- Hello scholars, welcome to the second grade on Read, Write, Roar.

Today we're gonna focus on answering two big questions.

(bright music) The first one is how do people's actions affect the environment?

Our second question is what choices can people make to reduce their impact on their environment?

Hmmm.

Today, we are going to be reading and writing words with a E-I-G-H spelling.

We're also going to listen to a book about how to protect earth's surface as well as do an experiment to show how we can protect earth surface.

So scholars, go ahead and get that paper and your pencil and let's get ready to Read, Write, Roar.

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the State of Michigan and the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by and by viewers like you, thank you!

(bright music) (lion roaring) - Hello scholars, I'm Mrs. Z-K And today we are gonna be working - with the word part, E-I-G H. Those four letters (bright music) are all going to make one sound.

Do you know what sound it is?

It's in the word, slay.

Ooh, what sound do you hear that E-I-G H making?

Slay.

A, it's making the long A sound!

We hear the long A sound at the end of the word, slay.

Listen to it slowly.

Slay, right at the end.

So those four letters are a new spelling pattern to make the long A sound.

That's what we're gonna practice today scholars.

Go ahead and get your paper, pencil, and let's get ready to spell.

We're going to do some guided spelling.

So what that is is, we're going to say a word slowly, and then we're going to listen for the sounds in that word.

When we hear the long A sound, A, we know we're going to spell it with our new spelling pattern, which is E-I-G H. Are you ready?

Nice.

Our first word is, eight.

Say it slowly, eight.

I hear the long A sound at the beginning of the word.

Eight.

So what are we going to use to make that long A sound?

E-I-G H, let's write that down.

(marker cap snapping) You may already have it on your paper and you can check your spelling.

Eight, and our ending sound is the tih.

Is that that's just like the number eight.

Yeah, you know, when you count.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

(chuckles) We're gonna build off this word a little bit and we're going to write the word, eighth.

Eighth, I was eighth in line.

Hmm, yeah, say it slowly.

A, thhh.

I'm still hearing the long A sound at the beginning, but my ending sound is different from our first word.

Instead of it being a tih, it's a thh.

Go ahead and write it!

Check your spelling.

A, thh.

And like I said, that's when you're eighth in line!

Sometimes you might see it written like that (chuckles).

(bright music) All right, scholars, our next word is, weigh.

Hmm, hmm.

And not like, let's go this way.

More like an action word, when you're going to find out how much something might weigh.

So you say I'm going to weigh the apples to see how much it's going to cost.

Weigh, say it slowly.

Wah, weigh.

Only two sounds.

Go ahead and try to write it.

And we're going to check your spelling.

Wah, A and the E-I-G H is making our long A sound.

Weigh.

I am going to weigh the apples at the grocery store.

We're going to build off this word and we're going to write the word, weight.

Not like I'm going to wait for my turn, but weight, when you go to the doctor's and they make you stand on the scale and you have to check your weight.

Yeah, it's how heavy you are.

Let's say that word slowly.

Wah, A, tih.

Hmm, I hear three sounds this time.

Where do you hear the long A sound at?

Wah, A, tih.

In the middle!

Go ahead and try to spell it.

Write it on your paper!

Let's check your spelling.

Wah, A, tih.

Yeah, this is how much weight you have!

How heavy are you?

(chuckles) We're going to build off this word one more time.

And now it's going to be the meaning of, if you go to the gym and workout and you lift weights!

Yes!

How can we change the word, weight, to the word weights?

You hear that extra ending?

There's an ending on that word.

Sss.

Yeah, so let's, let me let you write a first.

Now, let's check your spelling.

(marker scraping) Wah, A, tih, sss.

Yeah, you lift some weights (laughs) get some muscles.

(bright music) All right, our next word is a sound that an animal at the farm might make, a horse to be exact.

The sound is neigh!

Hmm, let's say that word slowly.

Nnn, A.

Only two sounds!

Where do you hear the long A sound at!

Nnn, A.

At the end!

Go ahead and try to spell it.

And now we're going to check your spelling.

Nnn, A.

Remember that A sound today as being spelled with our E-I-G H spelling pattern.

Neigh!

That's fun to say, can you do that?

Can you make a horse sound?

Neigh!

(laughs) We are going to build off this word again.

And now we're going to write a word to someone who lives next to you.

Who lives next to you?

That's your who?

That's your neighbor!

Ohh, neighbor!

Let's build off that word, ready?

Neigh bah, or.

Neighbor.

You might go knock on your neighbor's door to see if they wanna come outside and play.

Yeah (laughs).

Scholars, you did an amazing job practicing our new spelling pattern, E-I-G H. What sound does that make again?

A, you're right?

Those four letters together are frequently going to make the long A sound.

Now, just so you know, the long A sound is spelled many different ways.

E-I-G H is used to make the long A sound.

