Lesson on Cause and Effect for Big People

Today in third grade we talked about cause and effect. Some key points are as follows:

*Cause is what happens first. It answers the WHY of the effect.

*Effect is what happens second. It happens because of what happened earlier.

*When we use the word "so", the cause comes first and the effect second.

*When we use the word because, the effect comes first and the cause comes second.

*One cause can have many, many effects.

We did a couple of SMART lessons on cause and effect, then we did some Ms. McDougalhopper specific ones. What happens if Ms. McDougalhopper spills her tea? The students had some very interesting ideas for possible effects to my life, some more alarming than others.

Cause: Ms. McDougalhopper spills her tea.

Effect #1: She makes a mess on the floor.
Effect #2: She has to clean up her mess and it makes her late for a meeting.
Effect #3: She becomes crabby.
Effect #4: She is crabby and late, so she loses her job.
Effect #5: She ruins her new clothes.
Effect #6: She cries.
Effect #7: She becomes horribly dehydrated and has to go to the Mayo clinic.

Some of those effects have causes and effects right in them, but you get the point. The third grade students were really getting the concept.

Now is your turn to practice. Remember what we learned above. See if you can match the cause to the effect.

Cause	Effect
1.       1. I spilled my tea.	A.      I order a medium size pizza with garlic bread and eat it all myself.
2.      2.  My car needs an oil change.	B.      I take two “headache formula” pills and chug a Coke.
3.      3.  I burn my dinner.	C.      I lost my job.
4.      4.  I have a headache.	D.      I try to avoid morning showers.
5.       5. My alarm goes off at 5:45.	E.       I go to the meeting.
6.       6. The shower head is broken.	F.       I ignore the light until the car sputters and spurts.
7.      7.  I don’t want to go to a meeting.	G.     I hit snooze and pull the covers over my head.