Fiction – “The Adventures of an Aluminum Can” By Alison Inches, Illustrated by Mark Chambers Publication date: February 14, 2017

Description – This book is a story of recycling. It is part of the Little Green Books series and I thought that it would be fun to have multiple books all about environmentalism that I could use in my classroom. This book is arranged like a diary of an aluminum can. It talks about the start of the aluminum cans life and how it started as alumina in the Earth and was sent to a processing plant. It was then turned into an aluminum sheet which was then made into an aluminum can. The can has many different uses throughout the story until finally it is made into an aluminum bat where it hopes to stay for a long time before being recycled again. I chose this book because I think that recycling is an important component to environmental health. The book does a good job at showing how recycling works and that it is a way for the same material to be used many different ways. I also thought the artwork was engaging and fun. There are many difficult vocabulary words in this book that may be slightly difficult for kindergartners to grasp but it includes a glossary at the back with student friendly definitions. I also thought that it would be a good way to get students to think about what these words mean and create their own student friendly definitions. I believe this book would integrate well into science, specifically a geology lesson. The book talks about different times of metals and rocks such as, alumina and bauxite. We could see how other items we use on a daily basis are made by using Earth resources such as, paper, graphite in our pencils, and helium to blow up balloons.

Core Integration –

I would integrate this into our science curriculum area. Students and I would create a list of other resources we use on a daily basis that we get from the land. We could research how we receive these resources and where they come from. This would help us to see how many different things we use and how much we rely on our planet to supply us with those.

NHES –

Healthy behavior outcomes for personal health and wellness – HBO 6: Practice behaviors that prevent infectious diseases.

Standard: PHW2.2.4 Describe positive influences on personal health and wellness practices and behaviors.

Standard: PHW2.2.5 Describe negative influences on personal health and wellness practices and behaviors.

Next Generation Science Standards:

ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems

Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things. (K-ESS3-3)

ESS3.A: Natural Resources

Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do. (K-ESS3-1)