(bright music) Let's see how many words you can find in your reading with the E-I-G H spelling pattern.

(bright music) - Hello and welcome.

I'm Miss Amy and I'm so excited to share some mindful practices with you today.

Mindful practices are tools we can use when we need to pause and take a breath, own what we are feeling and practice a deep breath or something that relaxes us.

We call this a pop check.

Sometimes I have a hard time listening to directions because my body feels so wiggly.

And sometimes I forget to do something like brush my teeth before bed.

Do you ever feel that way inside, so wiggly that it's hard to focus or listen?

That's when you can practice listening breath.

Let's try it.

First, shhh, let's listen to some sounds around us.

What do you hear?

I hear some cars outside my window.

Oh, I hear a dog barking!

What do you hear where you are?

Let's listen.

I'll count to five, and you listen to the sounds.

When we're done, you can tell me what you heard.

Ready, go!

One.

Two.

Three Four, five!

And open your eyes.

What did you hear?

It's fun to practice listening breath, and you can practice it anywhere you are.

You are just take some deep breaths and listen.

Thank you for sharing this mindful practice with me today.

Let's get together again, soon!

(bright music) - Hi scholars!

I'm Mrs. Fuller.

Today, we're going to be reading a book called Protecting Earth's Surface, written by Natalie Hyde and read with permission from the Crabtree Publishing Company.

As we read today, I would like us to listen for information, that'll help us answer two big questions.

The first question, how do people's actions affect the environment?

And the second, what choices can people make to reduce their impact on the environment?

The word, impact, means to have a strong and often bad effect on something.

So what choices can people make to reduce their impact on the environment?

Let's get started.

Protecting our Earth.

Earth's surface is always changing.

Some changes are good.

Floods bring new soil to the land along rivers.

The minerals in the soil help improve farmland.

Volcanoes can also create new farmland full of minerals.

Volcanoes in the ocean can create new islands.

These tomato plants are growing in rich volcanic soil in Spain.

Danger by land and sea.

Some changes to Earth's surface are not good.

Earthquakes can destroy land and buildings.

Tsunamis wash away homes and damage coastlines.

Water and wind can strip the soil from farmland.

Scientists are working to better understand these forces.

They want to find ways to slow these forces to prevent them from happening.

If scientists better understand Earth's forces, they can help people prepare for dangerous changes.

Quick changes.

Changes to Earth's surface can happen quickly or slowly.

Volcanoes, earthquakes and floods are some of the ways the surface changes quickly.

Volcanoes are openings in Earth's surface.

When a volcano erupts hot melted rock from deep underground is pushed out of the opening.

Lava flowing out from a volcano, covers everything in its path.

The lava then cools into new rock.

On the move.

Earthquakes cause Earth's surface to shake suddenly.

This can create cracks in the ground and cause buildings to fall.

Floods can move a lot of soil and rock in a short time.

Floodwater is strong enough to move huge rocks.

The running water can carve out deep channels in the soil.

Slow changes.

Erosion happens when material moves from one place to another.

It can happen quickly during floods.

It can also happen very slowly.

Wind can erode soil from farmland.

Over time, rock is all that is left.

Streams and rivers also remove soil.

Water slowly erodes the land along the sides of rivers.

This can create a canyon.

Glaciers are rivers of ice.

They move slowly down a mountain and erode the land in their path.

Wearing away.

Wind can blow tiny bits of rock at landforms.

This can cause small pieces on the landform to break off.

Landforms can wear away over time.

This wearing down is called weathering.

Once a landform has been weathered, erosion can move it.

Weathering can change the size and shape of landforms over time.

Doing harm.

Erosion and weathering are happening all the time.

Sometimes they can be harmful to the land and the people living on it.

Erosion can happen quickly during a heavy rain.

Rocks on hillsides can come loose and soil can turn to mud.

The mud and rock can slide down the hill in a landslide.

You can see in the picture, a large part of a hill can be lost in a landslide.

Losing ground.

Erosion can harmful to farm land.

Rich soil can be blown away by wind.

This means less land for farmers to grow food.

The blowing soil can fall into rivers, streams, and ponds.

This can cause the water to become polluted.

The soil and the water block sunlight from reaching the plants below.

Plants need sunlight to live.

In the cups, you can see that there are plants growing in the water.

Rivers, streams and ponds often have plants growing on the bottom.

In this cup, you can see that the water is clear.

When the water is clear, sunlight can reach the plant and the plant needs enough sunlight to survive and grow.

In this cup soil has washed or blown into the water.

The soil and the water could block the sunlight from reaching the plant.

So this plant might have trouble surviving because it won't get enough sunlight.

Human hands.

Humans can also cause harmful changes to earth surface.

The roots of trees and plants help hold soil in place.

Clearing land for farming means the soil will be loose.

When soil is loose, there is more chance of erosion from wind or water.

