SS.7.CG.2.10

Students will create an awareness poster, speech, or letter addressed to their elected officials to advocate for continued protection of a natural area for the next 10 years. Students will apply knowledge of biodiversity, ecological interactions, and limiting factors in emphasizing why these lands should continue to be protected.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will explore and research populations living within a Florida ecosystem. Students will identify limiting factors that may pose a threat to native populations. Students will examine the goals of the Florida Forever Act, recognizing the government’s role in protecting lands, and relating the goals to limiting factors affecting wildlife populations in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will explore the importance and use of state-owned lands, and human influence on native habitats. Appropriate Florida government agencies will be identified to address environmental concerns. Students will analyze Florida ecosystems and native wildlife populations, as well as their environmental needs, in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will explore the impact of elections and voting on citizens at the local and state levels. They will also learn to identify the appropriate level of government and government agencies to address specific state or local problems and analyze public policy options for solving these issues.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the final lesson of 3 within an integrated civics unit. In this lesson, students will create a simulation program in Scratch in which they walk through the steps to address an environmental issue either at the local or state level.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson 2 in a 3-lesson unit plan. In this integrated civics lesson, students will choose an environmental issue, determine whether it should be addressed locally or by the state, research public policy alternatives, identify an appropriate government agency and/or representative to address the issue and determine a course of action. Additionally, students will learn how computer technology can be used to aid in civic action.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson in a 3-lesson unit plan. In this lesson, students will learn to identify when an issue should be solved at the local or state level and how to find a government agency or representative to help resolve the issue. Additionally, students will learn how to use computer technology to aid in civic action in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this integrated lesson plan, students will reflect on their observations of weathering and erosion of Castillo de San Marco National Monument (from lesson 2) and the roles and responsibilities of those involved in its preservation. As a final product, they will draft a letter to the government official/agency responsible for the monument, detailing what they have learned about the Castillo monument, how the science of weathering and erosion apply, why it is important to prioritize restoration/preservation of the monument, and their ideas for better maintenance based on their research. As a culminating activity, students will peer review each others’ letters for improvement.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will jigsaw two reading passages about the Sherman’s Fox Squirrel. Students will make a list of limiting factors and what impacts them. After analyzing the text in expert groups they will partner up and determine what government agency is responsible for helping the Sherman’s Fox Squirrel, and rationalize their answers using evidence from the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will evaluate whether various human activities impact the Earth and then discuss our civic duties and obligations to our Earth. They will also use scenarios to examine whose responsibility it is to protect the Earth from human impact in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students are given a list of Florida animals to research on the Florida State Parks website. Students identify the limiting factors of the population and the government agency responsible for helping this population. Students create a call-to-action social media post including the animal, it’s limiting factors, and the government agency.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this integrated lesson plan, students will investigate the weathering and erosion of coquina rock in the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument via Google Earth and will research the history of the monument and the government agency responsible for its preservation.

Type: Lesson Plan

After being presented with a definition students will brainstorm limiting factors within ecosystems. Teacher will present students with a list of government agencies that can impact ecosystems and limiting factors. Students sort brainstormed limiting factors into a provided chart of government agencies and their roles in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will identify signs of weathering and erosion on their school campus in a fieldwork investigation. They will then identify the appropriate school/district official to contact about their concerns, and create a professional email to that official advocating for the maintenance and repair of their school.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will observe a teacher demonstration of a simple stream table that illustrates the results of damming the flow of a river.  Next students will read position statements of stakeholders concerning a newly proposed dam of a local river. Given a list of government agencies, students will work in a group to determine which agency can best address their concerns about the potential dam.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will identify which level of government would be responsible for addressing a number of concerns.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will examine the impact humans can have on the water quality at a popular public fishing pier and ways that citizens can interact with the government to address cleaning the pier in this integrated MEA. Students will analyze the revenue from the fishing pier, peak visiting times, and amounts of marine debris accumulated to determine the pros/cons of closing the fishing pier more frequently to clean the marine debris. Students will research which government agency must be contacted with a proposal.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This interactive tutorial will help you answer the questions: What can individuals do on their own to make change? When can your government help you? To which government can you turn? Learn about responsible citizenship and how you might make positive changes in your own community.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This Grade 7 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 2 at this grade level.

Type: Teaching Idea