Lesson 10 — Capstone: Our Earth Home, Our Choices
The unit capstone. Learners retrieve the unit's eight ideas, revisit the wonders they wrote in Lesson 1, and assemble a personal **Earth-home action plan** — one technology choice, one source habit, one ecological fact, one individual action, and one collective action — read through all four lenses.
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
How do the unit's ideas fit together — technology, media, ecology, and stewardship — into the choices I make about my one shared Earth home?
Materials
Standard materials
- Earth-home action plan · 1 per learner A one-page plan — one technology choice, one source habit, one ecological fact, one individual action, one collective action
- Unit map (from Lesson 1) · 1 per learner The learner's own Lesson 1 unit map and wonder slips, returned for reflection
Low-tech / no-cost
- Voice and a shared board Build the action plan together as a spoken circle, each learner contributing one line
- Wonder slips revisited Return to the Lesson 1 wonders and answer them aloud; no new paper needed
Enriched / lab & device
- A digital slide or poster · 1 Learners assemble their action plan into a small poster or slide to share
- A gallery walk · 1 Post the completed plans around the room and walk to read each other's choices
Works in different contexts
- large-group Build one shared plan on the board from volunteered lines, then each learner writes their own copy
- multi-age Younger learners complete the individual-action and ecological-fact lines; older learners add the source habit and collective action with reasons
- self-directed A learner revisits their wonders, writes the five-line plan, and checks each line is real, specific, and their own
- level-grouped Learners ready to extend add a "who benefits" and a "what will I check back on" line to their plan
- outdoor-only Build the plan while looking at a real place — name one thing about it you now understand better and one choice you will make for it
Lesson 10 — Capstone: Our Earth Home, Our Choices
Summary
The unit capstone brings all four strands together. Learners retrieve the unit’s eight ideas, revisit the wonders they wrote in Lesson 1, and assemble a personal Earth-home action plan read through all four lenses — ethics, egalitarianism, global, and technology & environment.
Objectives
- Synthesize the unit’s eight goals into one coherent view of technology, media, ecology, and stewardship, and turn that view into a personal and collective action plan. (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 — synthesis)
Connection
For ten days you have looked at one shared home through four windows: the tools people make, the messages they share, the living systems they are part of, and the choices that care for all of it. Now you bring those windows together. Understanding is not the finish line — it is the starting point for choosing. Today you write down the choices you will make, alone and with others, for the home we all share.
Materials
- Earth-home action plan
- Unit map (from Lesson 1)
Preparation
- Copy the Earth-home action plan.
- Return each learner’s Lesson 1 unit map and wonder slips.
- Retrieval: this lesson is itself a spaced, interleaved retrieval pass across the whole unit (Dunlosky et al. 2013, S-039) — it works because learners must recall, not re-read.
Facilitator note
This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The ideas to land: (1) the four strands are one thing — technology, media, ecology, and stewardship all meet in the choices we make; (2) the four lenses (ethics, egalitarianism, global, technology & environment) are how we check those choices; (3) a plan that pairs individual action with collective action is stronger than either alone. This is a summative moment, but mastery is personal, not ranked — celebrate growth, never compare learners. The ethics lens: “what is right?” The egalitarian lens: “who benefits, who is left out?” The global lens: “how would another people or place see this?” The technology & environment lens: “what does this do to humanity and the Earth?” Ask learners to run their plan through all four. Keep hope central — the unit ends on agency, not despair. Assess by what each learner can now explain and choose, not by a score.
Procedure
- Recall the whole unit (10 min). With a partner, recall the eight ideas: how a technology spreads; intended vs. unintended effects; the five questions for a source; misinformation vs. disinformation; the carbon cycle; pollination; the greenhouse effect; and individual vs. collective action. Name them without looking.
- Revisit your wonders (8 min). Open your Lesson 1 map and wonder slips. Which wonders can you now answer? Which have grown into new questions? Answer one you can, and mark one to keep wondering about.
- Build your action plan (20 min). On your plan, write five lines: (1) one technology choice you will make with care; (2) one source habit you will practice; (3) one ecological fact you will remember and teach someone; (4) one individual action for the Earth; (5) one collective action you could join or start.
- Run it through the lenses (7 min). Check your plan against the four lenses: Is it right (ethics)? Who benefits, and who is left out (egalitarianism)? How would another people or place see it (global)? What does it do to people and the Earth (technology & environment)? Adjust one line.
- Close (5 min). Share one line you are proud of. Remember: the Earth home is ours — and so is the choosing.
Differentiation
- Support: Provide sentence starters for each of the five lines (“One technology choice I will make is ___ because ___”).
- Extension: Add a “who benefits” line and a “what I will check back on in a month” line to the plan.
Assessment
- Summative (portfolio + self): The completed Earth-home action plan is the unit’s capstone artifact, kept in the portfolio.
- Self-assessment: Learners mark one line they feel confident explaining and one line they want to keep learning about — “not yet” is information, never a verdict.
Home connection
Share your action plan with someone at home, and invite them to add one line of their own — one choice they will make for the Earth home you share.
Resources
- On spaced, interleaved retrieval as a capstone: Dunlosky et al. (2013), Psychological Science in the Public Interest, https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266 (S-039).
- On explicit instruction and worked examples for novice skills: Kirschner, Sweller & Clark (2006), https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1 (S-011).