Teaching Unit "Save the planet"

Page 1

SESSION 1: “EVOLUTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE” Phase of the learning cycle Key competences

Phase 1: exploration of previous knowledge

Duration of the session

1 hr.

Audiovisual and linguistic communicative competence.

Competence in knowledge and the interaction with the physical world.

Objectives

Citizenship and social competence.

Mathematical competence.

Learning to learn competence.

Personal initiative and autonomy competence.

Analyse and assess the impact of human activities on the environment from a critical perspective.

Make coherent descriptions using the past simple (there was/wasn’t; there were/weren’t) and the present simple (there is/isn’t, there are/aren’t).

Use basic elements of visual language with artistic techniques and tools to express and communicate.

Participate in group work with a responsible, cooperative and dialoguing attitude, arguing and contrasting own opinions.

Contents

Past simple: there was/wasn’t; there were/weren’t.

Present simple: there is/isn’t; there are/aren’t.

Natural environment vocabulary.

Climate change throughout history.

Timing

Description of the activities

10 min.

1. Discussion. In the first place, the video entitled Climate Change Impacts All of Us, But There’s Hope, which shows shocking images related to the problem, will be screened. Starting from it, a large group discussion will be held so that students can verbalize what they know about climate change and, above all, what they feel


when they see images of the catastrophic consequences it has (analysis of the problem from a more emotional perspective). 10 min.

2. Introduction. Once the discussion is finished, the teaching unit will be introduced to the students, sharing with them the learning objectives and explaining what will be done in the following sessions.

15 min.

3. Comparison of photographs. In the first place, the structures of past simple (there was/wasn’t; there were/weren’t) and present simple (there is/isn’t; there are/aren’t) will be introduced to the students. In addition, a series of words related to the natural environment, as well as their corresponding visual representations, will be projected on the digital board, carrying out a discussion to make sure that all the children understand them. Once this has been done, they will be distributed in pairs or trios and will be provided with a series of photographs of different places on Earth before and after global warming. Therefore, they will have to talk about the similarities and differences and write a description for each pair of pictures (using the given grammatical structures). To enable students to share their ideas, a brief large group discussion will be held, in which the pairs will have to verbalize the changes that they have identified in the photographs.

25 min.

4. Creation of a graphic. In the last activity, carried out in groups of 4-5 people, the students will be provided with a grid in which different years appear (1970-2017), as well as the corresponding average global temperatures. However, each member of the group will have different data, reason why they will need to ask their group mates about the temperatures they do not have. Once all the gaps are filled in, each child will make his/her own line chart, representing in this way the evolution of Earth’s temperature throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.


Materials and resources 

Classroom computer, digital board, photographs worksheet, graphic worksheet, writing and drawing material.

Prezi, bomb countdown, early finisher task cards, blurt beans. Forms of social organization

Large group: initial discussion, introduction, large group sharing.

Pairs: comparison of photographs.

Small group: creation of a graphic.

Individual: creation of a graphic. Attention to diversity

Through the initial discussion, it will be possible for the teacher to discover the students’ previous knowledge (their starting points) and, therefore, will allow to adapt the didactic sequence to the needs detected. Furthermore, during the realization of the activities the teacher will provide support to the children in an individualized way, paying special attention to the students with more difficulties. Finally, in the event that some of the students finish a task earlier than their classmates, they will have the possibility to choose, randomly, a card with an extra task to perform. Assessment 

Diagnostic assessment. The initial task, in addition to making it possible for students to become aware of their own knowledge and personal experiences, will help the teacher know their starting points.

Formative assessment. Through the activity in which they have to describe photographs, the students must put into practice the structures of past simple (there was/wasn’t; there were/weren’t) and present simple (there is/isn’t; there are/aren’t), combining them with the previously learned vocabulary. Additionally, the creation of the line chart of each of them will be evaluated by the teacher.


SESSION 2: “CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND SOLUTIONS” Phase 2: introduction of new

Phase of the learning cycle Key competences

knowledge

Duration of the session

45 min.

Audiovisual and linguistic communicative competence.

Competence in knowledge and the interaction with the physical world.

Objectives

Citizenship and social competence.

Information treatment and digital information competence.

Learning to learn competence.

Personal initiative and autonomy competence.

Analyse and assess the impact of human activities on the environment from a critical perspective.

