The Lorax
STEAM Lesson Brief
Educators on the team: Kara Hevel and Kristen Lemley, Arcola Elementary
Students use knowledge from across the disciplines to strengthen their understanding of each
subject’s content and its related careers through topic or theme oriented realistic problembased activity-rich lessons.
Theme that this lesson would tie to: Plants and the environment
Specific Topic Concept within that theme: lifecycle, parts, growth, structure, purpose
Thank you for your work.
You have chosen a great theme with nice ties to each of the individual subjects. You have a lot
of good project ideas, however your descriptions of what the kids are going to do in some areas
were too vague for me to get a full picture of what you intended. In general, the Project areas
should be a paragraph describing to another educator what is done in that educational subject,
as it integrates into the theme. Your assessments should then focus on evaluating the tangible
from the project element in that subject to determine whether students mastered the content
specific benchmarks. In order to verify alignment of your project elements and assessments,
please add in the full text of appropriate grade-level standards for each subject.
I can tell you put a lot of thought and effort into this plan and that you've had some great
products from your students - I love the pictures! My comments and suggestions will help you
to develop your project and assessment areas to make this a great plan. I have left more
specific comments in each section, however you should generally be focused on showing how
the lesson ties together to the overall theme by including what the students will be doing in
each subject.
I put in some questions for you.Orangecomments need to be addressed, green are my
suggestions.
Thanks! I look forward to your revisions. -MS
(Reviewed by GY)
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STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
PROJECT IDEA + brief notes & supplies
BASIC CONCEPTS
Skill Level (Grade Range): 2nd Grade
Summary of Essential Concepts
Science
After reading The Lorax during Read
 Essential Concepts – lifecycle of trees and
Across America week, students will learn
plants good!
about the positive effect plants and trees
 Goals/Objectiveshave on our environment.
 Standards – 2.3.1, 2.3.2Pleaseinclude the
This summary should be 1-2 sentences
written out version of the standards or
that includes an overarching verb that ties
goals in order to verify alignment.
to each subject.
 Careers– botanist, environmentalist,
Still need: T&E – MA – LA – SS – FA – PE –
ecologist
Mu
 Project element - Students will plant and
grow 2 lima beans. They will record
Coordinating Basic Plan
observations daily to help learn about the
After reading the book The Lorax, we will
structure of a plant.Please elaborate. This
dive into a study (S)of plants/trees and
needs to be a paragraph that explains the
their benefit to Earth. We will be learning
project and includes the standards
about the structure of plants, growing our
formally. Why will they grow 2 beans? Will
own lima bean plants, and observing the
they be grown together? Separately under
various parts as they grow. We will take
different conditions? What will students be
that knowledge and use it to construct
looking for in their observations?
“Lorax” trees out of limited materials
 Assessment– Daily journals will serve as an
(T&E), following a previously made
assessment. They will turn them in and
blueprint exactly. The trees will need to
receive a grade for completing all
stand up on their own and be at least 6
observations.What specifically will you
inches tall. To wrap up our study of the
assess to determine whether students have
environment and the role that trees play,
mastered the science benchmarks? How
we will be planning and writing (LA) an
will you group this into rubric categories?
opinion piece that either sides with the
“Onceler” or the “Lorax”.
This is an excellent start. The basic plan
Technology & Engineering
should include a 1-2 sentence summary of
 Essential Concepts- using a blueprint to
each section on the right.
design a structure that will stand on its own
Still need: MA – SS – FA – PE – Mu
 Goals/ObjectivesSkill level (Grade Range):2nd grade
Timing of Lesson:2-3 weeks
Basic Supplies:
All Subjects:
 Marshmallows
 Toothpicks
 Clay
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Standards –Please use ITEEA standards
here.
Careers – building or landscape engineer,
architect, project manager
Project element – Students will have 2 tries
to design a blueprint for their Lorax trees
and successfully build them. They will be
given a clear set of requirements for their
trees (must be at least 6 inches tall, stand
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
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Chalk
Markers
Cotton balls
Paper plates
Other Resources:
Photos:
Great photos!
Materials
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1st attempt and 2nd attempt
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Final product with a blueprint
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up on their own, Lorax colors, only use the
given materials, follow the blueprint
exactly). We spent some time previously
researching plant structure and talking
through the importance of the base being
strong. After blueprints are made,
students will be given their building
materials and will be told to build exactly
the way their blueprint says. Students will
then have a chance to revise their
blueprints based off of their first prototype
and observations. Students will be given
the opportunity to build a model based off
of their revised blueprint.
Assessment – I will use a rubric to grade
their trees based on the given criteria.It is
expected that every assessment be rubricbased. Please provide the categories and
basic parameters that will be included in
these rubrics. Were students able to
identify flaws in their design? Were
students able to revise their blueprint in a
manner that addressed issues from their
first design? If students' trees were unable
to stand on their own, can the students
articulate why or what else they would
have improved?