You can see in the picture, there's a dam.

Building dams changes their way a river moves.

This could affect the fish living in it.

Changing landscape.

When people put in new roads, the land changes.

It is flattened for safer driving.

Hills are removed and valleys are filled in with soil.

Mining leaves large holes in the ground.

Mining is when we dig underground for rocks or minerals.

The land above mines can fall in.

New roads change the land.

There are fewer trees and plants to help stop erosion from wind and water.

Problem solvers.

Scientists are working hard to understand erosion.

They meet to share ideas.

This is called brainstorming.

Brainstorming helps to plan experiments and create new tools.

Scientists have learned new ways of measuring soil loss.

Information from scientists lets us know the best ways to stop erosion.

Using models, scientists sometimes build models to help them understand a problem.

A model is a small copy of something larger.

A model of a shoreline is very useful.

Scientists can use the model to study how waves erode the coast.

They can also test new ways to protect beaches from eroding.

Scientists might use models to track shifting sandbars, such as these in Humboldt Bay, California.

This will help keep waterways safe for boats.

Making it better.

There are many ways people can help slow erosion.

Wind can easily blow away loose soil.

One way to protect soil is to cover it.

Plants, such as grass, shrubs and trees cover soil.

The roots of plants help hold the soil in place.

This is a section of soil from my yard.

You can see that the soil has grass growing on top.

And I wanted you to see that the grass and its roots are holding that soil in place.

Farmers can also plant tall trees around their fields to block some of the wind from hitting their crops.

These are called windbreaks.

Plant protection.

Plants can help stop landslides from happening, too.

People can plant trees and shrubs on hills.

During heavy rains, the roots help hold the soil in place.

Heavy rains can also cause rivers to rise and flood nearby land.

Levees help hold back water and stop the land from eroding.

A levee is a wall or grassy hill on the side of a river.

Grass planted on earth levees keep them from washing away.

Small scale.

People in communities can play a big part in slowing and stopping erosion.

Grass in sports fields often gets ripped up from a lot of use.

This leaves the soil uncovered and at risk for erosion.

Planting new grass will help protect the soil for the next season.

Trees help stop erosion with their roots and also with their leaves.

Leaves help stop having rain from washing away the soil below them.

Channeling rainwater.

Ditches channel rainwater away from bare fields and dirt roads.

Rainwater can cause ditches to erode.

Planting grass in the ditches can help slow down erosion.

Planting a flower or vegetable garden in bare ground is another way to stop soil erosion.

Your help.

Erosion is a big problem.

We can all do things to help slow it down.

Take a walk through your neighborhood with a family member or friend.

Look for ways you can help slow erosion in your community.

Brainstorm with others to find ways you can help protect Earth's surface.

Let's do a quick science experiment on erosion.

I've set up the first pan with a thick layer of soil to represent an open field or an area of land with no plants growing in it.

And in the second pan, I've set that up with a thick layer of soil, but it's covered with grass.

Let's see what happens when it rains on both areas.

(bright music) All right, let's see what happens when it rains on our pan with just soil.

(water splashing) Wow, you can see how much of the soil eroded away just from rain.

(bright music) Let's see what happens in our second pan covered with grass.

(water splashing) We have a little bit of a erosion around the edges, but where the grass has holding the soil, it stayed in place.

(bright music) I'd like your help taking some notes on our experiment.

So what do you think?

Our experiment was on erosion.

Remember our book said that erosion is when materials like sand or soil move from one place to another.

In our experiment, we had two pans.

The first pan was just soil and the second pan was soil and grass.

And we used the hose to simulate rain to see how rain, water erosion affected the soil.

So what were your observations for pan number one?

That's write that down.

Water, (marker scraping) which represented rain in our experiment washed away large amounts of soil.

What else?

That's right.

(marker scraping) The soil eroded away leaving large holes in the Earth.

Excellent!

What did you notice about the second pan with the soil and the grass?

Good, let's write that down!

(marker scraping) Water or rain in this case washed away a small amount of soil.

What else?

It did!

The grass held the soil in place.

Great job!

(bright music) We learned a lot today about erosion and how to protect the Earth's surface.

We saw in our experiment, how easily soil can erode away and how it can be protected, if we plant grass, trees and flowers and vegetables.

We also saw that soil that erodes into a river or stream can be harmful to the plants and animals that live there.

So looking back at our big question, what choices can people make to reduce their impact on the environment?

What can we do to help prevent erosion?

Great!

(marker scraping) We can plant trees, flowers, and grass.

And that will help hold the soil in place.

(bright music) Thank you for learning with us today.

And remember the book said, we need your help.

Take a walk through your neighborhood with a family member or friend.

Look for ways you can help slower erosion in your community.

I'll see you next time on Read, Write, Roar.

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the State of Michigan and the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by and by viewers like you, thank you!

(bright music)