Use comprehension strategies to obtain information, interpret and value the content according to the typology, complexity and purpose of the text.

Participate in group work with a responsible, cooperative and dialoguing attitude, arguing and contrasting own opinions.

Contents

Natural environment vocabulary.

Expository text.

Causes of climate change.

Consequences of climate change.

Timing

Description of the activities

5 min.

1. Climate change roulette. At the beginning of the session a game will be played with the aim of remembering the vocabulary learned during the previous lesson. The students, who will be distributed in small groups, will have a wheel divided into 8 different parts, each of which contains a picture related to climate change. In a rotating way, after spinning it each learner will have to verbalize a sentence that contains the corresponding word. In the event that a member


of the group does not remember the word, it will be the turn of the next child. 30 min.

2. Reading about climate change. Throughout the session the jigsaw technique will be used, so learners will be grouped into groups of experts (6 people per group). The distribution of the groups will be previously created by the teacher to make them heterogeneous, although they will be informed that they have been grouped randomly to avoid labelling. In order to lighten the process, the digital board will be used to show the students a scheme created with InstantClassroom, thanks to which they will be able to know who their group mates will be and in which part of the classroom they will work. Therefore, an expository article about climate change (What is climate change?, What’s different now? and What could happen?) will be divided into 4 parts, so that each group will work in a specific area. In these groups, students will read together their text and, later, they will discuss among themselves in order to prepare how they will explain that part to their peers. In order to summarize properly, each student will be provided with a card that will guide the conversation and that they will have to complete in writing (I am the expert of…, The most important things are…, Do you understand it?, Do you have any question?). Finally, the distribution of the groups will be reprojected, although in this case they will be groups of 4-5 members, each of whom will have worked on a different part of the text. One by one, and with the cards as support, each expert will explain to their peers their section and, therefore, it will be possible for everyone to have a general idea of climate change. To encourage the pupils to be attentive during the explanations of their peers, each of them will be provided with a true/false worksheet, in which they will have to verify or disprove the given statements.


10 min.

3. Kahoot!. In order to check the knowledge acquired, the students will answer individually a Kahoot! multiple-choice quiz, which will include photographs and questions related to climate change. Materials and resources

Classroom computer, digital board, climate change roulette, article, expert cards, dictionaries, true/false worksheet, tablets, writing and drawing material.

Prezi, bomb countdown, Kahoot!, blurt beans. Forms of social organization

Individual: Kahoot!.

Small group: climate change roulette, reading about climate change.

Large group: large group sharing. Attention to diversity

Heterogeneous criteria are followed when grouping the students so that those children with more difficulties are integrated with their classmates, who can help them, give them support and, at the same time, interact and improve social cohesion. Therefore, the fact of promoting cooperative learning is positive for all children, since they need to participate and learn in an environment that recognizes their abilities and meets their needs. For this same reason, cooperative learning does not only allow only and exclusively acquire individual competences linked to the academic field, but also promotes the development of other essential competences for current citizenship and complex social skills related to teamwork. Moreover, during the realization of the activities the teacher will provide support to the groups with the aim of solving each and every one of the doubts that may arise. Assessment 

Formative assessment. Besides favouring that the students are aware of their comprehension of the reading, the Kahoot! will give the teacher a series of results in Excel format. Therefore, this tool will facilitate the monitoring of the learning process, since it will favour the detection of the learners’ difficulties and the adaptation to the educational needs.


SESSION 3: “GROUP RESEARCH” Phase of the learning cycle Key competences

Phase 3: structuring of knowledge

Duration of the session

1 hr.

Audiovisual and linguistic communicative competence.

Competence in knowledge and the interaction with the physical world.

Objectives

Citizenship and social competence.

Information treatment and digital information competence.

Learning to learn competence.

Personal initiative and autonomy competence.

Analyse and assess the impact of human activities on the environment from a critical perspective.

Search, contrast, select and order digital information considering different sources and making good use of ICT.

Plan and produce an expository text and video taking into account the communicative purpose.

Participate in group work with a responsible, cooperative and dialoguing attitude, arguing and contrasting own opinions.

Contents

Expository text.

Causes of climate change.

Consequences of climate change.

Solutions to climate change.

Timing

Description of the activities

10 min.

