Big Yellow Taxi

1. Big Yellow Taxi Joni Mitchell

2. Lyrics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgMEPk6fvpg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTC6m-a3U9w They paved paradise And put up a parking lotWith a pink hotel, a boutiqueAnd a swinging hot spotDon’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve gotTill its goneThey paved paradiseAnd put up a parking lotThey took all the treesPut em in a tree museumAnd they charged the peopleA dollar and a half just to see emDon’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve gotTill its goneThey paved paradiseAnd put up a parking lot Hey farmer farmerPut away that d.d.t. nowGive me spots on my applesBut leave me the birds and the beesPlease!Don’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve gotTill its goneThey paved paradiseAnd put up a parking lotLate last nightI heard the screen door slamAnd a big yellow taxiTook away my old manDon’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve gotTill its goneThey paved paradiseAnd put up a parking lot

3. Music • Rhythm – Using un-tuned percussion to show each beat in the bar, emphasising the third beat. • Melody – Using tuned percussion to look at the notes that are used in the chorus, at first just playing a few of the notes for a longer length of time then eventually playing the tune. • Singing! – Allow the children to sing the song through just for fun with no other instruments or anything else to think about.

4. I Don’t Care About Spots on My Apples Just Leave Me the Birds and the Bees PLEASE! • Why Is This Frog Worried? • Because Something's Gone Wrong on the Pond • On a field trip to a pond one day in 1995, Minnesota middle-school students discovered something really weird: one-legged frogs, stumpy-legged frogs, frogs with extra legs.

5. What caused this? Scientists suspect these are the results of different chemicals that make their way into water systems after farmers put pesticide s and fertilisers on their field. • They are very worried as this does not just cause deformities but also many species of amphibians and fish in out ponds and rivers are dying out as their environment has been affected so severely. This will impact on the majority of animals, insects, birds and plants within that ecosystem. • Interesting lessons on food chains and webs, pond dipping as well as studies of pond life and life cycles of animals could follow from this discussion.

6. Environmental Studies (Upper School)“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot”Physically losing natural areas to construction Group Challenge • Children are given a newspaper article which states that the local council are considering an application from a building contractor to sell vast area of grassland and gardens around the school to allow houses and shops to be built. • Children are split into groups and using various methods of research (internet, books, surveys etc.) are asked to investigate the proposal and to compose an effective argument to the council stating their case, backing it up with appropriate evidence. • Children will present their argument in the most effective way possible, for example: letter, report, short film, presentation etc. and they will put forward their presentation to the “councilors” (fellow pupils, parents, SMT or preferably the local councilors if available) and will be given feedback.

7. Sustainable Development Pollution and transport

8. Cross Curricular Links & Activities • Transport in the local environment • One of the nine elements of Eco School • Conduct a transport survey – impact of way we travel • Car sharing/walking bus/walk/cycle to school • Traffic/noise survey • Cross-curricular link to health implication (asthma) • Links to traffic in New York – Yellow Taxi/different vehicles

9. Big Yellow Taxi Drama links • Taxi Driver • A day in the life of... • Hot seating with different people e.g. farmer, taxi driver etc. • Teacher in role of an elderly person who has seen the environment go from beautiful & green to grey shops and pollution etc. Geography Links • Linking the song title to different places you may find yellow taxis. • Comparing these locations to Scotland (The population of New York being larger than the whole of Scotland etc) • Similarities and differences – looking at a map to see where it is, its climate, scenery etc.

10. Cross-curricular links: Art“They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.”Ask the children to think about this phrase: what do they imagine paradise to look like? What about afterwards – what has changed about the scene in their minds?Two-part drawing: first drawing shows “paradise” and second drawing shows what might happen after the environment is interfered with in some way.