If you are a 'green' teacher or parent and you'd like to introduce the issue of sustainability to your 'cubs' without being pedantic, I warmly recommend that you see 'The Lorax.' Based on the Dr Seuss book of the same name, this animated movie tells, with the simplest words ever, what happens to the environment when we don't take care of it.
"Truffula trees", cute hairy plants, were chopped down, many years before our story begins, by "The Once-ler", a young fellow who wanted to become a successful businessman by producing 'Thneeds', his invention. The Lorax, a small orange creature, who "speaks for the trees" had warned the guy about the consequences of his behavior, but Once-ler ignored him and soon the once beautiful valley became polluted and desolate.
The protagonist of the film is a young boy, who lives in a city completely made of plastic, right next to the deserted land. Helped by his family, he will be able to start the process that will remake the link between people and Nature, despite the obstacles he faces along the way.
"Unless someone like you...cares a whole awful lot...nothing is going to get better...It's not."
The film is an easy ecological metaphor of what will happen to our own planet if we don't preserve it.
The message is absolutely clear : each one can do his part, or at least start the change.
The photography of the movie is amazing, animals are cute and can sing and interact with people. The dialogues are clear. The adventures are thrilling.
Songs and rhymes enrich the whole story.
So, don't wait, it is going to charm your young students!!!
More stuff:
THE LORAX ECOLOGY LESSON PLANS
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