Natural or Man-Made?

Is it natural or man made?

This discussion evolved from our Window storybook where we see the environment gradually change from natural to a very built up and man made environment. 

I asked the students if they could think about and explain the difference between natural and man-made:

Charlie - "Natural things are dirt."

Michael-Jay - "Could sand be man-made?"

Chaise- "Trees are natural, they grow out of seeds."

Michael Y. - "The flowers are natural from soil. Top soil, mango seeds and cow and chicken manure are natural."

To further investigate the difference between natural and man-made, we created a Venn diagram using hula hoops. The students sorted through a tub of natural and man-made items and placed them in the correct hula hoop. As each item was chosen we discussed what made the object natural or man made with questions such as "does it grow from a tree or out of the ground?" and "can people make this object?"