Learning Objectives

students will:
1. Relate how the environment influences their daily lives.
2. Practice creative writing and interpretation exercises.

Teaching Process

20 minutes
Introduction: Headlines

The following list of headlines comes from real news sources around the world. Give students 10 minutes to write a short article describing what they think the news article may be about. Encourage students to use their creativity. After students have had some fun with this creative exercise, the teacher should distribute summaries of the actual story. Allow students to compare their news stories with the actual stories. Some students may want to read their creative stories to the class and then compare to the actual story.

20 minutes
Environmental Issues in Current Events

Depending on which choice the teacher makes under “Teacher Preparation,” the teacher will either distribute current events stories related to environmental and sustainability issues, allow students to search through newspapers for appropriate articles, or have students bring in their own current events articles. Students may need to work in small groups if not enough articles are available for each student.

After using their imagination to write their own creative stories based on the given headlines, students will read the factual summary of the actual story. Students will summarize the actual environmental stories by answering the following questions:

1. Write a one-paragraph summary of the news story. Be sure to include important facts, such as the location, people involved, background information, and outcome.
2. What is interesting or newsworthy about your story?
3. Does the news in your story have a positive or negative effect on the environment? Why?
4. Does the news in your story have a positive or negative effect on you? Why?
5. How could this story influence your community/the United States?

Teachers Notes

*Complete lesson plan and news articles can be located in the attached web link.