Impact in the Little House

Engage, Explore, Explain:

Introduce students to the book "The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.
* Discuss the impact that humans had on the environment of the Little House, as stated in the book
* Ensure that students recognize the process of urbanization, deforestaion and erosion.
* Students will discuss in small cooperative groups above terms and related terms to the story.
* Students will use graphic organizer to aid their comprehension.
* Introduce to students using the graphic organizers, the difference between natural resource restoration and natural resource maintenance. Both restoration and maintenance of natural resources are human activites which help the environment vs. urbanization and deforestation which hurt the environment.
* Students will visit a local state park or school campus and set up a hike, introducing the following concepts:
1. Look for human impacts, as described in the story "Little House"
2. Look for natural impacts as described in the story "Little House"
3. Discuss natural resource restoration actions and natural maintenance processes for the state park visited.
* Each group of three students will be assigned a flip camera as they hike around the state park or school campus looking for examples of human impacts, natural impacts, restoration or maintenance that result in keeping the state land/school campus land balanced between humans and nature.
* groups will take pictures of the following during their hike: human impacts thast create change, nautral impact that create change, natural resource maintenance occuring in the park/school campus, and natural resource restoration occuring in the state park/school campus.
* After returning to school, student will print out pictures and recreate the story "Little House" in their own words and pictures.

* Students will be encourage to draw pictures in addition to the photographs captured in the park /school campus, to fully illustrate their story.
* Students will share their final products willwith visited state park/ school library and/or local elementary school library so younger students can learn the impact humans have on those systems.