A THOREAU LOOK AT OUR ENVIRONMENT

 

Diamond Middle School                                          Jennifer Burgin - science

Lexington, Massachusetts                                       Roseann Cohen - social studies    

Sixth Grade Delta Team                                          Susan Ellsworth - English

 

            Rather than treating this as one contained unit, we chose to spread it throughout the year.  We want to integrate this endeavor into our existing individual subject  curricula.  We also would like to use it as a recurring theme to integrate our disciplines.  It could be a basis for pulling together as a team, both academically and socially.                      Diamond Middle School is setting aside time for an advisor-advisee program.  We feel that this Thoreau study will provide a focus for many of our “AA” activities.

 

The following existing goals from the Lexington middle school curriculum will be incorporated:

 

All subjects:                * Celebrating diversity and acknowledging the worth of all people

(including AA)            * Resisting peer pressure when necessary

                                    * Building one’s own self-esteem

                                     

English:                      * Written expression using different genres, including journals,                                           poetry and essays

                                    * Discussion of ideas and issues

                                    * Reading to broaden one’s experience of the world and of                                                            language

 

Social Studies:          * An examination of people in their relationship to the land

                                    * The use of various historical sources:  primary and secondary,                                                   historical records and artifacts

                                    * Discussions of an individual’s impact on society and vice-versa

 

Science:                     Practice in science skills:

                                    * Observing

                                    * Measuring

                                    * Analyzing cause/effect relationships

                                    * Inferring

                                    * Hypothesizing

                                    * Interpreting models, such as maps                      

 

 We envision mathematics also as a part of this endeavor, possibly incorporating

                                    * Altitude or angle of sun, based on shadow lengths

                                    * Scale drawings

                                    * Height of trees

                                    * Basic surveying

                                    * Calculating, such as the cost of Thoreau’s materials for his house

 

Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Learning Standards included in this                  study:

                       

English: LS1:   Using agreed-upon rules of discussions

                LS2:   Posing questions, listening to others, and contributing                                                                         information and ideas to discussions

                LS8:   Using various methods to understand and use vocabulary

                LS9:   Identifying basic facts and ideas in reading

                LS14: Responding to and analyzing effects of sound in poetry

                LS19: Writing compositions with a clear focus and supporting ideas

                LS21: Revising writing to improve organization and diction

 

Social Studies

History

                LS2:  Historical understanding

                LS4:  Society, diversity, commonality and the individual

                LS5:  Interdisciplinary learning, religion, ethics, philosophy and literature in                                                 history

                LS6:  Natural science, mathematics and technology in history

Geography

                LS7:  Physical spaces of the earth

                LS9:  Effects of geography

                LS10: Human alterations of the environment

Civics and Government

                LS16: Authority, responsibility and power

                LS19: Citizenship

 

Science: LS1:  Recognize, interpret, and be able to create models of the earth’s                                                       common physical features in various mapping                                                                 representations, including contour maps.

                LS6: Describe and give examples of ways in which the earth’s surface is built                                            up and torn down by natural processes, including                                                                         deposition of sediments, rock formation, erosion, and                                                            weathering.

                LS7: Explain and give examples of how physical evidence, such a fossils                                       and surface features of glaciation, supports theories that the earth                                       has evolved over geologic time.

                LS11: Explain how the tilt of the earth and its revolution around the sun result                                              in an uneven heating of the earth, which in turn causes the                                                          seasons.

 

        Note: Biology science standards are not addressed here, because Lexington    curriculum places almost all of the biological science at the seventh grade level.

 

 

 

 

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

            *People affect their environment; the environment affects people.  Deliberate choices can be made about both.

 

            *By examining evidence available in the present, we can better understand the past.

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

            *How can personal involvement with the environment lead to more self-                                               awareness?

 

            *What is the individual’s responsibility to the community?  When should the                             individual take a stand against the prevailing attitudes or laws of the                                  community?

 

            *How can careful observations over time add to the knowledge of our world?

 

            *How are living things - including people - interdependent?

 

            *How can Thoreau’s life and words help us live today?

 

FOCUS ACTIVITIES

            *Journal entries on school site at least once during each season, including

                        Sketched and written observations of present environment

                        Sample topographical maps and students’ own maps

                        Poetic thoughts and personal impressions

                        Geological observations and inferences

                        Measurements and inferences

                        Recorded clues about people who used the land

                        Observations of seasonal changes

 

            *Writing and discussions in response to the writings of Thoreau

                        One or several combined into a thoughtful essay

                       

            * Oral history through interviews of older people

                        Their memories of land use and change

                        Their thoughts about or participation in community improvements

 

            * Examination of historical documents about land use and change in Lexington                                  and Boston

 

            * Field trips, using informed guides:

                        An area of Lexington that shows evidence of earlier social patterns or                                        land use

 

                        A tour of Beacon Hill in Boston, including the African American Meeting                                     House, with a focus on types of people living in various areas,  led by                             SPNEA or the African American Meeting House group.

           

            *Each classroom will have some sayings of Thoreau or statements about our                                     purpose so that students may keep them in mind.

 

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

            *Lexington Senior Center

            *Lexington town offices

               Planning Board

               Natural Resources

               Board of Health

               Historical Society

            *Parents with skills and local knowledge

               Barbara Munkres

            *Web addresses

               usgs.gov - survey map of area

               www.walden.org

 

PREPARATORY TASKS FOR TEACHERS

            * Locate written records and maps showing land use throughout Lexington’s                          history

            * Contact local organizations to seek out experts who could lead us on a land-                                   use field trip

            * Locate document on geological history of Lexington and find sites with                                             examples of geological features, especially glacial

            * Collect appropriate (to sixth grade) passages by Thoreau to which students                                     could respond in writing and discussion

            * Choose several standard Thoreau quotes for classroom display, such as                             those on simplification, deliberate living, wildness as the preservation of                                     the world, heaven under our feet, and the different drummer

            * Develop rubrics for individual disciplinary assignment.  For example, English                                   will have one for essay writing; science, for a geology assignment; and                              social studies, for interviewing.

            * As a team, develop a rubric for the final portfolio

 

ACCEPTABLE EVIDENCE

            Students will keep a portfolio of materials accumulated throughout the year and will choose various items to save and perhaps present to others.

 

            Students may be asked to write examples relating to our Enduring Understandings.  For instance: “From your evidence, cite one important  way in which people affect the environment.”