1. Natural Resources Resource Unit By: Barb Holmgren Preschool

2. Table of Contents Introduction State Content Standards Objectives Content Lesson Objectives & Activities Vocabulary Evaluation Instructional Resources

3. Introduction This resource unit will introduce the concept of natural resources to preschool children. They will have opportunities to explore how they use some basic resources in their daily lives. Water, soil, and trees will be the focus of this unit.

4. Objectives State Content Standards Explore the ways we use natural resources found in our environment (e.g., water to drink, dirt to plant). Gain information through participation in experiences with objects, media, books and engaging in conversations with peers. Represent ideas through multiple forms of language and expression (e.g., drawing, dramatic play, conversation, art media, music, movement, emergent writing).

5. Content: “Earth Day” A celebration of Earth Day may be used at the beginning or end of this unit. The children will participate in a variety of activities related to natural resources. These activities will include an interactive presentation by the local soil and conservation district’s educator. Three related centers will also be available for the children to explore. The children will have an opportunity to paint a tree, make a terrarium, and make and eat “dirt” pudding complete with a worm for snack.

6. Tree Center Objective: Introduce trees as a natural resource. Procedure: Have the children paint their arm and hand with brown paint and carefully press their painted arm and hand on a piece of construction paper. This will make the trunk and branches of a tree. Use small sponges dipped in green paint to add leaves. Talk about how we use trees while the children are painting.

7. Seed Terrarium Center Objective: To introduce soil as a natural resource. Procedure: Have each child put soil in the bottom of a sundae cup (donated from McDonalds). Talk about how seeds need soil to grow. The children will poke 3 holes in the soil and put flower seeds in the holes. Then they will cover the seeds with additional soil and sprinkle with water. Place the domed lid of the sundae cup on top. Place in a sunny exposure.

8. “Dirt” Pudding Center Objective: A fun way to continue talking about soil as a natural resource. Procedure: Have the children place a gummy worm in a chocolate pudding cup. Sprinkle crushed Oreo cookies on top. Eat.

9. Content: Water Objective: To explore how the children use water in their daily lives. Have the children generate a list of all the different ways that they use water. Read I Am Water by Jean Marzollo. Set up centers for washing baby dolls and dishes. Offer cold water to drink at circletime. Talk about how we need clean water to drink and create a raindrop mobile at the art center. Directions for the mobile are found in Every day is Earth Day by Kathy Ross.

10. Content: Trees Objective: To learn that trees are a valuable natural resource and to introduce some of the ways that trees help us. Read I Love Trees by Cari Meister and/or A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry. Write a class book about trees using the same format as I Am Water. The children can work in pairs to illustrate the different pages. Read the book together and share it with others.

11. Content: Soil Objective: To introduce soil as a natural resource that is very important for growing things. Read Soil by Christin Ditchfield. (For very young children read only the captions for the pictures) Have the children dig soil samples from several areas around the school such as the playground and the woods. Look at the soil with a microscope. Talk about how plants need soil to grow. Fill the sensory table with potting soil that has small rocks, leaves, sticks, plastic worms and plastic insects added. Have the children sort and count the different parts of the soil. Talk about how all of these things help make soil. ( The time needed for each content area will vary, depending on the interest and abilities of the children.)

12. Vocabulary natural resource water rain trees wood paper soil

13. Evaluation Anecdotal logs will be kept for each child including observations and comments about teacher/student interactions during center times. A concept sort will be used for further evaluation. Prepare large pictures of water, soil, and a tree. Have numerous smaller pictures depicting different uses of water, soil, and trees. The children will work alone or in small groups to sort the pictures according to the natural resource depicted.

14. Teacher Resources Shelby County Soil and Conservation District: (937) 492-4788 They provide excellent resources for teachers and will bring various programs to your school or classroom. Ross, K. (1995). Every Day is Earth Day. Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press. A craft book. Natural Resources Conservation Service http://www.nrcs.usda.gov This site includes special web pages for teachers and children.http://www.nrcs.usda.gov United States Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov This site provides lots of different information and has a number of pages for children.http://www.epa.gov

15. Books About Natural Resources for Young Children Brimmer, L.(1999). Raindrops. New York, NY: Children’s Press. Ditchfiedl, C. (2002). Water. New York, NY: Children’s Press. Ditchfield, C. (2002). Soil. New York, NY: Children’s Press. Marzollo, J. (1999). I Am Water. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. Meister,C. (2004). I Love Trees. New York, NY: Children’s Press. Udry, J. (1956). A Tree is Nice. USA: Harper Collins Publishers. Williams, R. (1994). If a Tree Could Talk. Cypress, CA: Creative Teaching Press, Inc.