Possible Framing Questions:
How do we balance human needs & wants with environmental stewardship?
How do we find the balance between environmental stewardship and human needs/wants?

Learning Goal
If students investigate the impact of human needs/wants on the Forest Valley environment, then they will have a hands-on experience of the positive actions we can take to balance human needs and environmental stewardship both at our outdoor education centre and in their own community.

Curriculum Connections

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/sshg18curr2013.pdf

B. People and Environments: Political and Physical Regions of Canada

• Overall: B2. Inquiry: use the social studies inquiry process to investigate some issues and challenges associated with balancing human needs/wants and activities with environmental stewardship in one or more of the political and/or physical regions of Canada (Focus on: Perspective).
• Specific: B2.1 formulate questions to guide investigations into some of the issues and challenges associated with balancing human needs/wants and activities with environmental stewardship in one or more of the political and/or physical regions of Canada
• Specific: B2.2 gather and organize information and data from various sources to investigate issues and challenges associated with balancing human needs/wants and activities with environmental stewardship in one or more of the political and/or physical regions of Canada

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/scientec18currb.pdf

Habitats and Communities

• Big Idea: Changes to habitats (whether caused by natural or human means) can affect plants and animals and the relationships between them.
• Overall: 1. Analyse the effects of human activities on habitats and communities
• Specific: 1.1 analyse the positive and negative impacts of human interactions with natural habitats and communities, taking different perspectives into account, and evaluate ways of minimizing the negative impacts

Possible Sequence of the Day

The framing question becomes the focus of the learning throughout the day. The day starts with an engagement activity or two to determine prior understanding, engage the students, and define and get them interested in the framing question. The rest of the morning is spent doing investigation, exploring and conducting hands-on inquiry and problem solving.

Pre and Post Activities

Adding Mulch to Maintain Trails and Protect Tree Roots