To create empathy and help learners recognize some of the adverse effects of the careless actions of people.
 

The learner will:

• locate and identify pertinent information from environmental articles.
• locate various types of environmental problems associated with careless human acts.
• identify types of human environments associated with hazardous
  environmental conditions.
• organize information in the form of an oral and visual presentation.
  

Anticipatory Set:
Have the selection of nature music playing as the learners enter the classroom- www.naturesounds.com   Ask the learners to create a journal entry reflecting on what they hear and feel about the recording.
Teacher Note:  Before starting the activities for Day One, you will need to take the plastic drink can holders and the monofilament fishing line and tangle them up.  You may use additional items to be caught in the middle of the mess (i.e., wrappers, deflated balloons, etc.)  or just tangle the two together.  Create one of these for each group of four learners.  You will also need to do a Internet search for web sites that relate to the following topics: animals/wildlife injured by litter, penguin sweaters, penguin rescue, whale rescue, wildlife rescue, animals injured by plastic, oil spills, etc.) Existing example sites include http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3265835.stm http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Oil_Spills/
Duplicate the Cards for Study (Attachment One) making sure that when cut out, there will be enough cards, one for each learner.

• Give one of the tangled messes to each group informing them that messes like these can readily be found in lakes and streams and along beaches (if appropriate) right in their very own community!  Instruct learners to take turns trying to undue the tangles.  Time each team member for 30 seconds and then instruct them to pass it along clockwise to the next teammate.  Waiting teammates can advise or instruct the one working with the tangle, but only the learner who has the tangle can touch it at one time.  Allow the mess to go around the circle 2 or 3 times.  (4 to 6 minutes).  At the end of the 4 to 6 minutes, have each learner write down what feelings they had during the activity.
  
  
• Ask for volunteers to share their responses.  Ask learners if their feelings would different if a part of their body was tangled in the mess.  (Help them talk about intensity;  i.e. Stronger feelings)
  
  
• Place the learners into  core teams of four.  Assign and hand each learner in the core team a card representing a different topic/animal: Aquatic Animals, Whales, Wild Animals, or Penguins.  (Attachment One)  Each member of the core team will need access and pre-approved links or key search words/phrases, or articles. 
  Teacher Note: This activity will be done so the learners will not be working with their core team initially.)  Once each core team member has been assigned and given a card representing their topic or animal, organize the room so that you have a “study group” composed of those learners who have been assigned the same the topic/animal.  (Note: You may have 2 or 3 study groups for each topic or animal depending on your class size.)
  
  
• Provide the downloaded articles or instruct learners to download and print the articles suggested on their card or do a key word or phrase search.
  
  
• Distribute copies of Research Findings (Attachment Two) and instruct the learners to read through each of the articles and work through the recording sheets together.  Each individual group member will need a completed recording sheet at the end of the session, and they may or may not be identical to their other group members. Collect the recording sheets for use during the next activity.
  
  
• Redistribute the learners’ completed Research Findings (Attachment Two)  sheets and reorganize the learners into their core teams of four.  Each team should have one learner from each of the four “study groups”.  Distribute a copy of Putting It All Together (Attachment Three) to each learner and instruct them to teach each other in their core group the necessary information they gathered the previous day. Each member of the core group should be able to complete their Putting It All Together sheet (Attachment Three) from the information that is presented by their team members.
  
  
• Reorganize the learners back into their “study groups,” distribute one Scoring Guide for Billboard (Attachment Four) and a sheet of banner paper to each group.  Instruct the learners to create a billboard, to be displayed in the school hallways, representing the information their “study group” gathered regarding the articles they read using the scoring guide as a rubric.    
  

• Sounds of Nature: www.naturesounds.com
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3265835.stm
• http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Oil_Spills/
• For Additional Related Units/Lessons: www.learningtogive.org