Math
Essential Concepts– measurement,
estimation
Goals/ObjectivesStandards – 2.M.2 Pleaseinclude the
written out version of the standards or
goals in order to verify alignment.
Careers – architect, flooring
installation,surveyor
Project element – Students will use the
inches side of a ruler to measure the height
of their trees. Their trees are supposed to
be 6 inches or taller without leaning to one
side. Students will also use estimation
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
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Measuring
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Adding color with chalk
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Working together
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when they are deciding how many
marshmallows and toothpicks to use for
the trunk of their trees. They know that
they will need it to be about 6 inches tall.
Assessment – As part of the rubric,
students will be scored based on the height
of their trees.Were students able to make a
reasonable estimation for the materials
needed? Were students able to accurately
measure the height of their model?
Language Arts
Essential Concepts– opinion writing
Goals/ObjectivesStandards - Please include gravel level LA
standards here.
Careers - newspaper writer, author
Project element – After researching and
reading the book The Lorax, student will
side with the Onceler, who wanted to cut
down all the trees, or the Lorax, who
wanted to save the trees. They will write
an opinion piece, including examples and
reasons to back their opinion.great activity!
Assessment - These opinion pieces will be
graded using a rubric that covers the 6
traits(please list these traits here) of
writing.
Social Studies
Essential Concepts– geography, taking care
of the earth
Goals/ObjectivesStandards - Please include gravel level SS
standards here.
Careers– geographer, educator
Project element – Students will participate
in group research looking at why it is
important to take care of Earth. We will
discuss areas of the world that are filled
with pollution and areas that are cleaner.
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
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Please elaborate. This needs to be a
paragraph that explains the project and
includes the standards formally.How will
students conduct their research? What is
the goal? What will they be looking for?
How have the attitudes of society changed
over time regarding the importance of
being eco-friendly? How has pollution
changed over time and how is this
important for the future?
Assessment – Participation in the research
will be the assessmentWhat tangible
product can students produce in the
project element to be used as an
assessment and which also aligns with the
SS benchmarks?
Fine Arts
Essential Concepts– using appropriate
media
Goals/ObjectivesStandards - Please include gravel level art
standards here.
Careers – art teacher, artist, sculptor
Project element – Students will choose to
use chalk or markers to add color and
design to their Lorax trees. They will
choose based on the colors that they wish
to use to make their trees resemble the
trees in the Lorax. They will also choose
their media based on what would be
easiest to use on cotton balls and
marshmallows.Students will use a variety
of media to create a scene around the base
of their trees.
Assessment – As part of the rubric, student
will be graded on choosing a color scheme
that is appropriate as related to The Lorax.
They will also be graded on whether or not
they used one of the media that was part
of the instructions.they used media
appropriate to the material they were
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
working with and message they were trying
to convey.
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Physical Education
Essential Concepts- Learning about the
environment while doing physical activity,
games, strategy
Goals/ObjectivesStandards - 2.2.4 Understand and
demonstrate strategies for active
games.good!
Careers- Environmentalist, Physical
Education teacher, athletic trainer
Project element- Hold an environmental
field day. Set aside one day for outdoor
learning, where the students move from
station to station to learn about various
environmental topic. Activities and
resources such as ropes courses,
predator/prey games and turning reviews
of facts into relay games.This is a great
idea. Please elaborate on the activities you
have in mind so that another educator
would be able to implement this at their
school.
Assessment - Does the student remember
the facts during these activities, are they
successful in following directions and using
active listening skills while participating in
the stations.Were students able to apply
appropriate strategy according to the task
or game at hand?
Do activities with various things that affect
their air flow – face masks, etc. – Look at
areas of the world where air quality is an
issue for people to exercise outside.
Music
Essential Concepts- Listening, identifying
and creating music specifically written for
objects that other people might throw
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
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away.
Goals/ObjectivesStandards – 2:3:4 Respond to teacher or
student questions by singing and using
body percussion, movement, found items,
instruments, or electronic sounds.
-2.8.1 Identify musical concepts such as
tone color, repetition, and contrast, and
ways they are used in other disciplines.
Careers- Musician, composer, sound effects
artist environmentalist
Project element- Students will listen to
music such as “3+2” (do you have a link to
this?) and identify the materials from which
the “junk” instruments are made (wood
slats, cookie tin, sewer pipe cap, etc.)
Students can create their own instruments
out of recycled materials and take turns
keeping the beat and rhythm to the song
“Don’t Dump Trash” by Jill Jarboe. Students
will identify sections in each song that
exhibit repetition and contrast.
Assessment - Students will identify how the
instruments are played (plucking, striking,
shaking), will perform rhythm patterns
accurately from notation and will keep a
steady beat. Were students able to
accurately identify periods of repetition in
the music? Were students able to identify
contrast such as in dynamics?
Extension: Look at musical instruments in
terms of environmentalism. For example,
no pianos are made with ivory keys
anymore. What instruments are ecofriendly and which are not?
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief