Grade Level:  3rd Grade

Time: 2 Days – Day 1: 30-45 minutes; Day 2: 30-45 minutes

Essential Question: How can we be stewards of Wyoming’s lands to benefit current and future generations?

Objectives:  Students will:

• • Describe one of three occupations: Weed & Pest (Ecologist), Game & Fish (Game Warden), and Parks & Recreation (Park Ranger) involved in land use and maintenance.
  • Explain how being a good steward impacts the culture of Wyoming.

Purpose:  Students learn that people in a variety of careers demonstrate stewardship while using and caring for Wyoming lands.

Required Materials/Resources:

• • Careers in Stewardship: Game Warden (one per assigned student) (Source 1)
  • Careers in Stewardship: Park Ranger (one per assigned student) (Source 2)
  • Careers in Stewardship: Ecologist (one per assigned student) (Source 3)
  • Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom website https://wyaitc.org/curriculum/student-resources/ (Source 7) – Students can access the three texts listed above at this link.
  • Careers in Stewardship graphic organizer (one per student)
  • Brochure template (either accessed electronically or one per student) Directions are in italics. If students are making paper copies of the brochures, give them one copy of the brochure with directions and clean copies to create their brochures.
  • Student journals
  • Pencils
  • Markers
  • Crayons

Suggested Teacher Preparation:

• • Familiarize yourself with the career websites.
  • Decide which pairs of students will be researching each career.
  • Decide whether students will access digital or print copies of the texts and prepare materials accordingly.
  • Decide whether students will complete the brochure digitally or on paper.
  • Place students into groups of three for the presentations. Each group must have a student who researched each occupation. (If you need to make a group of more than three, have students who researched the same occupation share out their knowledge together.)

Standards:

• • Social Studies: SS5.6.1, SS5.6.3 (Explicit)
    SS5.1.1 (Practiced/Encountered)
  • ELA:  3.RI.1, 3.RI.7, 3.W.7, 3.SL.1, 3.SL.4 (Practiced/Encountered)
  • CVE: CV5.1.1, CV5.3.1 (Explicit), CV5.2.2, CV5.4.1 (Practiced/Encountered)

Vocabulary:

• • Ecologist – a person who studies how animals and plants interact in an environment
  • Game Warden – a person who cares for wildlife and makes sure that hunting and fishing laws are obeyed
  • Park Ranger – a person in charge of managing/caring for a park

Instructional Procedure/Steps:

Day 1:

1. 1. 1. Say: “In this lesson, we will be researching some occupations in Wyoming that have the opportunities to be stewards each day. There are many other careers that practice stewardship, but today we are only going to focus on three main jobs: game warden, park ranger, and ecologist. Since we have been focusing on wildlife, plants, and recreation, we have chosen an occupation to look at in each of these areas.” It may be beneficial to share a few other occupations available such as conservationist, biologist, agronomist, statistician, population scientist, etc. This will highlight again that protecting Wyoming’s lands cannot be done with only one person or group, but it takes a collection of people who have the same goal (stewardship) to take care of our land.
      2. Place students into groups of two and assign each pair a career they will research together. Students will learn about the other two careers they do not research during presentations later on in the lesson.
      3. Pass out the Careers in Stewardship graphic organizers. Either pass out paper copies of assigned texts or set students up to read their assigned texts electronically. Students read their assigned texts and answer the questions on their graphic organizers.

      4. Analysis

         In this task, students will be engaged in the higher order thinking skill of analyzing by identifying and organizing ideas about careers.
         When students have completed their organizers, say: “Wyoming is always looking for people to seek ways to be good stewards. We will be creating brochures to advertise the careers we just researched in order to try to help people understand why these jobs (and others like them) are important!” If students are making their brochures on paper, pass out the templates, and have students fold it into thirds to create the brochure. If students are completing them digitally, allow students to access the template. Students use information from their graphic organizers to complete their brochures. Have students complete content first then decorate the brochures if there is time. Collect the graphic organizers and brochures, so students may present them tomorrow. For assessment purposes, check that the information in both the graphic organizers and brochures is correct.  The graphic organizer should include information about how the career practices good stewardship. The brochure should include at least two pieces of information from the graphic organizer about what the job entails.

Day 2:

1. 1. 1. Students will present their brochures in groups of three. Assign groups so that there is one expert on each of the careers in each group. If you need to make a group of more than three, have students who researched the same occupation share out their knowledge together.
      2. Have groups present their brochures. When all groups have finished presenting, say: “Remember, it takes many people working together to display good stewardship. This task could not be done by one person or group alone. It takes many careers, volunteers, and people who care. As Wyoming citizens, we are responsible to help in this effort along with other people and organizations to be good stewards of the land and its resources.”

Assessment: Pass out student journals. Have students write a summary sentence about what they learned from each of the members of their groups. Students write two sentences in their journals relating to each career. Sentences should name the occupation, explain why the occupation is important to Wyoming, and state how that person practices good stewardship. When students are finished, collect student journals and check for accuracy of sentences. (See also Day 1- step 4 for the lesson’s other assessment opportunity.)

Credits/Sources:

1. 1. Wyoming Game and Fish Department. (2017). Field Operations. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://wgfd.wyo.gov/law-enforcement/field-operations
   2. XYZ Media, Inc Gamewarden.org. (2017). Becoming a Park Ranger. Retrieved August 13, 2017, from http://www.gamewarden.org/career/park-ranger
   3. XYZ Media, Inc Gamewarden.org. (2017). Becoming an Ecologist. Retrieved August 13, 2017, from http://www.gamewarden.org/career/ecologist
   4. Wyoming Game & Fish Department. (2011-2017). Regional Offices. Retrieved August 13, 2017, from https://wgfd.wyo.gov/regional-offices
   5. Wyoming State Parks. (2018). State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails. Retrieved July 18, 2018 from http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/index.php/learn/contact
   6. Wyoming Weed and Pest Council. (n.d.). District Offices. Retrieved August 13, 2017, from http://www.wyoweed.org/about/district-offices#Table
   7. Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom. (2018) Student Resources: 3rd Grade Outdoor Recreation & Tourism. https://wyaitc.org/curriculum/student-resources/