1. Introduction. The learners, distributed in the groups of 4-5 people, will be told that, during the following days, they will be researchers whose purpose will be to obtain the necessary information about phenomena related to climate change in order to protect the environment. In this case the technology tool Wheel Decide will be used, that is, a student from each group will be asked to use the class computer to spin the roulette. In this way,


different topics will be distributed among the groups: ice melt at the poles, desertification and extreme weather events. Finally, they will be explained what attitude should be maintained to carry out a fruitful research. They will be asked to decide, among them, what role each member of the group will have. In addition to explaining what each role consists of, each group will be provided with simple cards in which responsibilities are specified: 1. Leader: responsible for leading the group task and encouraging the participation of all members. 2. Secretary: responsible for taking notes and/or writing everything that is necessary while working in class. 3. Supervisor: responsible for maintaining the silence. 4. Spokesperson: responsible for communicating the ideas of the group and, if necessary, asking the teacher for help. 15 min.

2. KWL chart. The students will be asked to complete, in small groups (4-5 people), the first two columns of a KWL chart (What I know and What I want to know) to make them reflect on their own knowledge and expectations towards the assigned topic.

35 min.

3. Research. The children, who will continue in small groups, will search the most relevant information about their topic on the internet and write it down in a Google Drive document. In order to do so successfully, the following instructions will be explained and, during the whole research, projected on the digital board: 1. Define the phenomenon: What is ice melt/desertification/extreme weather? 2. Explain the causes of the phenomenon: Why does it happen? 3. Explain the consequences of the phenomenon: How can it affect organisms? 4. Propose solutions: How can we reduce its impact?


Furthermore, the students will be provided with the link of the website where all the information about the phenomena can be found, previously created by the teacher. To scaffold the language, the DeepL translator, the English online dictionary WordReference and cards with useful grammatical structures will be used. Materials and resources 

Classroom computer, digital board, KWL chart, writing and drawing material, laptops.

Prezi, Wheel Decide, Google, DeepL translator, WordReference, language scaffolding cards, roles cards, blurt beans. Forms of social organization

Small group: KWL chart, research.

Large group: introduction. Attention to diversity

Heterogeneous criteria are followed when grouping the students so that those children with more difficulties are integrated with their classmates, who can help them, give them support and, at the same time, interact and improve social cohesion. Therefore, the fact of promoting cooperative learning is positive for all children, since they need to participate and learn in an environment that recognizes their abilities and meets their needs. For this same reason, cooperative learning does not only allow only and exclusively acquire individual competences linked to the academic field, but also promotes the development of other essential competences for current citizenship and complex social skills related to teamwork. In addition, during the realization of the activities the teacher will provide support to the groups with the aim of solving each and every one of the doubts that may arise. Assessment 

Formative assessment. The KWL chart will enable the students to reflect on their knowledge about the topic, as well as to share their expectations towards it. Therefore, it will allow the detection of possible difficulties and the understanding of the reasons so that they can face them with the teacher’s help.


SESSION 4: “GROUP RESEARCH” Phase of the learning cycle Key competences

Phase 3: structuring of knowledge

Duration of the session

1 hr.

Audiovisual and linguistic communicative competence.

Competence in knowledge and the interaction with the physical world.

Objectives

Citizenship and social competence.

Information treatment and digital information competence.

Learning to learn competence.

Personal initiative and autonomy competence.

Analyse and assess the impact of human activities on the environment from a critical perspective.

Search, contrast, select and order digital information considering different sources and making good use of ICT.

Plan and produce an expository text and video taking into account the communicative purpose.

Participate in group work with a responsible, cooperative and dialoguing attitude, arguing and contrasting own opinions.

Contents

Expository text.

Causes of climate change.

Consequences of climate change.

Solutions to climate change.

Timing

Description of the activities

1 hr.

1. Research. This session will be dedicated solely and exclusively to finish, in small groups, the expository text. Materials and resources

Classroom computer, digital board, laptops.

Prezi, Google, WordReference, roles cards, bomb countdown, blurt beans.


