Integrated learning

At the Parent Open House yesterday, the agenda was "Introducing Environmental Studies" to Class IV children.Children don't necessarily need to be exposed to Science and Social Studies as two different subjects very early.These can both be beautifully merged as Environmental studies.The session began by providing experiences to the parents.The topic chosen was 'Water' and three corners were created.Parents were divided into three groups.The first group related to the water cycle through a role play,they did a simple experiment to understand the process of evaporation.This informal learning was linked to formal learning through a worksheet -questions were simple and application based eg. what happens to the water puddles after the rains and why?,Give two examples of evaporation in your surroundings.The second group did a simple experiment to understand water pollution.They created a word web on sources of water and discussed the impact of water pollution.Then posters were made to create awareness about saving water.The third group was given time to go through a text on rivers in different parts of India.The group then played a board game on recalling the names and locations of various rivers in India.After the experiential session there was an open ended discussion and parents having gone through the experiences could visualise how Science and Social Studies can be merged as Environmental Studies.With a simple topic we can bring both Science and Social Studies together.It just needs to be a more sensitive facilitation.Pick up a topic like 'Air' and now think how you can merge Science and Social Studies..............