Yogesh Pathak

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Nature education at age 10 should complement the renewed understanding of self and society that the child is gaining. Kids at this age are also receiving formal but preliminary introduction to sciences like geology, astronomy, and possibly ecology. These concepts should be subsumed in the web of ecological concepts, to the extent possible.

 

Key concepts in the 5th grade strand of the Web of Ecological Concepts include the following.

• Recap of story of evolution from Grade 3: Add more details in the following areas:

  • Formation of earth and moon

  • The key periods in Earth's history after life happened, and associated life forms

  • Relate animal classes learned in Grade 4 to the story of evolution

  • Darwin and Wallace’s work (preliminary)

  • Evolution of man including examples of closely related hominids and hominins

• Recap of story of man’s relationship with nature from Grade 3: Add more details in the following areas:

  • Stone age: The three periods and variety of tools

  • Settlements through these periods

  • Revision of “Our journey from hunter-gatherers to farmers, pastoralists, and today’s industrialized mode of living” from Grade 3

  • Copper and Bronze Age

  • Iron Age

  • Tools in settled agriculture communities

  • Skills in settled agriculture communities

  • Settlements in settled agriculture communities

  • Housing in settled agriculture communities

  • Larger (agricultural) civilization along major rivers: More details, including scripts, traded goods, maps of towns, and archaeological findings.

  • Industrial society till 1950: Technologies, Materials, Energy sources (preliminary)

  • Industrial society 1950-now: Technologies, Materials, Energy sources (preliminary)

• Habitats and Ecosystems: Preliminary characteristics

• Biomes: Concept and examples 

• Earth as a combination of Lithosphere, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere: Introduction to each.

• Several examples of food chains/webs and interdependence

• Sharing of resources by species in an ecosystem

• Impact of climate on ecosystems

• Geology: Basics e.g. landforms, Earth’s layer’s construction

• Map-drawing techniques e.g. methods of showing elevation, land use, river basins, human networks (see below), important resources. Scale of maps. Symbols.

• Impact of geology on ecosystems

• Human food: Preliminary introduction to the following

  • Revision: Current means of production (e.g. agriculture and processing of food), Seed diversity, Food diversity

  • Diversity of local seeds and their association with geo-climatic regions

  • Scale of agriculture

  • Technology and systems

  • Impact on nature

  • Lifecycle of materials

  • Energy use.

  • Compare means of production & use with that from the past.

• Human clothing: Preliminary introduction to the following

  • Revision: Raw materials, Current means of production, Diversity of clothes by seasons-regions-communities, Diversity of materials and means of production.

  • Current scale

  • Impact on nature

  • Lifecycle of materials

  • Energy use

  • Compare this with means of production & use from the past.

  • Washing of clothes, methods and materials for washing – past and present, their impact on nature.

  • Nature-friendly alternatives

• Human water use: Preliminary introduction to the following

  • Revision: Current means of extraction, their diversity, Scale of water use, Lifecycle of water

  • Current technology and systems, including storage/filtering/cleaning

  • Energy use

  • Impact on nature

  • Compare this with water access and use from the past.

  • Nature-friendly means to access, store, use, and harvest water. Water recycling.

• Human housing, work infrastructure, and built public spaces: Preliminary introduction to the following

  • Revision: Current scale and diversity, Raw materials, Lifecycle of materials

  • Technology and systems

  • energy use

  • Impact on nature and land use

  • Compare with housing and other built environments in the past.

  • Nature-friendly alternatives: Materials and methods

  • Material recycling

• Human-made networks: Preliminary introduction, materials and energy impact, impact on common resources and land use

  • Transportation networks: Roads, Railways, Airlines, Shipping

  • Irrigation networks, Municipal water supply networks

  • Sewage networks, Waste networks and waste storage

• Industrial processes: Preliminary introduction, materials and energy impact

• Our nation and it’s natural systems

  • Diversity of natural systems (e.g. rivers, forests, deserts, mountains) and resources in the country, with examples and maps

  • Local species dependent on unique habitats – forests: Examples

  • Local species dependent on unique habitats – rivers & wetlands: Examples

  • Local species dependent on unique habitats – grasslands: Examples

  • Local species dependent on unique habitats – deserts: Examples

  • Local species dependent on unique habitats – ocean: Examples

  • Mapping natural systems: Physical maps

  • Mapping an ecosystem like a forest or river

• Inequality of natural resource access among humans: Preliminary introduction

• Examples of human impact on specific local/regional ecosystems

• Key environmental challenges for our country (‘for the human race’, to be covered in a later year): Preliminary introduction

  • Waste

  • Pollution

  • Land use change

  • Habitat loss

  • Species extinction

  • Global warming

  • Climate change

  • Exclude challenges others than above at this grade e.g. economic inequality and it’s relation with environmental challenges

• Consolidating discussion: Earth is a unique planet supporting life and we know of no other such planet so far. What should be our responsibility?

• Human efforts to preserve environmental balance: Introduction

  • Protected Areas

  • Pollution measurement and control

  • Waste collection, treatment, and recycling

  • Institutions in local/state/central government

  • Tribals’ and communities’ methods to protect nature e.g. devrai

 

If there are related concepts in science and history textbooks that are not seen above, those should also be covered.