Forms of social organization 

Small group: research. Attention to diversity

Heterogeneous criteria are followed when grouping the students so that those children with more difficulties are integrated with their classmates, who can help them, give them support and, at the same time, interact and improve social cohesion. Therefore, the fact of promoting cooperative learning is positive for all children, since they need to participate and learn in an environment that recognizes their abilities and meets their needs. For this same reason, cooperative learning does not only allow only and exclusively acquire individual competences linked to the academic field, but also promotes the development of other essential competences for current citizenship and complex social skills related to teamwork. Furthermore, during the realization of the activities the teacher will provide support to the groups with the aim of solving each and every one of the doubts that may arise. In the event that a group finishes the expository text, its members will be asked to start searching images related to their topic on the internet. Assessment 

Formative assessment. During the research, direct observation and note-taking will be used to evaluate the behaviour of students, especially taking into account respect towards others. In addition, the teacher will be responsible for correcting the groups’ written productions and giving feedback to them before the creation of the video.


SESSION 5: “EXPOSITORY VIDEO” Phase of the learning cycle Key competences

Phase 4: application of knowledge

Duration of the session

1 hr.

Audiovisual and linguistic communicative competence.

Competence in knowledge and the interaction with the physical world.

Objectives

Citizenship and social competence.

Information treatment and digital information competence.

Learning to learn competence.

Personal initiative and autonomy competence.

Analyse and assess the impact of human activities on the environment from a critical perspective.

Search, contrast,

select and order digital information

considering different sources and making good use of ICT. 

Plan and produce an expository text and video taking into account the communicative purpose.

Participate in group work with a responsible, cooperative and dialoguing attitude, arguing and contrasting own opinions.

Contents

Oral exposition.

Causes of climate change.

Consequences of climate change.

Solutions to climate change.

Timing

Description of the activities

15 min.

1. Selection of images. In the first place, each group will search photographs related to their topic on the internet, which will accompany their explanations in a video.

45 min.

2. Voice recording. After being explained the aspects to be taken into account when reading a text out loud (such as rhythm, intonation and pronunciation), each group will have to distribute


the expository text among the members, so that each and every one of them has a section. Subsequently, the learners will practice out loud reading and, finally, they will record their voices with the computer program Audacity. Materials and resources 

Classroom computer, digital board, laptops, writing and drawing material.

Prezi, Google, Audacity, roles cards, bomb countdown, blurt beans. Forms of social organization

Small group: selection of images, video recording. Attention to diversity

Heterogeneous criteria are followed when grouping the students so that those children with more difficulties are integrated with their classmates, who can help them, give them support and, at the same time, interact and improve social cohesion. Therefore, the fact of promoting cooperative learning is positive for all children, since they need to participate and learn in an environment that recognizes their abilities and meets their needs. For this same reason, cooperative learning does not only allow only and exclusively acquire individual competences linked to the academic field, but also promotes the development of other essential competences for current citizenship and complex social skills related to teamwork. What is more, during the realization of the activities the teacher will provide support to the groups with the aim of solving each and every one of the doubts that may arise. Finally, in the event that a group finishes the task earlier than the others, its members will have the possibility to choose, randomly, a card with an extra task to perform. Assessment 

Formative assessment. During the creation of the video, direct observation and note-taking will be used to evaluate the behaviour of students, especially taking into account respect towards others.


SESSION 6: “EXPOSITORY VIDEO” Phase of the learning cycle Key competences

Phase 4: application of knowledge

Duration of the session

45 min.

Audiovisual and linguistic communicative competence.

Competence in knowledge and the interaction with the physical world.

Objectives

Citizenship and social competence.

Information treatment and digital information competence.

Learning to learn competence.

Personal initiative and autonomy competence.

Analyse and assess the impact of human activities on the environment from a critical perspective.

Search, contrast, select and order digital information considering different sources and making good use of ICT.

Plan and produce an expository text and video taking into account the communicative purpose.

Participate in group work with a responsible, cooperative and dialoguing attitude, arguing and contrasting own opinions.

Contents

Oral exposition.

Causes of climate change.

Consequences of climate change.

Solutions to climate change.

Timing

Description of the activities

45 min.

1. Video making. After receiving some guidelines on the operation of Windows Movie Maker, explained in a video tutorial that must have been previously watched at home, the groups will use the computer program to create their own expository videos about their topic. Therefore, through technology they will combine the images selected on the previous session and the recordings of their voices.


Materials and resources 

Classroom computer, digital board, laptops, writing and drawing material.

