Title of Project/Unit:



Title of Project: News Reports on Environmental Concerns Facing Latin America, Canada, Europe, and Australia

Subject(s): Social Studies, Language Arts

Grade Level(s): 6th grade

Abstract:

Students will take on the role of teacher and producer as they develop a video news segment about the environmental issues that are facing their assigned country. They will work collaboratively to research the country and will provide examples of ways to improve the problems that the countries are facing. Students will also communicate with their ePals that currently live in the country they have been assigned to gain insight in to how the environmental issues are impacting them and to discover if there are any additional problems that are occurring. Once the research has been completed students will work together to write brief news copy explaining the problems and potential solutions. They will then record their news segments and upload it to the class schoology site. All groups must view the other country videos so that they know the issues that are happening in each part of the world. Students will take notes on the other videos and will pose questions and provide feedback to each group on the schoology site.

Learner Description/Context:

The 6th grade students participating in this project come from a variety of backgrounds. Some students have only lived in the United States less than 5 years and their parents speak very limited English. It is a Title 1 school and the majority of students come from low income homes. There are also several students who are currently homeless. Most students do not have access to technology outside of school.

Time Frame:

Day 1 – Assignment explanation, clip from Wall-E shown, skype meeting with professional newscaster, lesson on writing broadcast news copy, division of groups

Day 2 – Research in the media center to include communicating with their ePals (will use books and online sources)

Day 3 - Research in the media center (will use books and online sources)

Day 4 – Groups will combine notes and start writing news copy (using Office365 and Word Online)

Day 5 – Complete news copy writing and prepare and practice for filming

Day 6 – Record news segments and upload video files to schoology

Day 7 – Students will view other group videos, take notes on other countries and provide feedback to the other groups.

Day 8 – Students will write reflective essays on what they have learned about the environmental issues facing all of the countries.

Standards Assessed:

SS6G2 The student will discuss environmental issues in Latin America.

a. Explain the major environmental concerns of Latin America regarding the issues of air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico, the destruction of the rain forest in Brazil, and oil-related pollution in Venezuela.

SS6G7 The student will discuss environmental issues in Canada.

a. Explain the major environmental concerns of Canada regarding acid rain and pollution of the Great Lakes, the extraction and use of natural resources on the Canadian Shield, and timber resources.

SS6G9 The student will discuss environmental issues in Europe.

a. Explain the major concerns of Europeans regarding the issues such as acid rain in Germany, air pollution in the United Kingdom, and the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

SS6G13 The student will explain the impact of location, climate, distribution of natural resources, and population distribution on Australia.

a. Describe how Australia’s location, climate, and natural resources have affected where people live.

b. Describe how Australia’s location, climate, and natural resources impact trade.

Learner Objectives:

Students will learn about the environmental impact that is facing various other countries. They should come away from this assignment having a greater understanding of how pollution, recycling, and natural resources play a role in the lives of citizens around the world and how their own actions here in the United States can help. Students will use a rubric to design and produce their news segment. They will also be required to view all of the other videos the class has completed and provide additional questions and feedback pertaining to that country. At the end of the project the students will write a reflection essay on what they have learned about the problems facing each country.

The “hook” or Introduction:

Students will be shown a brief clip from the movie Wall-E that shows an idea of what Earth would look like if the environment is not taken care of. Students will then be introduced to the news segment aspect of the project by skyping with a professional news broadcaster. This will show them the real life connection of the assignment as well as providing them a lesson in how to write appropriate news copy. They will also be shown video clips from various news sources that relate to environmental issues.

Process:

The students will take on the role of broadcast journalists to investigate and report on the environmental concerns that Latin America, Canada, Europe, and Australia are experiencing. Students will work together in a group and will be given one country to focus on. They will gather data about the problems and potential solutions that their assigned country is facing. Students will then collaborate by using Office365 to write an informational piece in the style of broadcast news copy. Students will then use their writings to produce a news segment using MediaCast which will then be uploaded on the schoology site. Once all the country reports have been submitted each student will then view the videos of the countries that they did not work on and post feedback and additional questions.

Product:

The students will produce a video news segment that will be uploaded to the class schoology page. Students will use the videos from other groups to learn about the environmental issues facing the other three countries that they did not research. Students will use all of the videos to gain insight to the environmental problems facing Latin America, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

Technology Use:

• Skype will be used to allow students to meet a professional newscaster and gain knowledge on how to write news copy.

• The internet will be used in a variety of ways: students will do online research, collaborate with their ePals from other countries, access Office365 to produce writings and work together on editing, upload and view videos through schoology.

• MediaCast will be used to record the news segment and prepare it for the uploading process to schoology.

References and Supporting Material

Rubrics for Newscast Presentation and Planning:

Lesson plans on writing broadcast news copy:

News video clips on the environment: , ,

Movie clip from Wall-E:

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