Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory strongly supports family involvement in the development and education of early learners. His theory states that a child’s external environment has significant influence on the growth and development of young children.  

Research Bronfenbrenner’s five environmental systems based on his ecological systems theory. Identify each system and familiarize yourself with the definition, examples, and the affect each system has on the growth and development of the learner. Consider your own environmental systems throughout your life.  

For this assignment, choose two of the environmental systems: Microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, or chronosystem. Create two visual representations of each environmental system. Your visual representations can be hand drawn and then scanned, or created with technology such as Publisher.

For the first system, create a visual representation of your personal ecological system, which includes people, experiences, and influences in your life. For the second system, develop a visual representation of the ecological system of a child, from birth to age 8, that you know and with whose personal environmental influences you are familiar.

In addition, write a 500-750 word summary on the value of knowing more about your students’ external environment and the influence it might have on the learning and development of the children you teach.

Be sure your summary answers the following questions:

• What are examples of family and social or community group interactions that influence early learners? Provide at least three examples.
• Describe the languages and cultures of families within either your local community or the community in which you would like to teach. How might these affect learner development and classroom structure?
• How can knowing family and background information of your students help you, as a teacher, design instruction and promote individual learning outcomes? What types of information would be helpful, and how would you obtain that information?

Support your visuals and summary with 3-5 scholarly resources.

While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.