Emily Steele, Gabriel Bara, Willa Roberts, Isabel Provisor, William McMahan

TGPLAN- Take Action

Lesson Plan for Elementary Students
Teks:
(9) Geography. The student understands how people adapt to and modify their environment. The
student is expected to:
(A) describe ways people have adapted to and modified their environment in Texas, past
and present, such as timber clearing, agricultural production, wetlands drainage, energy
production, and construction of dams;
(B) identify reasons why people have adapted to and modified their environment in
Texas, past and present, such as the use of natural resources to meet basic needs, facilitate
transportation, and enhance recreational activities; and
(C) compare the positive and negative consequences of human modification of the
environment in Texas, past and present, both governmental and private, such as economic
development and the impact on habitats and wildlife as well as air and water quality.

Main Objective:
Teach the kids on the dangers of global warming. How global warming has affected our
community and what we can do to further decrease global warming locally in Austin, while
keeping global implications in mind.

Possible Videos:
https://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsystem/climatechange/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPqd20tdncg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hgtkLphzzk

Main Lesson Plan:

1) Start with an introduction with all our names, where we are from (school wise), and why
we are there.
2) Ask the class if anyone knows what global warming is and urbanization. If anyone does
know, possibly how it affects them.
3) Then show the video on Climate Change and then explain what urbanization is.
4) Ask the kids what they thought about the video, what they learned,
Itinerary
Time What we are Activity Description of Materials for
doing Activity Activity

:03 Minutes Introduction of Introduce all of None

all of us names and why
we are there with
them.

:05 What they know Ask class Ask the students None
what they know
or have heard
about
urbanization and
global warming.
If they know if it
has affected
them.

:03 Global Warming Introduce them Show them the Projector

Video to global video on what
warming global warming
and then ask if
they have any
questions and
possibly further
explain that part
of the topic.

:03 Urbanization in Show them Talk more in Projector

China Video examples on depth about the
how climate topic and video
change and
urbanization is
affecting them

:03 Connecting Connect the two

topics and ask if
they have
questions.

:15 Game to show

topics
:15 Climate Change Represent how (Instructions Balloon
Balloon Game the amount of Below)
people in a city
contributes to
their carbon
footprint.

:10 Bean Simulator Show the (Instructions Cups

students how Below) Lima Beans
much they
contribute to
their carbon
footprint.

:15 Small Group Give them a (Instructions

Situations situation and see Below)
how they would
solve it.

If there is Advocacy Give students Tell them to Paper

enough time at Posters paper and colors create a picture Markers
end. and tell them to about global
make a poster warming.
about global
warming.
Balloon Game Instructions:
Simulate the effect of urbanization to the amount of greenhouse gases in a city.
Materials:
-Balloon
-Paper Crown

Ask class for two brave volunteers to represent the cities.

Ask them to think of a name for their city and then hand them a balloon and their crown.
Explain to the rest of the class that they are the people who live in the country area away from
cities.
Then have the kids line up and we tell them to move from the country to the city one by one
Reasons to move across:
- New jobs open up in ----- 5 people go across
- Better education becomes available in ---- 2 people go across
- New forms of entertainment like theater and art become widely available in ---- 1 person
goes across
- ---- offers better housing for your family -- 2 people go across
- You have the opportunity to work in a factory in ----- -- 3 people go across
- Your family is looking for a change -- 2 people go across
- Better hospitals and medical care in ---- 4 people move across
- You have the chance to live a better life in ---- 2 people move across

Bean simulator to represent carbon emissions:

Give students a cup and then tell them that each person will get a cup and that each time that you
have done one of the “carbon footprints” and that to add the correct number of lima beans each
time. The goal is to have the least amount of lima beans in your cup.
- Raise your hand if you usually drive to school in a car --- add 10 lima beans
- Raise your hand if you ride the bus to school -- add 5 lima beans
- Raise your hand if you walk or bike to school --- don’t add any lima beans
 - Raise your hand if you’ve ever flown on an airplane -- add 5 lima beans
- Raise your hand if you heat or have air conditioning in your home -- if both add 4 lima
beans
- Raise your hand if you have ever used a plastic water bottle -- add 2 lima beans
- Raise your hand if you eat meat -- add 2 lima beans
- Raise your hand if you regularly eat packaged/processed foods -- add 2 lima beans

Okay now count up the total of lima beans you have… This represents your carbon footprint.
Your carbon footprint is the amount of carbon that you emit through daily activity and this
carbon dioxide contributes to global warming.
Speak about ways the students can reduce their carbon footprint (possibly with an infographic
packet that they can take home)

Small Group Situations:

Group class into 5 groups (each leader is with a group) and give them a situation card. Each card
will have a situation that they will have to try to solve in their cities. Please try to keep out
violence or death.

Situation One:
Imagine you are the kings of a city and a group of people called the “Trash Throwers” decided
to throw litter all over the streets. What will you do to stop them and to restore your city?

Situation Two:
You are a polar bear and the ice you need to survive is melting due to global warming. What will
you and the other polar bears do to stop it?
Situation Three:
You’re a squirrel in a California forrest, and your home has just been torn down by humans to
make more room for new homes and apartments because more people are moving in to the city.
What will you and the other squirrels do to save your home?

Situation Four:
You are the earth, and over the years you’ve been noticing the temperatures rising and rising out
of nowhere, and this new found overheating is hurting you and the people and animals that live
on you, what would you ask from the humans on earth to do to make things better?

Situation Five:
You are a bus driver and you have just been informed that buses have been banned in the state of
Texas. What other way will you come up with to get the kids that ride your bus to school?

After introducing and discussing all of the situations, each group will share out to the class the
solutions they came up with.