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EcoVoyageurs Junior Lesson Plans Grades 3-5

Elementary

Description

The EcoVoyageurs Junior grades 3-5 lesson plans focus on educating students on the concept of their ecological footprint. The resource aims to create empathy and a knowledge base concerning the people, flora, and fauna that inhabit the places where students live and go to school. This knowledge and empathy will lead to positive actions in their personal, family, school and community lives.  Each grade unit consists of two parts:

  • a series of slide presentations and scripts to introduce the main concept of each lesson's theme - Introduction to Ecological Footprints, Water, Transportation, Energy, Food and Garbage. 
  • a series of lesson plans, including student activities and worksheets. Each lesson plan provides background information, learning outcomes and guidelines on how to implement the program in the classroom. The lesson plans expand on the slide presentation themes.

Students will:

  • participate in outdoor/nature-based activities
  • play an outdoor game about habitat loss
  • learn to make choices that can help reduce their ecological footprint
  • participate in a neighbourhood scavenger hunt about transportation
  • survey the school to look for energy wasters
  • discuss how far food has travelled before it gets to their table
  • examine their leftover lunches to identify the wasted food
  • experiment with water pollution simulations and carry out purification techniques
  • conduct a survey about transportation
  • experience four hours of energy-free living
  • research local food plants within a 100 km radius
  • purchase, cook and enjoy a 5N meal
  • plant garbage and periodically check its decomposition
  • create an environmental pledge
  • research ways to conserve water
  • investigate the environmental impact of using cars
  • simulate a walk across Canada
  • write a newspaper article
  • publish a cookbook of eco-friendly cleaners

The culminating activity challenges students to adopt five to ten actions that will reduce their Ecological Footprint. Students will be able to log on to the Count Yourself In website, www.ecovoyageurs.ca to track their actions.

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General Assessment

Themes Addressed

Relevant Curriculum Units