Issues With Farming Practices Lesson Plan

Grade Level/Subject: Second Grade

Prerequisite Knowledge: The students should have knowledge of what cycles are as well as
basic knowledge about plants and seeds that has been covered so far in the unit.
Approximate Time: 40 minutes
What Lesson is this in your Unit: Issues in farming practices
Subject Areas Addressed (remember there should be two): Science, Social Studies, Language
Arts
Enduring Understandings (Big Idea, copy from UBD template): Humans can make big impacts
on the plant cycle which creates social impacts
Essential Questions (copy appropriate ones from UBD template): What can we learn from the
impacts people have made on the plant cycle? What are the social impacts of these issues?
What are the repercussions of human impacts on the plant cycle?
Objectives for each subject (copy appropriate ones from UBD template): The students will be
able to participate in a class discussion about what the causes of the dust bowl were and why it
is important for us to learn from it. The students will be able to construct ideas about the social
impacts of the dust bowl through creating a newspaper article. The students will be able to
understand the impacts that have been
Language Objectives (WIDA standards use link on moodle): WIDA standard 1 English
language learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting;
WIDA standard 4 English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts
necessary for academic success in the content area of Science; WIDA standard 5 English
language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic
success in the content area of Social Studies.
Common Core/Illinois Standards (for both subjects, copy appropriate ones from UBD template):
Next Generation Science Standards:
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land,
vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are
doing things to help protect Earths resources and environments.
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Earths major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the
hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including
humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earths surface materials and
processes. The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and
influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine
patterns of weather.
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints).
The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a

solution (criteria). Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well
each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into
account.
National Council on Social Studies:
Thematic Standards:
II. TIME, CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE
Social studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to
organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of Time, Continuity,
and Change.
III. PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS
Social studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to
organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of People, Places,
and Environments.
VII. PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND CONSUMPTION
Social studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to
organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of how people
organize for the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of goods and services.
Disciplinary Standards:
1. HISTORY
Teachers who are licensed to teach history should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and
dispositions to organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of
history.
Common Core ELA:
RI.2.3. Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
RI.2.7. Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute
to and clarify a text.
FS.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.a. Read gradelevel text with purpose and
understanding.
b. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive
readings.
c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word
recognition and understanding, rereading as
necessary.
Materials/Resources/Technology:
Paper, Pencil, Charcoal (for extension), giant paper for newpaper
Implementation (USE FRAMEWORK BELOW):

Time

Opening of Lesson:
Start off this lesson explaining to the students that they are supposed to be
responsible and respectful of each of each other as well as the teacher. When
someone else is speaking it is important to be listening. Tell the students that
today our classroom is going to be a time machine. We are going to travel back in
time to a different era and live life as they did during the struggles of the dust bowl.
Procedures:
Have the students move to their spots at the carpet and use wait to make sure that
they are ready to listen when you start talking. Explain that there as a time in

history called the dust bowl where the soil became unusable and the plant cycle
was broken down. Remind them that in previous activities we talked about this and
the impacts that we can make on the plant cycle. Explain to the students that some
of the causes for the destruction of the cycle were human made and some of them
were created by nature. On the front white board draw a line down the center with
manmade on one side and natural causes on the other side. Tell the students that
you are going to list off the reasons and they have to talk together at their tables
then come up with a consensus as a class about which ones were man made and
which ones were natural. The natural causes are:
Drought
High winds
The human made causes include:
Overgrazing (Letting animals eat too much)
Over-plowing and removing of healthy soil
Destruction of natural prairie plants
Always planting the same crops
When the students have these sorted into the groups have them do a quick write
pretending like they are farmers during this time period. Bring a sheet of paper to
the front of the class called The Dust Bowl News and have the students write a
two sentence snippet about how the destruction of the plant cycle has affected
their families.
Critical Thinking Questions: The biggest question that I have to ask students is just
to explain their reasoning. They will have to come up with responses and how to
react to these tough situations but it is how they explain their reactions to these
tough situations that matters.
Questions:
How would living at this time period be different than your life today?
What possible solutions to this problem could you create?
Would you try to stick it out? If so why? If not would it be hard to leave your
lives behind?

Accommodations for Individuals: To accommodate students that I know would

struggle with the hands on writing part of this lesson I could have them draw a
picture about what life would be like for them or I could have them share with the
class what they think life would be like. This way I can still get them to share their
thoughts, but instead of having it be through a written format it is spoken or
displayed visually.
Summary/Closing:
When the students have finished this go ahead and ask them to turn to their table
and pretend like they are a family trying to live during this time, like the ones they
wrote about. It is their job to take care of their family so each table should spend
the next 5 minutes thinking about what they would do in this situation. Tell them
that their solutions could be anything from trying to install a way to get water to
their crops or abandoning their homes. Tell the students that it just a way to take
perspectives and think critically about the impacts that all the actions they have on
the plant cycle.

Student Assessment:
For my assessment I am going to assess the students responses to the closing
activity to see how well they applied what they have learned and the perspective
taking to work as a table to survive as a family. The most important part about the
assessment is the reasoning the students use based on their previous knowledge
in this lesson and how well they work together as a table.

Extension if there is time:

I think that the option that I gave the ELLs and the students with IEPs earlier
could be a lot of fun for the whole class, but boring if they did the same activity
again. To extend this activity I will have the students create charcoal drawings on
paper and pretend that it is leather made from cow skins. The picture should be
used to represent the time period and what people were experiencing to the best
of their abilities.