Prezi, Windows Movie Maker, roles cards, bomb countdown, early finisher task cards, blurt beans. Forms of social organization

Small group: video making. Attention to diversity

Heterogeneous criteria are followed when grouping the students so that those children with more difficulties are integrated with their classmates, who can help them, give them support and, at the same time, interact and improve social cohesion. Therefore, the fact of promoting cooperative learning is positive for all children, since they need to participate and learn in an environment that recognizes their abilities and meets their needs. For this same reason, cooperative learning does not only allow only and exclusively acquire individual competences linked to the academic field, but also promotes the development of other essential competences for current citizenship and complex social skills related to teamwork. Additionally, during the realization of the activities the teacher will provide support to the groups with the aim of solving each and every one of the doubts that may arise. Moreover, in the event that a group finishes the task earlier than the others, its members will have the possibility to choose, randomly, a card with an extra task to perform. Assessment 

Formative assessment. During the creation of the video, direct observation and note-taking will be used to evaluate the behaviour of students, especially taking into account respect towards others.


SESSION 7: “REFLECTION ON THE LEARNING PROCESS” Phase of the learning cycle Key competences

Phase 4: application of knowledge

Duration of the session

1 hr.

Audiovisual and linguistic communicative competence.

Competence in knowledge and the interaction with the physical world.

Objectives

Citizenship and social competence.

Cultural and artistic competence.

Learning to learn competence.

Personal initiative and autonomy competence.

Analyse and assess the impact of human activities on the environment from a critical perspective.

Use basic elements of visual language with artistic techniques and tools to express and communicate.

Participate in group work with a responsible, cooperative and dialoguing attitude, arguing and contrasting own opinions.

Contents

Past simple and present simple.

Expository text.

Oral exposition.

Natural environment vocabulary.

Climate change throughout history.

Causes of climate change.

Consequences of climate change.

Solutions to climate change.

Timing

Description of the activities

10 min.

1. Viewing of expository videos. In the first place, a visualization of all the videos will be carried out with the aim that students can appreciate the creations of their classmates. To encourage the learners to be attentive during the visualization, each group will be provided with a worksheet to assess the other


groups’ productions, including different items to be evaluated (especially related to the language). 10 min.

2. Self and peer assessment. Each and every one of the children will be provided with a worksheet, which will include different aspects to be evaluated, all of them related to the attitude taken during the research. Therefore, firstly the learners will evaluate themselves and, subsequently, their group mates.

10 min.

3. KWL chart. The students will be asked to complete, in small groups (4-5 people), the last column of the KWL chart (What I learned) in order to make them reflect on the knowledge they have acquired throughout the process. To enable students to share their ideas, a large group discussion will be held, in which the spokespersons of each team will have to verbalize the knowledge that the members believe they have acquired.

30 min.

4. Creation of a mind map. At the end of the session, the learners will select, individually, the key ideas of the entire project in order to create an original, beauteous mind map on a DIN A3 hard paper. Materials and resources

Classroom computer, digital board, self and peer assessment worksheet, KWL chart, writing and drawing material, DIN A3 hard paper cardboard.

Prezi, bomb countdown, early finisher task cards, blurt beans. Forms of social organization

Large group: viewing of expository videos, large group sharing.

Individual: self and peer assessment, creation of a mind map.

Small group: KWL chart. Attention to diversity

Heterogeneous criteria are followed when grouping the students so that those children with more difficulties are integrated with their classmates, who can help them, give


them support and, at the same time, interact and improve social cohesion. Therefore, the fact of promoting cooperative learning is positive for all children, since they need to participate and learn in an environment that recognizes their abilities and meets their needs. For this same reason, cooperative learning does not only allow only and exclusively acquire individual competences linked to the academic field, but also promotes the development of other essential competences for current citizenship and complex social skills related to teamwork. Moreover, during the realization of the activities the teacher will provide support to the students with the aim of solving each and every one of the doubts that may arise. Finally, in the event that one of the students finishes a task earlier than his/her classmates, he/she will have the possibility to choose, randomly, a card with an extra task to perform. Assessment 

Summative assessment. A rubric will be created so that both the students and the teacher evaluate the expository videos, considering the structure of the speech, the language accuracy (vocabulary and grammar), the quality (rhythm, intonation and pronunciation) and the adequacy of the selected images. Moreover, each and every learner will have to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding about climate change not only in the KWL chart, but also by the individual creation of a mind map.


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