Fern Gully - Movie

Genre - ALTERNATIVE

Summary – FernGully is a magical place where little fairies live and thrive in the beautiful rainforest.  The fairies had never seen a real human before, until the main character, Christa, sees a real human man named Zak.  Zak is accidentally shrunk down to the size of a fairy and is in danger, as the logging company he works for is set to tear down the forest and FernGully. The fairies and Zak must destroy the logging company, run by an oil-like monster called Hexxus, before FernGully is destroyed.

Teaching Points – This movie is a classic about deforestation and how even the littlest life forms, like the fairies of FernGully, are affected.  Despite the fact that fairies are imaginative creatures, this movie can be used to compare and contrast the characteristics of rainforests today.  Children can apply what they learned from the film to life forms in rain forests today.  Teachers can have students pretend as though they are writing to Hexxus, the owner of the logging company on Mount Warning, and trying to persuade him not to tear down the forest.  Students can have the experience of standing up for a cause and using persuasion as a method to keep the forest safe and healthy.  In the process, students will also learn more about rainforests and how to express their opinions in a persuasive format.               

Cartoon Guide to the Environment by Larry Gonick and Alice Outwater

Genre - ALTERNATIVE

 

Summary – This book is created in a graphic novel form, in the form of a comic.  It is a book that allows students to be more literate when it comes to the environment.  It is a very informative, creative book that presents a lot of important topics regarding the environment, including what human population growth is doing to the earth, deforestation, global warming, pollution, and recycling.  All of these topics are affecting the earth and are caused by humans.  

Teaching Points – This is a great resource to use for students who learn visually in your classroom.  Some students enjoy graphic novels and learn really well using the images created.  Students can read through this comic book and use the “sticky note” method where they mark important ideas and passages regarding environmental events that are caused by humans.  Then, in groups, students can work together to create a list of problems discussed in the graphic novel and possible ideas that people can do in order to reverse these situations and improve the health of the earth.        

Suggested Reading Level – 7-12               

Citation – Gonick, L., & Outwater, A. (1996). Cartoon guide to the environment. Collins Reference.
ISBN-10: 0062732749 / ISBN-13: 978-0062732743

The Lorax - Official Movie

Genre - ALTERNATIVE

 

Summary – Dr. Seuss’s best-selling book, The Lorax, is in production to be created into an animated film in March 2012.  The film is based off of the book, but adds a bit more story to it.  The movie is set in the future, when a town is made out of metal and plastic, with no grass, flowers, or trees.  A young boy and his lady friend wish to see a real Truffola tree, so the boy sets out to find out what happened.  He then comes across the Once-ler, who tells the original story about the Thneed factory that caused the deforestation of the Truffola trees.  The original picture book ends with the little boy receiving the very last Truffola tree seed, but the movie extends the story.  Will the boy save the town and bring back vegetation?  You’ll have to watch the movie!           

Teaching Points – Teachers who use the original Dr. Seuss book The Lorax could use this movie to accompany lessons about deforestation.  Kids will like watching an exciting, funny, heart-felt, that sends out a great message about deforestation and how it affects our world.  Students can relate to the young boy and his friend in this movie and feel compassion for the loss of the Truffola tree forest.

Citation - See the movie trailer at - http://www.theloraxmovie.com/.  There are also free downloads and activities that you can access from this website.

The Earth and I by Frank Asch

Genre – ILLUSTRATED/PICTURE BOOK

 

Summary – This fun children’s book focuses on the idea of a friendship between a child and the Earth.  The two of them (the child and the Earth) bond like normal children do – they play with each other, talk to one another, and help each other grow.  The main idea of the story is that when the Earth is sad, the child is also sad.  Just like kids today want their friends to be happy, the child in the book wants the Earth to be happy, so the child does what they can to keep the Earth happy and healthy. 

 Teaching Points – This book is very child-friendly.  There is an important underlying theme to this book that is presented in a way that is very relatable to younger children.  Teachers can have children write different things that they would do together with their friend, the Earth.  Then, teachers can have students brainstorm ideas about what they can do to keep their friend, the Earth, happy.  Having students look at the earth from a different perspective (that Earth is their friend) can help them realize that what they do on a daily basis affects whether or not the earth is “happy.”             

Suggested Reading Level – Elementary Grades K-5         

Additional Resources – The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences provides a kid-friendly website.  This site offers short stories and videos, games, activities, and kid-friendly information about the earth.  It is a great, reliable resource to access for children and also provides information for adults with ways they can help students learn to be environmentally aware.               

 NIEHS Kids: http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/    

Citation – Asch, F. (2008). The earth and i. Sandpiper:   

ISBN-10: 0152063951 / ISBN-13: 978-0152063955

The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

Genre – ILLUSTRATED/PICTURE BOOK

 Summary – Similar to The Lorax, this book is about our rainforests.  The story centers on the great Kapok tree which is home to many animals and insects.  The Kapok tree is put in danger when a human enters the forest to cut them down.  Before the man cuts down the tree, he takes a nap.  When he falls asleep, the inhabitants of the Kapok tree whisper into his ear and beg him not to cut down the tree.  When he wakes up and sees all of the animals and insects, he realizes that he cannot cut down the source of life for these living organisms and leaves the rainforest.          

