Media, Technology & Our Earth Home

Objectives

• D10.S1.07.01 Trace how one technology spread across the world and changed the societies that adopted it, using a non-Western example where possible.
• D10.S1.07.02 Explain the difference between an intended effect and an unintended effect of a technology, with an example of each.
• D10.S2.07.01 Explain what makes a source trustworthy, and compare two sources on the same topic for reliability.
• D10.S2.07.02 Explain the difference between misinformation (false by mistake) and disinformation (false on purpose), with an example of each.
• D10.S3.07.01 Explain how matter and energy move through an ecosystem, such as the carbon in a forest, and are reused rather than created new.
• D10.S3.07.02 Describe a symbiotic relationship, such as pollination, and explain how both organisms benefit or are affected.
• D10.S4.07.01 Explain the basic science of climate change (greenhouse gases trapping heat) and the main human activities that add to it.
• D10.S4.07.02 Compare individual actions and collective actions for caring for the environment, and explain why both matter.

Essential questions

• How does a technology spread and change societies, with intended and unintended effects?
• How do I tell a trustworthy source from an untrustworthy one, and misinformation from disinformation?
• How does matter and energy move through an ecosystem, and how do we care for a warming world — alone and together?

Big ideas

• Technologies spread and reshape societies, and every technology has intended and unintended effects.
• A trustworthy source has a checked author, purpose, and evidence, and misinformation differs from disinformation.
• Matter and energy cycle through ecosystems, and both individual and collective action matter for caring for a warming world.

Lessons

1. 1 Our Earth Home: Where We've Been, Where We're Going 50 minutes
2. 2 How a Technology Spreads: Money by Phone 50 minutes
3. 3 Intended and Unintended: Two Kinds of Effect 50 minutes
4. 4 Can I Trust This Source? 50 minutes
5. 5 False by Mistake, False on Purpose 50 minutes
6. 6 The Carbon Cycle: Matter That Never Leaves 50 minutes
7. 7 Partners in Life: Pollination and Symbiosis 50 minutes
8. 8 Why Is the Earth Warming? 50 minutes
9. 9 Alone and Together: Individual and Collective Action 50 minutes
10. 10 Capstone: Our Earth Home, Our Choices 50 minutes

Assessment plan

Observation of technology-spread analysis, source-comparison, and climate reasoning; a technology-effects analysis, a two-source reliability comparison, an ecosystem-matter-and-energy trace, and an individual-versus-collective action plan as portfolio artifacts.