Research and Review Elementary Level 1

Environment
Is green energy good for wildlife?
a2bitnickel

Summer 2013

Research and Review ~~ Environment (1)

Topic Focus:

Is green energy good for wildlife?

Where should you look before you start each story do some research?
Google this topic focus and it is too

big.

Lets cut this into a smaller piece.

What are some ideas that you find when you Google the Topic Focus, like what do
we mean green energy.
Definitions of green energy: Green energy can be_______?
____________________________

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____________________________

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Label each answer from 1~ 6.

Which is most important? _______________________
Why?
__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Story Title:
Tahoe elementary students saying no to plastic at the lunch table
The title helps you discover ideas. In this title we find words that will help us. The url is
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/northshore/nsportsoutdoors/5500848-113/plastic-green-bags-team

Now find some information about environment to answer these three questions.
Find some ideas like ~
What are three things that hurt the environment?

1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
Why do they hurt the environment?

1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
What solutions can you find to help the environment?

1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
Discuss this when you get to class.

Topic ~

Is green energy good for wildlife?

5x5

Step 1 ~~ Think about 5 different ideas to help us understand the

problem. Look at your research to help you.
1.___Harm ________
2.___ Help _________
3._________________
4._________________
5._________________
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Step 2 ~~ Make 5 questions about each idea. There is one example for
you to look at.
1.___ hurt ________
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)

What hurts the environment THE MOST?

Which country makes the most junk/waste?
Why does it hurt the environment?
Which kind of junk/waste hurts the environment the most?
What is a good solution?

2._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

_______________________________________________

v)

_______________________________________________

3._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

_______________________________________________

v)

_______________________________________________

4._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

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v)

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5._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

_______________________________________________

v)

_______________________________________________

Step 3 ~~ Make longer one sentence answers for each question.

One example is done for you.

1.___ hurt ________

What hurts the environment THE MOST?
Factories cause THE MOST hurt to the environment.
ii) Which country makes the most junk/waste?
China creates THE MOST waste, which hurts the environment.
iii) Why does it hurt the environment?
i)

iv)
v)

Chemicals hurt the environment THE MOST, because it kills

the biodiversity.
Which kind of junk/waste hurts the environment the most?
Chemical waste is THE MOST hurt to the environment.
What is a good solution?
We should make chemical which are made from natural materials,
and which do not hurt the biodiversity.

2._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

_______________________________________________

v)

_______________________________________________

3._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

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iii)

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iv)

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v)

_______________________________________________

4._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

_______________________________________________

v)

_______________________________________________

5._________________
i)

_______________________________________________

ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

_______________________________________________

v)

_______________________________________________

Read the story

Tahoe elementary students saying no to plastic at the lunch table

Tuesday, March 5.

KINGS BEACH, Calif. The Kings Beach Elementary School lunch service will soon become
greener with help from an unexpected ally: students.

As early as next week, 24 fourth graders, all of whom are members of the schools green team,
will help launch a new lunch initiative of replacing individual plastic packages containing a spork,
napkin, and straw, with reusable silverware by passing out the utensils to younger students.

I want to save the world and teach everybody to not use plastic, so the Earth isnt, like, all
plastic, said green team member Hannah Hirsh during the Clubs Monday morning meeting,
after members eagerly shared ideas on how to prevent the reusable utensils from being thrown
out accidentally.

Suggested ideas included standing next to trash cans to inspect trays; having a separate
container for silverware by the trash cans; and, which turned out to be the official solution,
placing a bucket at each table.

We want to have zero-waste lunches, said student Sophia Sullivan, explaining the goal of the
Kings Beach Elementary green team the new silverware initiative being a step in that
direction.

Sullivan, along with her follow green team members who also are present in Truckee
Elementary School and Tahoe Lake Elementary recently learned about the impact of singleuse plastic bags on the environment after watching the movie Bag It.

Plastic bags are really bad because theyre a big waste because some people only use them
once and then throw them away, but they never go away, said Zoe Carter, a Kings Beach
Elementary green team member. Other Kings Beach Elementary green team members cited the
dangers plastic bags pose to wildlife.

What Ive learned about plastic bags is that when they get in the ocean, they look like jellyfish
to the other fish, and they will eat them and theyll get stuck in their stomachs, said Koson
Verkler.

Vocabulary check
Find the colored words and look them up in the dictionary. There are ten (10)
of them.

__________
1. ______________________________________________________
__________
2. ______________________________________________________
__________
3. ______________________________________________________
__________
4. ______________________________________________________
__________
5. ______________________________________________________
__________
6. ______________________________________________________
__________
7. ______________________________________________________
__________
8. ______________________________________________________
__________
9. ______________________________________________________
__________
10. ______________________________________________________
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Step 4 is to put all the answers into paragraphs. Each of the five (5) in
section one (1) is a paragraph. You will have a 5 paragraph essay
now. There is one example for you. You make yours.

1. hurt
Factories cause the most hurt to the environment. China creates the most waste, which
hurts the environment. Chemicals hurt the environment the most, because it kills the
biodiversity. Chemical waste is the most hurt to the environment. We should make chemical
which are made from natural materials, and which do not hurt the biodiversity.

_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

2.______________
_______________________________________________________
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10

_______________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________

3.______________
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4.______________
_______________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

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5.______________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

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Step 5 is to add an introduction and a conclusion.

Do this for your essay homework.

The introduction uses all five of the major words you made in
the beginning.
__________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

The conclusion gives five basic things you said about the points.
__________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

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The Debate
Debate is about making statements NOT questions.
Each debate topic starts with a statement.
Today the topic is the environment. The statement to defend (agree with) or
rebut (disagree with) is:

The environment is hurt by plastic bags, therefore we should NEVER use

plastic bags.
Be careful with words like Never

In the story (facts)

What ideas in the story agree with this statement? (defend / agree)
What ideas do not agree with this statement? (rebut / disagree)
What ideas expand / do not fit into these two categories?
In my research (facts)
What ideas did I find in my research that agree / disagree / expand the
statement?
My opinions based on what I know plus facts from the story and my research.
On the next page you will two boxes. Number each point. Match each point
topic from the story and your research by their number. Put a (+) for the agree
points, and a (-) for those which disagree.
If a point doesnt match, that is ok. This means that you will need to find an
answer later.
After you have numbered and matched your points, each one should have a
plus (+) and (-) to be a match, then you are ready to try a debate.
In the debate the teacher will give you a point or argument and you will speak
what you have found in the story and the research. In the second round you
will need to give your opinions from the research you already did to expand.

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 Close out the class making recycled paper and plastic with
seeds.
Have students create a seed paper at home.
Bring a bag of plastic wrappings to class. Have the students
imagine eating the whole bag. How would they feel? Have them
write about their thinking for homework. Have them list
positive and negative things about plastic.
Write a short essay from this list.

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In this box put the (+) points ~~

In this box put the (-) points ~~

(1)
________________________________________
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(1)
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(2)
________________________________________
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(2)
________________________________________
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(3)
________________________________________
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(3)
________________________________________
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(4)
________________________________________
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(4)
________________________________________
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(5)
________________________________________
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(5)
________________________________________
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In this box write your own opinions from your research related to air pollution ~~~
__________________________________________________________________________________
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What next?
Organize all the ideas into similar arguments.
Organize all the solutions into importance.
Give each student a research task for one argument or
solution.
After the research separate the students into debate teams.
Have the students develop their team arguments.
Set a statement to debate. Choose one from the articles
studied.
Moderate the debate.

Enjoy the new ideas you have formed, discussed and

debated.

Dr. Paul R. Friesen

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