Lesson 01 — Our Earth Home: Where We've Been, Where We're Going
Learners recall what they already know from Grade 6 — who gets to use a technology, persuasive technique, biodiversity, and footprints — and meet the shape of the new unit: four strands around one shared Earth home. They write wonders and sort them into the four strands, starting the unit's portfolio.
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 question
What are we going to learn about technology, media, and our one shared Earth home — and what do we already know?
Materials
Standard materials
- Unit map card · 1 per learner A four-strand map of the unit (technology, media, ecology, stewardship) around a central "Earth home"
- Wonder slips · 3 per learner Small slips of paper for writing questions to sort into the four strands
Low-tech / no-cost
- Voice and a shared surface Draw the four strands on any board or the ground and sort spoken questions into them; no slips needed
- A circle conversation Recall Grade 6 ideas aloud and collect wonders as a group rather than on paper
Enriched / lab & device
- Projected unit map · 1 Display the four-strand map large and editable so the group can add wonders live
- A short photo set · 1 set Four to six images — a phone, a forest, a news feed, a clean-up — one for each strand, to spark wondering
Works in different contexts
- large-group Do the recall and wonder-sort as a whole class on one large map, then pairs each write one wonder per strand
- multi-age Younger learners recall one Grade 6 idea; older learners also name the strand it belongs to and say why
- self-directed A learner reads the unit map, writes three wonders, and sorts each into a strand, then keeps them for the capstone
- level-grouped Learners ready to extend write a "wonder + guess" pair — a question and their current best answer to revisit later
- outdoor-only Use an outdoor place as the "Earth home" example — name something technological, something in the media, and something living you can see right there
Lesson 1 — Our Earth Home: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going
Summary
Learners open the unit by retrieving what they learned in Grade 6 and previewing the four strands of “Media, Technology & Our Earth Home.” They meet the unit map, write three wonders, and sort them into the strands — starting the unit portfolio they will add to every lesson.
Objectives
- Preview the unit’s eight learning goals — tracing technology spread, intended vs. unintended effects, source trustworthiness, mis/disinformation, matter and energy cycles, symbiosis, climate science, and individual vs. collective action. (D10.S1.07.01, D10.S1.07.02, D10.S2.07.01, D10.S2.07.02, D10.S3.07.01, D10.S3.07.02, D10.S4.07.01, D10.S4.07.02 — preview)
Connection
Every human being on the planet shares one home — the same air, the same water, the same stretches of forest and ocean. Into that home, people have made technologies (tools, phones, machines) and media (messages, pictures, stories) that travel faster than ever before. Today you begin a journey through four big questions about how those tools and messages work, how they change the living Earth, and how we care for it — alone and together.
Materials
- Unit map card
- Wonder slips
Preparation
- Copy the unit map card and wonder slips.
- Retrieval: from Grade 6, recall four ideas — who gets to use a technology (D10.S1.06.02), persuasive technique (D10.S2.06.02), biodiversity (D10.S3.06.02), and footprint (D10.S4.06.01). Each returns this unit, at a deeper level.
Facilitator note
This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The ideas to land: (1) this unit has four strands — Technology & Society, Media & Information, Ecology & Earth Systems, and Stewardship & Action — and they all meet in one shared “Earth home”; (2) we are building on Grade 6, not starting over; (3) wondering is the engine — learners begin by asking, not by being told. Retrieval practice here is deliberate (spaced recall of last year’s ideas — see Dunlosky et al. 2013, S-039); do not skip it. The ethics lens: stewardship is a question of what is right toward people now and in the future. The egalitarian lens: ask early “who is included and who is left out” — it will return every lesson. The global lens: the Earth home is one place seen from many peoples and places; keep the frame broad, never one region’s default. The technology & environment lens: these two strands are the unit’s heart — tools change the living Earth, and the living Earth is what all tools depend on. Hold every wonder as valid; the goal is the asking, not the answer.
Procedure
- Gather and recall (12 min). Think back to Grade 6. With a partner, recall: who got to use a technology and who did not? What was a persuasive technique? What did biodiversity mean? What was a footprint? Share one with the group.
- Meet the unit map (8 min). Look at the unit map. The unit has four strands: Technology & Society, Media & Information, Ecology & Earth Systems, and Stewardship & Action — all around one Earth home. Notice the strands are not separate boxes; they are four ways of looking at one place.
- Write your wonders (15 min). On three slips, write three things you wonder about tools, messages, the living Earth, or caring for it. There are no wrong wonders.
- Sort the wonders (10 min). Place each slip under the strand it belongs to. If it fits two strands, put it between them — that is where the best questions live.
- Close (5 min). Keep your wonders. At the end of the unit you will return to them and see what you now can say.
Differentiation
- Support: Give sentence starters (“I wonder what happens when ___”, “I wonder who gets to ___”).
- Extension: Write a “wonder + guess” pair — your question and your current best answer — and mark it to check again at the capstone.
Assessment
- Formative (observation): Can the learner name the four strands and sort a wonder into one (or between two) with a reason?
- Portfolio artifact: The three wonder slips, kept as the first page of the unit portfolio.
Home connection
Ask someone at home: “What is one thing people have made that changed how your family lives, and one thing about the Earth you want to protect?” Bring their answer to mind as the unit unfolds.
Resources
- On spaced retrieval of prior learning: Dunlosky et al. (2013), Psychological Science in the Public Interest, https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266 (S-039).
- On who gets to use technology (the digital divide): World Bank, World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends, https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2016 (S-281).