Title: Do You Really, I Mean REALLY, Need a Thneed?

Overview & Outcomes:

In Foundations/Awareness Lessons 8 and 9 students were sensitized to differences between developed and developing nations, and they experienced the decision-making process involved in selecting a lifestyle, respectively. Society places demands on existing and developing technology. In this lesson the video The Lorax is used to examine the concepts of needs versus wants will be examined. In addition the tradeoffs of technological advancement will be identified. In the next lesson, Foundations/Awareness Lesson 11, students examine the importance of climate to the maintenance of life on Earth, identify three STS issues that fall under the umbrella of global atmospheric change (GAC) and begin the process of investigating them by requesting information from outside agencies on the STS question, Is global atmospheric change a threat?

This lesson helps learners:

• identify demands of society that impact technology.
• identify the positive and negative impact of that technology on society.

The concept map found in Foundations/Awareness Lesson 1 shows model relationships among concepts Foundations/Awareness Lessons 1 through 7 plus 9 and 10 seek to develop.

Background Notes for the Teacher:

Content. Regardless of which lesson option you select, encourage students to analyze the various value systems which exist in society. It is within the context of this lesson that students should develop an understanding and appreciation of opposing points of view, that each of those points of view feel perfectly justified in the stand they have taken, and that in dealing with any issue all points of view must be addressed. It is essential for students to realize that in real life we often have to work with persons whose values and opinions differ greatly from our own, and that we must find a way to work with them cooperatively. Options.

• Option 1. Simulation/role play of video characters involving a news reporters interview of those characters.

• Option 2. Simulation/role play activity involving persuasive presentations at a mock city council meeting.

• Option 3. Group activity involving identification and examination of commonly owned gadgets in regard to needs versus wants.

• Option 4. A series of activities involving the comparison of videos Koyaanisqatsi and The Lorax.

Integration. You may select to integrate this lesson with a social science or economics lesson.

Materials:

For all options.

1. Seuss, Dr. (Theodore Geisel). (1971).The Lorax . New York: Random House (also available as a video)

For Option 1.

• For each student.
  1. The Lorax: Before, During, and After worksheet
• For News reporters.
  1. Newsreporter's Questions worksheet

For Option 2.

1. The Lorax Worksheet (Option 2)

For Option 3.

• For each student.
  1. The Lorax Worksheet (Option 3)

For Option 4.

• For class.
  1. Koyaanisqatsi video

• For each student.
  1. Koyaanisqatsi Worksheet
  2. The Lorax Worksheet

Preparation:

Days Prior to Lesson. Preview the video(s) and/or book you will be using in the lesson option you select.

Day of Lesson. Reproduce the necessary number of student worksheets.

Instructional Procedure: (2 Days, 40 minutes each)

1. Show video/read book The Lorax. (See Day 2. You may wish to assign parts before students view the video.)
2. Have students complete The Lorax: Before, During, and After worksheet.
3. Discuss responses in a class discussion.

Option 1. Day 2. (40 minutes)

1. Divide students into groups of five.
2. Using the cooperative learning technique Simulation/Role Playing (see Appendix _), assign each student in the group one of the following roles:
   • Once-ler
   • Lorax
   • Barbaloot/Swammy Swan/Hummy Fish/Truffula Tree (representing all living things)
   • Little Boy
   • Reporter from Local Newspaper
3. The "reporter" in each group will interview the characters utilizing the Newsreporter's Questions worksheet.
4. Have "reporters" share their interviews with the class. (Give students the option of writing up interviews of characters for a class newspaper such as the "Whoville Times.")
5. Discuss the interviews. As a result of this discussion, have students recommend a compromise that may have averted the disastrous results in The Lorax.

1. Show video/read book The Lorax (see Day 2. You may wish to assign parts before students view the video.)
2. Have students respond to questions on The Lorax WorkSheet (Option 2).
3. Have students share their responses in a class discussion.
4. Have students write what they think will happen next in the story.

Option 2. Day 2. (40 minutes)

1. Hold a mock city council meeting to resolve the environmental issues created by theThneed industry.
2. Divide your class into groups representing the following characters:
   • City Council
   • The Once-ler
   • Swammy Swans
   • Barbaloots
   • Hummy Fish
   • Truffula Trees
   • The Lorax
   • The Once-ler Family
3. Give each of the points of view a 5-minute limit in presenting their opinions to city council.
4. Give the city council a 10-minute limit in which time they must come up with a problem resolution based upon the arguments given.

Option 3. Day 1. (40 minutes)

1. Show video/read book The Lorax.
2. Have students respond to questions on The Lorax Worksheet (Option 3).
3. Have students share their responses in a class discussion.

