Objectives
Students are expected to

Opening the Lesson
Introduce students to the term “environment.” (Environment includes all the things around us—natural features, such as the land, climate, and vegetation; and human features, such as buildings, roads, and other things people have made.) Ask students to suggest some basic components of the natural environment. (Answers may include rocks, water, vegetation, the air, the sun.) Next ask students to suggest some basic components of the human environment. (Answers may include buildings, roads, landfills, and other features that people have added to the landscape.) Make sure all students understand these two concepts before proceeding with the lesson.

Explain to students that the changes people make to the environment are often viewed in different ways by different people and cultural groups. Ask students if they think the environment should be left alone. Or should it be altered or modified? If so, in what ways and to what extent? If the environment is permanently changed or damaged, how might it affect future choices?

Distribute the handout Environmental Explorer Data Sheet. Have students read the questions. Tell them that they will be going outside to observe the environment around the school and to fill out the Environmental Explorer Data Sheets. Give students a time limit for their observations and set boundaries for their exploration. Then send students outside as a class, in groups, or individually to make their observations and to fill out their data sheets.

Teaching Tips for This Outdoor Activity:

Developing the Lesson
As students return to the classroom, have them list their discoveries of the natural and human environments on poster paper or an overhead transparency. After each student has contributed at least one observation, read aloud the observations that have been listed in each category.

Ask students if they were surprised by anything they observed. Did they discover anything unusual? Was anything they observed confusing to them? Were any observations placed in one column that could go in the other column? If so, ask the students who listed the observations to explain their reasons for categorizing them the way they did. Discuss student responses to the remaining questions on the Environmental Explorer Data Sheet.

Students may find that not every feature fits neatly into one of the two categories. Suggest they add a third category. Ask students for suggestions as to what to call it. Consider calling it “adapted environment.” This category could include features from the natural environment that are placed in a human environment—for example, an ornamental olive tree (natural) used in landscaping around a building (human). Add the third category and list adapted features. Cross out items as they are moved from one list to another.

Discuss why there is a need for this third category. Then ask: Is an urban or a rural area more likely to have features that fit in this adapted-environment category? What kind of place might have few or no features that fit into this category?

Have students identify ways in which human and adapted features change the natural environment. What natural features do they displace? (Answers may include marsh animals, trees, soil, and birds.) Is such displacement permanent? (If a marsh were removed, the change would be permanent. The marsh wildlife and vegetation would not return, but birds might return if trees were planted.)

Write a list of statements about environmental issues that you will read to students to elicit their opinions. The subject matter may be related to the local environment, based on information from the students’ Environmental Explorer Data Sheets, or it might be national or global in scope. (Consider familiarizing students with the issues you have selected by asking them to read news articles on the subjects before beginning this activity.) Some sample statements:

Local:

National:

Global:

Post a plus sign (+) for agreement and minus sign (-) for disagreement at opposite ends of the room. Have students stand in the center of the room (the neutral area) while you read a statement. If students agree with the statement, they should move to the plus sign. The closer to the sign, the more they agree with the statement. They may choose to stand in the middle, indicating a neutral position, or near the minus sign if they disagree. After students have chosen a position that represents their point of view, they should stay where they are.

Select students to explain their positions on the issues. Allow equal time for all points of view to be expressed. After discussion, let students change their positions. Point out that additional information can be the basis for changing position on an issue. Allow for movement and additional discussion. Students may question each other’s positions.

Teaching Tips for This Activity:

Concluding the Lesson
Review the terms “natural environment,” “human environment,” and “adapted environment.” Discuss some positive aspects of human and adapted environments. (These may include noise barriers, removal of mosquito breeding areas, more homes.) Discuss some negative aspects of human and adapted environments. (These may include loss of animal habitat and a resulting loss of some animals, loss of water-purifying marshes, obstructed views.)

Extending the Lesson
Have students work in groups to create small murals that depict natural, human, and adapted features of the local environment. When the murals are complete, have students place small color-coded dots, stickers, or hand-drawn symbols on each of the environments. For example, blue dots could be placed on the natural features in their drawing and red dots could go on the human features. Another color could be used for the adapted environmental features.

To focus student attention on environmental features, have students fill in clean copies of the Environmental Explorer Data Sheet while viewing a video or a filmstrip. Have students plan and conduct debates on environmental issues. Have students take opinion polls of the student body regarding environmental issues or problems.

Assessing Student Learning
Give students a list of ten environmental features and ask them to categorize each as natural, human, or adapted. Ask students to write letters to the editor of the local newspaper stating their positions on a local environmental issue. Have students sign and mail the best written and defended letters.

This lesson from Directions in Geography: A Guide for Teachers, National Geographic Society, 1992.