For Goodness Rake

• This video highlights the environmental impacts of leaf blowing as Green Ninja intervenes to mitigate the issues caused by a homeowner's leaf blower.
• Students will take a deeper look at some of the problems associated with gas-powered leaf blowers, alternatives to leaf blowing, and see how quiet and non-polluting raking can be.

Positives

• This resource includes a teacher's guide with student questions, additional learning experiences, resources, and notes.
• The video is humorous and somewhat exaggerated, which makes it very entertaining, but it also makes a powerful point.

Additional Prerequisites

• Some students may need additional background information on the use of leaf blowers.
• The EPA link in the description below is broken.
  
• The teacher's guide provides 17 questions that can be used before, during, and after reading, so be sure to plan ahead for strategic use of these questions.

Differentiation

• The "Frame" questions could be used in whole class discussions, turn-and-talk format, or for small group dialogue prior to watching the video to activate prior knowledge.
• Consider watching the video twice, providing students with the "Focus" questions before the second viewing and having them write answers to these questions in order to measure student comprehension of the content.
• The "Follow-up Questions" could either be used as an assessment or as an introduction to a class project or design of a campaign to reduce leaf blower use.
• Extension activities might include using the "Additional Notes and Resources" section to further learning, such as the newspaper article provided or the results of the scientific study about particulate matter released by leaf blowers.
• Consider a deeper look at the decomposition of organic and inorganic waste through this composting experiment.

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