Teaching Points – Teachers can focus their studies on the rainforests of the world.  Although this book is a picture book meant for younger students, older students can also benefit from studying the importance of rainforests and how they are affected by human behavior.  A study of vocabulary found in this book would also be beneficial.  There are important words found in the book, such as rainforest, canopy, Amazon, ancestors, generations, pollination, and understory.  Students can also study geographical features and locations of rainforests, and other ways humans can help protect them.

Suggested Reading Level – Grades 1-8 

Additional Resources – The author of the book, Lynne Cherry, has part of her website dedicated to this book.  There, you can find resources for activities and lessons that you can teach based on the book.  The website also offers additional resources to access to help students learn about human effects on the environment.

 Lynne Cherry’s Official Website:

 http://www.lynnecherry.com/the_great_kapok_tree__a_tale_of_the_amazon_rain_forest_19411.htm

Citation – Cherry, L. (2000). The great kapok tree: A tale of the amazon rainforest. Sandpiper.   
ISBN-10: 0152026142 / ISBN-13: 978-0152026141

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Genre – ILLUSTRATED/PICTURE BOOK

Summary - This well-known story is narrated by a little boy who visits a man names the Once-ler.  The Once-ler explains the story of the Lorax and the forest of Truffola Trees.  The book tells the sad story of how a little factory of ‘thneeds’ came into the forest and continued to grow, cutting down and clearing the land where the Truffola trees stood.  The creature called the Lorax tries to save the forest and explain why it is wrong to cut down the trees.  The factory continues to grow until the entire forest can been cut down.  At the very end, the Once-ler gives the little boy the only remaining Truffola tree seed to plant and rebuild the forest.            

Teaching Points – This wonderful book can be used across the curriculum.  The Lorax can be used in social studies to discuss topics such as greed, disrespect, and the idea of being rude vs. being polite.  In addition, this book can be used to discuss context clues and understanding vocabulary, since Dr. Seuss used imaginary words in most of his books.  But, for the topic of human effects on the earth, this book can be used to discuss the big idea of how cutting down trees and deforestation can affect all sorts of life forms, including animals, vegetation, and long-term effects on future generations.  Because of the fact that this book expresses the importance of trees, students can research different kinds of trees and create a presentation about the tree, and what life forms would be affected and how the environment would suffer if these trees were to all be cut down, like the Truffola trees were.    

Suggested Reading Level –Grade 1-5    

Additional Resources – There is a great resource that can be used alongside this book on the official Dr. Seuss website.  Dr. Seuss has created “The Lorax Project” which is a movement to help children learn about the environment and do things to help preserve nature to the best of their ability.  This website provides facts, ideas, games, activities, and a pledge that students can sign to promise to help keep the earth healthy by doing things themselves.  This website is very kid-friendly and is a great resource for teachers to use with this book!           

Dr. Seuss Official Website / The Lorax Project: http://www.seussville.com/loraxproject/             

Citation – Dr. Seuss. (1971). The lorax. Random House. 

ISBN-10: 0394823370 / ISBN-13: 978-0394823379

Disappearing Forests by Angela Royston

Genre - NONFICTION

 

Summary – This nonfiction literature is geared towards younger students.  Disappearing Forests explains that humans are doing things to put the earth in danger.  Readers can learn what humans are doing to harm the planet and how those actions can be corrected and reversed to help the planet improve.  This book attempts to teach young readers that they can make a difference, too, with even the smallest tasks.  It also gives students an idea of specific ways to protect the earth themselves.

Teaching Points – As teachers, it is important to teach younger students that their everyday choices can affect the earth.  This book is a great tool to use to teach younger students this important idea.  If I were using this book for an activity, after sharing it with students, I would ask kids to engage in an activity that uses critical thinking.  Teachers should have students create a drawing and explanation of one way in which a daily activity that they do hurts the earth (such as leaving the water on while they brush their teeth or not recycling their bottles).  Then, students should create a way to fix that problem and create a second drawing that reflects their new, earth-friendly choices.               

Suggested Reading Level – Grade 2+     

Additional Resources – To accompany this book, teachers can have students access an awesome earth-friendly website.  PBS provides a website called “Eeko World” that help students learn about the earth and how to keep the earth healthy.  The site provides fun games, jokes, videos, interactive activities, quizzes, and printable activities for kids.  The site itself is very kid-friendly and geared toward younger students, especially with the fun jokes from “Cheeko the Monkey” when you first access the site.  This website is a GREAT resource for lessons concerning human effects on the earth!          

 Eeko World Website: http://pbskids.org/eekoworld/    

Citation – Royston, A. (2008). Disappearing forests (protect our planet). Heinemann-Raintree

ISBN-10: 1432909339 / ISBN-13: 978-1432909338