Option 3. Day 2. (40 minutes)

1. Divide your class into groups of 4 or 5 students.
2. Have students work in their cooperative groups to list all the current gadgets existing in our society which we don't really need.
3. Have students share their lists in a class discussion. Encourage students to discuss how a task might be completed other than utilizing the gadget, and also how man and the environment might benefit from the elimination of the gadget.

Option 4. Day 1. (40 minutes)

Prior to Day 1. Show the video Koyaanisqatsi over several days in short segments, reserving the final 10 minutes for Day 1 of the lesson.

1. Show the final 10 minutes of Koyaanisqatsi, but stop the video before it gives the written definition of the term.
2. Following the video, pass out the Koyaanisqatsi Worksheet. On the worksheet, have students write what they think is the definition of the term. Encourage students to respond to the worksheet statements as thoughtfully and creatively as they can.
3. Collect the worksheets, but do not use for assessment as these responses concern feelings and creative ideas.

Option 4. Day 2. (40 minutes)

1. Show video/read book The Lorax.
2. Have students respond to the questions on The Lorax Worksheet (Option 4).
3. Return students' worksheets from Day 1.
4. Have students share their responses to all three worksheets in a class discussion.

Assessment/Portfolio Items:

In addition to the assessments included in the various options, the following items may be included.

Journal Entries.

1. Why doesn't the Once-ler have a face?
2. If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?
3. Because we are the most intelligent beings on earth, our needs should take priority over all living things.
4. Have you ever been a Once-ler?

Complete the chart below by indicating conditions before, during, and after the Thneed Industry. Make your responses as specific as possible.

1. What was society's role in the destruction of the environment?

   ________________________________________________________

   ________________________________________________________

   ________________________________________________________

2. What do you think was the Onceler's motivation for cutting down the trees?

   ________________________________________________________

   ________________________________________________________

   ________________________________________________________

3. Have you ever been a Onceler? Explain.

   ________________________________________________________

   ________________________________________________________

   ________________________________________________________

You are a reporter for a local newspaper. Use the questions below to complete your interview. After asking these questions, feel free to add a few of your own.

For the Barbaloots/Swammy Swans/Hummy Fish/Truffula Tree:

1. How did you feel when the Once-ler moved in and began cutting down the trees?
2. What problems did the Thneed industry create for you and your fellow animal and plant friends?

For the Little Boy:

1. Do you think it was important for the Once-ler to tell you the story, and why?
2. How did you feel when the last trufulla seed was given to you? What do you plan to do with it?

For the Once-ler:

1. Why didn't you listen to the Lorax?
2. What could you have done to prevent what ultimately happened?

For the Lorax:

1. Was there something more you could have done for your friends?
2. What are your feelings towards the Once-ler right now?

What were the technologies used by the Once-ler to make more and more Thneeds?

1. __________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________________

6. __________________________________________________________________

What was society's role in the destruction of the environment?

1. __________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________________

6. __________________________________________________________________

7. __________________________________________________________________

1. How did things change as a result of the Once-ler's activities

2. What could Once-ler have done to prevent the outcome seen at the end of The Lorax?

3. How did the Lorax feel after Once-ler moved in and began cutting down the Truffula trees?

4. Why do you think it was important for the Once-ler to tell the story to the young boy?

5. What were some of the problems that the Thneed industry caused?

6. What do you think was the Once-ler's motivation for cutting down the Truffula trees?

7. Why do you think Once-ler did not listen to the pleas of the Lorax?

8. How did the Thneed industry change from beginning to end?

9. What would you have done if you were Once-ler (At the end of the story)?

1. 10. Do you think of yourself as being like a Once-ler?

1. Crazy life

2. Life in turmoil

3. Life out of balance

4. Life disintegrating

5. A style of life that calls for another way of living

Write your responses to the following quotations:

1. "If we dig things from the land we will invite disaster."

2. "A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which will burn the land and boil the oceans."

1. Have you ever acted like the Once-ler? (explain)

2. Who or what do you think the Once-ler represents?

3. Have you ever done anything that you think the Lorax would have done? (explain)

4. Who or what do you think the Lorax represents?

5. Did the Lorax speak for anything or anyone other than the trees?

6. If you had to interview the Once-ler in order to write an article for the school paper, what questions would you like to ask him?

7. What is the message that this video is trying to teach?

8. Besides using a cartoon video, what other ways could this message be shared with other people in the community?

Click Here to go to Lesson 11: Identification of an STS Issue for Study and Initiating Our Investigation

This unit was produced by the editors listed on the masthead.