This lesson asks students to consider how their communities would look and feel with and without green spaces. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Students draw a community without any green space. Students think, notice, and wonder about this community and how it might feel for humans and animals to live in that community.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students learn about a community activist named Ken Sparks who turned his patio into a green space and inspired others to do the same. Then students listen to a read aloud of Bee and Me.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students conduct research to further explore the relationship between green spaces and mental health, physical health, ecosystem health, and climate change. Teacher collects student notes on a word wall. Finally, students draw another map of their community featuring as many green spaces as they would like to include.

Positives

• Students have agency over their learning when conducting their own research.
• This can be integrated into an ELA class, as students will be reading informational text when conducting their own research.
• This can be integrated into an art class, as students will be drawing multiple maps.

Additional Prerequisites

• This is lesson 4 of 6 in our 3rd-5th grade Green Spaces unit.
• It may be helpful to have a mostly blank map of the school campus or community for students to use.
• Students should have some prior experience conducting research. This lesson uses Kiddle, a kid-friendly search engine.

Differentiation

• You may need to preselect resources for some students who need scaffolding when conducting research.
• Some students may need a blank map of the school campus or community. Other students may wish to draw their maps from scratch using blank paper.
• Some students may prefer to draw, type, or use text-to-speech while taking notes.

The lesson accentuates the benefits of having green spaces vis-a-vis not having them in their community. We recommend this lesson for students to explore the benefits green spaces have on ecosystem health, mental health, and physical health. Students can also explore the maps to gain skills in urban planning. All the materials have been properly cited, and this lesson has passed our credibility process.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.

Supporting Standards

• English Language Arts
  • Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
    • RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
  • Writing (K-12)
    • W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.