1.12 aa Students relate personal experiences to concepts, patterns, and ideas in a personal Nature Journal

1.12 c Students establish a commonplace, concrete occasion (observing nature) as a context for the reflection

1.15 Students use verbal and nonverbal skills to express themselves effectively

3.9 dd Students demonstrate an understanding that natural and human communities are part of larger systems (e.g., forests as part of our regional economy) and that the relationships between all systems affect their sustainability

4.5aa Students understand continuity and change and that perceptions of change are based on personal experiences, historical and social conditions, and the implications of the change for the future

4.6 bb Students explore the interrelationship between the local environment and the local community by identifying natural and cultural features in the place

5.15 Students design and create media products that successfully communicate information

6.16 f Students
understand how choices within an economic system affect the environment in the local community and beyond (deforestation vs. sustainable use

6.4 dd Students identify major historical eras and analyze periods of transition in various times in their local community and Vermont by discovering how changes in farming affected forest patterns in Vermont

6.7 cc Students create a thematic, mental / representational map for home school that includes spatial data of major natural and cultural features found along their route

6.8 Students analyze the factors and implications associated with the historical and contemporary movements and settlements of peoples and group in various times in their local community and Vermont by describing the impact of migration physical systems (forests)

Define “Our Place” based on its natural and cultural features and how each shapes our lives Lesson #1

Share information in a class presentation Lesson #2

Clearly write journal entries based on
concrete occasions (observing nature) and reflections Lesson #3

Understand how our forests have changed over time Lesson #4

Understand continuity and change and the implications for the
future Lessons #5 & #6

Understand that forests can be used sustainably Lesson #7

Site examples and understand the value of forests and their ecological, economic, and social value Lessons #5 & #8

Lesson #2: Exploring Our Place through the Five Themes of Geography

Lesson #3: Writing and Drawing in the Field:
Keeping a Nature Journal
* Freewriting and Nature Observation outdoors
* Blind, modified, and diagramable contour
drawing

Lesson #4: Forests: Past, Present, and Future
* Slide Presentation by Gary Salmon, Vt. Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation
* Read, highlight, and discuss article "What are Forests? Dynamic Ecosystems"

Lesson #5: Forests and People
* Pre-lesson article
"Why Do We Need Forests?” and “Threats
to our Forests"
* Lesson Intro - Read aloud Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
* Think! Pair/ Share Graphic Organizer on the ecological, economic, and social value of forests
*Model and practice
writing a 3-5 paragraph essay

Lesson #6: Reading the Forested Landscape
* Read aloud William Jasper’s How the Forest Grew
* Stonewalls, Stumps, and Foundations activity
* Slide Presentation: Reading the Forested Landscape
* Field Trip to Grove Hill to read the landscape (see below)

Lesson #7: Sustainable Forest Use
* Field Trip to Maplecrest Farm and Charles Shackleton Furniture to understand sustainable use of forests today

Lesson #8: Our Local Heroes: Marsh, Billings, and the Rockefellers * Reading on Marsh, Billings, and Rockefellers * Video: A Place in the Land

Group work and Mental Map of from Home to School with natural and cultural features

Group work and oral presentation on a theme
of geography as it relates to Place (Woodstock, VT)

Nature Journal entries over 6 week period
(perhaps more)

Participate in class discussion; answer questions related to indicator species of forest succession (info to be used
more extensively in Lesson #6)

A Graphic Organizer on the Value of Forests

An annotated drawing of the five stages of forest succession

Group work

A historical timeline of Vermont's forest loss and recovery

A site data sheet indicating forest succession and evidence of past land use

Using the Graphic Organizer on the Value of forests to write a 3-5 paragraph essay focusing on sustainability and how its practiced by 2 local businesses

An informative bookmark that could be used as a souvenir for a visitor of Marsh-Billings- Rockefeller National Historical Park

Student and teachers Rating Assessment sheet

Rubric for Oral Presentations

Nature Journal Checklist and Nature Journal and Reflection Page

See annotated drawings of forest succession checklist in Lesson #6 and unit test at conclusion

Group discussion to fill in Class Graphic Organizer on the Ecological, Economic, and Social Value of Forests

A checklist of indicator species for each stage of forest succession

Rubric for addressing a timeline

Checklist for the notations at each site

Rubric for Assessing Essays and Compositions

An evaluative checklist for assessing and informative bookmark