Thursday, June 12, 2014

SECRUOSER - A Natural Resources Adventure Role Play

Our Planet Earth

The decisions we make can affect the planet.


1. The extraction and use of natural resources.
2. Current environmental issues in Japan and the world.
3. Responsible decision making: exploring the difference that we can make.



When I saw natural resources, my thoughts drifted back to my first year working at TIS. At that time I was teaching PE, and I would drift in and out of classrooms when I could, and I remember very clearly seeing a bulletin board with trees on it, then a few weeks later the trees were cut in half. When I asked about it, the Grade 3-4 teacher told me they were learning about resources and he used that as a kind of role play.

Fast forward to this year and I was faced with a natural resources unit, so I decided to give it a shot.


The yellow boxes show where the students wanted to build houses.

I first set the landscape. I created an area modeled after Miyagi, Japan (where we are). I first talked with the students about the different features of the landscape. We talked about the trees, the water, the animals, and the mountains and the possibility of minerals in them (thanks to Minecraft). I told them that the name of the land was SECRUOSER. I intentionally wrote it next to the word resources to see if anyone would get it, and one astute student did. Now I wish I had left that nugget for later.

Next I had the students scout out their homestead. They each came up to the board and pointed to where they wanted their house. Several students placed their homes close to each other in the upper part of the board.

Surprisingly only one student chose a place on the lake shore. They don't know what they are missing.


An explanation about the placement of a house.

Many students chose to build away from the coast of the ocean and away from water as well citing tsunamis. Other students talked about floods and introduced words like "avalanche" and "landslide". Natural disasters were a huge influence on their decisions.

I wonder if this is because of Japan, the March 11, 2011 earthquake, or if it is just their age.


SECRUOSER after the purge.

I then found some house cutouts. I showed the students each one and assigned them a tree value. There was a grass house that cost one tree, a stone house that cost one tree, a few that cost two, and one that cost three.

The students were so excited to get their houses and color them. Little did they know what was in store for them.

All trees and houses for this board were made using scrap paper.

Each time I put up a house, I cut that many trees from the board, but I left stumps so they could see what was happening. This is what caught their attention. When I cut the first tree there was a silence in the room that told me the shock helped them realize that the decisions they had made had consequences that they could not get out of.

I went to all the students collecting houses, and when I did, I asked the class how much the house cost. I then told them that if you were to build a house, and had no vehicle, you would cut the trees closest to where you lived.

The boys who moved next to each other found that when humans get together there will be a large hole in the forest. In our land area the whole forest north of the river was ravaged. The students who chose stone houses saw parts of mountains taken out.

One student was so excited he brought his mom into the room and told her all about what happened.

Next chapter: What happens to the animals? OR When beavers strike.

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