Overview

Overview This five unit plan is meant as a general guideline for organizing a year of Grade Eight classes. It may be adapted to other grade levels, and it may be disassembled and used as individual unit guides. The shape of this plan is like that of a film: we begin with the wide-shot (the world), and then zoom in to our protagonist (the environment), after which we examine the protagonists peers and surroundings (man), see how they interact (human impact) and then reach a conclusion or moral (the good news about what we can do). Each one of these sections contains a number of units with lessons on a variety of subjects, all of which can be interwoven with one another in the conduct of that section. The lessons themselves vary in detail, as I have had a limited amount of time to work on this plan, but the approach is the same to all: take the lesson descriptions and either model a new lesson from each, or re-work a lesson you are familiar with. In places where a complete lesson plan is provided, you may feel free to use it, but I recommend using this plan as a guideline and teaching your own lessons through the narrative of the world. As David Orr said: "All education is environmental education", and accordingly, I believe that any lesson can be taught within the demesne of this environmental annual plan.