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Lesson plan · Grade 2 · 30 minutes

Resource Detective

I can trace everyday things back to the natural resources they are made from.

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Standard
D2.Geo.4.K-2 C3
D2.Geo.5.K-2 C3
Shape
Explore first
Grouping
Whole class on the carpet, then partners.
You need
The tool on the big screen. Real objects from the classroom: a pencil, a wooden block, a glass jar, a T-shirt. Paper for drawing.
Tool
curioclass.org/tools/resource-detective/
  1. Hook4 min
  2. Explore12 min
  3. Make sense5 min
  4. Apply6 min
  5. Exit check3 min

Before class

  • Open the Pencil case.
  • Some cases accept more than one fair answer, and the detective explains why.
  • Gather a few real objects for the Hook and Apply.

Hook 4 min

  1. Hold up a pencil. "Where did this come from?" Children will say "the store." "And before the store? And before that?"
  2. "Today we're detectives. We follow the trail all the way back to nature."

Explore 12 min

  1. Press Next clue and read it together. "What could that mean?" Read all three clues.
  2. The class picks the natural resources they think the pencil came from: Trees, Rocks, Water and more. More than one is allowed.
  3. Press Follow the trail! The red string goes from the pencil, to how it was made, back to nature.
  4. Solve two more cases, such as the T-shirt and Orange juice. Solved cases get a stamp.

Make sense 5 min

  1. "Everything we use started as a natural resource. Which resources did we find today?"
  2. "Which ones can grow back, like trees and plants? Which can't, like rocks?"

Apply 6 min

Partners pick a real object from the classroom and draw its trail: the object, how it was made, and the natural resource it came from. Partners who finish solve the Glass jar or Wool mittens case on the big screen.

Exit check 3 min

Point to something you're wearing or something in the room. Children name a natural resource it might come from and say one clue that tells them so.

Support and stretch

  • Support: start with things that come from just one resource.
  • Support: keep a picture card for each resource on the board.
  • Stretch: "Which things in our classroom come from more than one resource?"
  • Stretch: solve the Flower pot case and explain how soil and rocks are both part of its trail.

Short on time

  • The Pencil case with Follow the trail! (6 min).
  • One more case (4 min).

How each button works is in the teacher notes. From Curio Class, free under CC BY 4.0: change it, print it, share it.