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HOW MANY
SYSTEMS DO I BELONG TO RIGHT NOW?
Purpose
To help children understand that they and other people are important parts
of systems and that they belong to many "people systems," through the use
of familiar systems in which all or most of the members are known.
Areas of Study
Language Arts (oral communication, listening, writing, reading)
Mathematics (tallying, grouping)
Social Science (awareness of various organized groups, career awareness)
Art (making a book, making a bulletin board)
Objectives
Given the names of familiar "people systems," the students will: Identify
groups in which they are a member. Realize how many different "people systems"
depend on their membership.
Suggested Time
2 to 3 class periods
Materials
Magazines, scissors, paper, crayons
Comments to the Teacher
Children enjoy seeing what systems they are members of. Be sure to select
some systems in which the entire class are members or select a variety
of systems so that no one is left out
Activity 1
The teacher can begin by writing the name of a particular people system
(e.g., a family, a classroom, a Little League team, a Boy Scout or Girl
Scout troop, etc.) on the chalkboard. Ask those children who are parts
or members of that system to stand. Have the children count the number
of standing children, then select one child to place tally marks beside
the name of the "people system." Continue writing the names of different
people systems and use the tally procedure for each system.
Emphasize the idea that people are parts of systems by calling on selected
individuals to tell just what part they play in each particular system.
Have the children identify what parts or functions are played by other
people in the system (all or most members of these familiar systems should
be known by the children). Ask the children to tell what happens when
they don't do their part in a particular system, and how that affects
other people in the system who are depending on each other.
Ask the children to name other "people systems" to which they belong and
which are not yet listed. Ask specifically for systems in which people
are important parts.
Activity 2
Children can look through magazines and newspapers to cut out pictures
of other "people systems" (e.g., an office staff, an orchestra, etc.)
and make a bulletin-board display. Children can also make a "systems book"
out of their collected pictures by pasting them onto construction paper
and labeling each PEOPLE SYSTEM.
Activity 3
During story time, the teacher can select books which give examples of
"people systems" (books about people in other cultures can begin to build
cross-cultural understanding) and ask children to raise their hands whenever
they hear or see something in the book about a system of people, encouraging
them to identify the system and its parts of function.
Activity 4
After children have identified those "people systems" it which they
are familiar with as members, expand their thinking to include the less
familiar and more complex systems they depend on (as consumer members)
for their food, clothing, transportation, and so on. Use vivid examples
from the food items in their lunch boxes, the clothes on their backs,
or the way they got to school that day, to trace the systems they depended
on in order to get to and from school or fed and clothed. Take these examples
as far back to the originating system as children can understand, explaining
why many of the members of these more complex and distant systems are
unknown.
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