3FN16 – Science – Living Things Change Their Environment

How do FreeNode lessons work?

FreeNodes are instructor-led schooling lessons with a unique approach, granting you the freedom to independently teach using a personalized lesson plan. This autonomy enables you to tailor your lessons to suit students’ individual needs, learning styles, and interests.

To use a FreeNode, read the provided class outline & follow the formatting provided for each class. Make sure to touch on the Theocratic Connection in each class. Follow the outline closely so it is aligned with our main at-home curriculum.

How Do I Use the FreeNode?

Read this lesson plan before class to familiarize yourself with the ideas and concepts you’ll be teaching the students. You may print this page out if you need to use it as a reference point during live classes.

This lesson is a guide, but feel free to expand on the content or decrease/increase what you teach depending on the learning levels of the students in your class or the amount of time you have to cover the material.

Can I show videos in FN classes?

Yes, feel free to include additional material to supplement the class lesson material. Videos, Physical Objects, Games, Activities, etc. are okay to share in live classes.

Videos should have no advertisements or logos and should be viewed by you before showing them to the students to ensure no offensive or questionable content is included.

The video should make up only 1-3 minutes of the live class and should not take the place of instructor-led instruction. Videos should be supplementary only.

How do bookmarks work?

Bookmarks help you keep track of lessons you’re going to teach in future live classes. The bookmarks you see are for all your bookmarked lessons across all grades.

You can bookmark a lesson by visiting the lesson you want to bookmark and clicking the “bookmark” button in the bookmark section.

You can remove a single bookmark by visiting a lesson you’ve bookmarked and clicking the “bookmark” button again to unbookmark it.

You can clear all of your bookmarks by clicking the “clear all bookmarks” button. Be careful, this will erase all of your bookmarks.

Class Lesson Plan

Objectives:

Students will understand the interconnectedness of ecosystems, explore how living things contribute to environmental changes, and recognize human impact on the environment.

Materials:

Whiteboard/Chalkboard and markers/chalk
Visual aids (images of elephants, beavers, and human impact on the environment, if available)
Interactive online resources (optional)

Introduction (5 minutes):

Start with a discussion about the interconnectedness of the Earth’s environments and ecosystems. Introduce the main topic: How living things, including humans, can change their environments.

Theocratic Connections:

Connect the lesson to the responsibility given to humans by Jehovah to care for the Earth, as mentioned in the Bible at Genesis 2:15. Emphasize the importance of caring for the environment.

Activity 1 – How Living Things Change Environments (10 minutes):

Show images of birds building nests and trees growing, emphasizing the small and large changes living things make in their environments. Discuss how these changes affect the immediate surroundings and the larger ecosystem.

Show images of elephants in their habitats, emphasizing their large size and herbivorous diet. Discuss how elephants change their environments by eating, uprooting trees, and creating open spaces.

Show images of beavers and their dams, emphasizing changes in water flow and landscape. Discuss how beavers modify their environments by building dams.

Activity 2 – Human Impact on the Environment (10 minutes):

Show images of human activities impacting the environment, such as pollution and deforestation. Discuss how humans can have both positive and negative effects on the environment. Facilitate a discussion on how humans can reduce their negative impact on the environment.

Discuss recycling, reducing waste, saving energy, and using resources responsibly. Discuss ideas student may have for ways we can care for the environment in the Paradise.

Conclusion (5 minutes):

Recap the main points about how living things, including humans, can change the environment.

Assessment:

Evaluate student understanding of how living things change their environment through class discussions and participation in activities.