Education doesn't begin and end at school. In fact, the first and best teachers of children are their parents! Take advantage of your fourth grader's natural curiosity and eagerness to explore by suggesting the enrichment activities listed below. These environmental education activities are divided into time periods with a theme and an essential question for each section to guide you and your child in your exploration of the natural world.
September/October
Theme: Harvesting
How did Pacific Northwest Native Americans preserve their harvest?
- Using the Internet and/or library resources, have your child research native plants and how Native Americans used them. Then have him or her collect and identify five different examples and create a display that shows the results of their research.
- Using the Internet and/or library resources, have your child research housing structures in a number of different Native American cultures. Then have him or her infer what he/she can about why and how each culture lived in particular types of structures. Finally, have him/her create a comparison/contrast chart.
- Have your child find several nonfiction books about Pacific Northwest Native Americans in the library, locate information about the types of food they ate and how resources were harvested, and write a report about their findings.
- Using the Internet and/or library resources, have your child locate the famous speeches made by Chief Seattle and Chief Luther Standing Bear. Talk to them about the meaning of the speeches. Then have them practice reading the speeches aloud to present to you and other family members.
- Have your child choose a favorite manufactured item, research the resources and energy that went into making that item, and draw a poster representing the process that created it.
November/December
Theme: Change
How can we change our behavior to better the environment?
- Take your child for a walk through your neighborhood. Have him or her sketch structures, streets and sidewalks, and trees and other plants along the way. Then have him/her use the sketch to draw a map of the neighborhood. Finally, have him/her develop an action plan to help improve the neighborhood.
- Have your child use library search tools to find a children's story about humans having some kind of effect, positive or negative, on their environment. Then have him or her develop a set of guidelines for exploring the outdoors without causing harm.
- Have your child monitor and record his or her daily use of water for one week. Share data from your city water bill with him/her, then have him/her devise a personal conservation plan and estimate how much water and money the plan will save the family.
- Have your child monitor and record his or her trash for a week. Then have him or her develop a personal action plan to reduce the amount of trash.
- Have your child take a walk outside and examine trees for signs of damage or poor health. Using the Internet and/or library resources, have him or her research common causes of tree disease and dysfunction and prepare an educational poster to take to school.
January/February/March
Theme: Restoration
How does a forest keep our water clean?
- Using the Internet and/or library resources, have your child research how plants affect the movement of water. Then have him or her set up a demonstration of his/her findings.
- Have your child take field notes as he or she goes on a “pollution detection” walk looking for land, air, or water pollution and their sources. When data is fully collected, have him or her prepare the information in the form of a graph.
- Have your child take field notes as he or she goes on a “pollution detection” walk looking for sight, noise, and smell pollution and their sources. When data is fully collected, have him or her prepare the information in the form of a graph.
- Using the Internet and/or library resources, have your child research watersheds. Provide a large plastic bag, newspaper, and a water bottle and have him or her create a model of a watershed, labeling the different parts.
- Have your child make a collage from magazine pictures of the benefits of a healthy watershed.
- Have your child create a card or board game showing cause and effect of human behavior on the environment, positive and negative.
- Have your child write a story describing the journey a drop of water takes from the Children's Forest at Dearborn Park to the ocean, or have him or her create a chart or map on poster board showing this journey.
April/May/June
Theme: Diversity
What is “diversity”?
- Have your child collect and cut out pictures of plants and animals, organize and categorize them, and place them in an imaginary zoo or nature park created on poster board.
- Using the Internet and/or library resources, have your child research a chosen habitat. Then have him or her choose an animal from that habitat and write you a letter from the point of view of that animal describing its environment and way of life.
- Have your child imagine he or she is a visitor from another planet experiencing Earth for the first time. Then have him or her describe in as much detail as possible what he/she finds in your back yard.
- Have your child choose one animal from each of several habitats and make a chart to compare and contrast animal characteristics.
- Using the Internet and/or library resources, have your child research several unusual plants and make cards describing them. Then have him or her make up an equal number of imaginary plants and make cards describing those. Finally, have him/her read the cards randomly to other family members who must guess which plants are real and which imaginary.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 08, 2008