Think Green are a new 5-book series from Prim-Ed that aim to teach environmental studies in an inclusive classroom.
The 5 titles cover water conservation, global warming, recycling, alternative fuels and Go organic. The books pass the “flickability” factor as in they are colourful, bright and appealing with lots of up to date photographs. However, they are still textbooks and most of the information in them would be easily gleaned from other research.
There is a Teachers’ Guide to accompany these books, which is available online for free download. It contains worksheets for each title and the worksheets are made up of a mixture of valid geographical skill based work to Literacy type activities like anagrams, fill the blanks and the dreaded word search. The “Lesson plans” also left out any form of learning objectives or assessment criteria so whether they can be called “Lesson plans” is up for debate! Having said that, there are some good ideas here for how to use the text in the classroom with extension work on geographical vocabulary. It’s free, so take a look and make up your own mind!
Relevance to curriculum aims: 4/5
They are totally relevant to the Geography curriculum, for obvious reasons and they focus right in on the strand on Environmental awareness. However, the books would have to be an addition to an already well-planned Geogaphy based lesson as they are merely information and “Fast Fact” activities. The individual carbon offsetting is one way to reduce our harsh impact on the environment.
Teacher useability: 4/5
Children would enjoy these if they were doing some sort of focused project work but would need significant guidance from the teacher. They would be a great asset to any Green School Committee but the teacher must be aware that information moves on so quickly that within a few years, the Global Warming information would be defunct. This is where a web link or web based activity would have been useful. The Teachers’ Guide is useful at times.
Value for money: 3/5
The books are €9.95 each. I think this is a bit steep if you had to but the full 5. Maybe, a discount can be negotiated? Teachers’ Guide is free, free, free!
Extras: 3/5
There is a free teachers’ guide to accompany this, which always entices us! A CD with photos for IWB/Projectors would be a great addition and/or web based content.
Overall, these books would be suitable for a very good 4th class, 5th and 6th Class as the language level is suited to them. If you have the money, they would make a good addition to the Class/School library or a present for the Green School Committee!
Last Update: August 27, 2021