle things and turn them into new things.
We learnt that we should save animals.
We learnt that we should pick up rubbish. Picking up rubbish helps our plants and animals, and makes our world more beautiful.
We read the story Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. In the story Miss Rumphius helped to make the world more beautiful. She planted lupine seeds around her house and all over the land where she lived.

We made some pictures and posters to show what we have learnt. Here they are below.

CURRICULUM OUTCOMES
Technology: Information Strand
 INF 1.2 Students use simple techniques for presenting information for their own purposes.

Studies of Society and Environment: Place and Space
PS 1.5 Students describe the relationships between personal actions and environmentally friendly strategies in familiar places.

The Arts: Media
 ME 1.1 Students combine images, sounds and words to communicate

The Arts: Visual Arts
VA 1.2 Students visually represent and explain their experiences, feelings, ideas and observations through making images and objects