Pollution project
This project is about fighting pollution in your local community. The students first learn about pollution through interactive websites and videos. Next, they are instructed to get in groups of three or four and research a specific way to fight pollution in their community. They have to come up with a poster and present it to the class. The project will be worked on in 60 minute increments for a period of a week.
Unit: Science
Persistent Issue: Pollution and its effects on the world and communities.
Central Question: How can you help prevent pollution in your community?
Grabber and Introduction:
Our project will take place for an entire week in 60 minute increments and on the last day students will present their projects on Earth Day.
Introductory grabber: Lesson is introduced by the teacher reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss to raise awareness of pollution. By reading this book based on pollution it gets students thinking about the topic and it introduces the topic in a fun and entertaining way. Then a video and a website will be displayed on the smartboard and students and the teacher will go over it as a class. The video and website both describe pollution and provide some ways to help prevent pollution.
The Lorax: This book will be read by the teacher to introduce the new topic of pollution. Students will then discuss the definition of pollution and how it affected the characters in the book. They will also discuss if any of the characters views on pollution changed.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn8R_XqjjI0&t=5s
This video is called “Save Our World” and it does a great job of describing different types of pollution and what it does to the environment. It gives lots of facts but also makes it interesting for students and keeps them engaged. It also shows different ways that they can help to prevent pollution. The video is directed towards a younger audience and does not overwhelm them with too much information. The video encourages students to work together with their friends, families, and communities to help prevent pollution.
Screenshots from video with descriptions:
This part of the video describes everything that we throw away. This makes it relatable for students because many of these things students use everyday.
This shows different ways that we can collect energy. It describes solar, wind, and water are renewable energy resources.
Website: http://tiki.oneworld.org/pollution/pollution_home.html
This website is very detailed and kid friendly with colorful animations. Tiki is a penguin that guides the students through various lessons and examples about pollution. There is a table of contents that has links to each page on topics about what is pollution, causes of pollution, and what you can do to help with pollution. The website is engaging on every page with cartoons of Tiki acting out the material. At the end of all the sections there is a pollution quiz to test your students knowledge. The website will be displayed on the Smartboard as the teacher reads and explains the pages and asks questions to engage all the students. Then students can get on school computers and explore the website for themselves and write down important facts to then use for their poster project.
Screenshots from Website with descriptions:
This is a screenshot of the home page. Below this is the table of contents for the website where one can click on the different pollution lessons.
Pollution is first introduced to the students on this page with various colorful images and illustrations.
Here are some examples of how students can help with pollution. These ideas and others can be used for their project.
Culminating Activity:
Pollution Awareness Activity:
This activity will take place over the course of 5 days and will be worked on in 60 minute increments each day except for the first day we will spend a little over an hour introducing the topic.
Students will be placed into groups of three or four and asked to come up with one way they can help stop pollution in their community. Students will use resources reviewed in class and they are also able to use the computer lab and library books to further research their topic. Finally, students will put together a creative poster that contains a picture(s) of their solution(s) to pollution as well as a few sentences describing how it helps their community. The posters will be posted in the gym on Earth Day for all of the school to enjoy.
Day One: Instructor will introduce the topic of pollution and capture the attention of students by first reading The Lorax. The teacher will ask questions about the book regarding to the characters and their opinions on pollutions, and how their opinions changed throughout the story. There will be a specific discussion on the Once-ler and his opinions on pollution. Next the teacher will expand the lesson by showing the video “Save Our World” to the class and the interactive website about pollution. The instructor will talk about pollution and ask the students to talk about what they know about pollution to assess their knowledge. Lastly, the instructor will introduce the project but will not be instructing students to start it yet.
Day Two: Students will be randomly placed into groups of three or four (depending on the number) and will be told to come up with one solution to solving pollution in their community. The instructor will give students about 5 or 10 minutes to collaborate and then the instructor will check to make sure that each group has a solution. If a group does not have a solution or is struggling the instructor will guide the group to a solution. Finally, the students will take a pencil and paper with them to the computer lab and start researching their topic. The instructor will walk around and make sure that each group is staying on task and finding the correct information.
Day Three: Students will continue their research by either finding information through the internet or looking through books. The instructor will have prepared books that students will be able to look through to gain information. By the end of this day they should have their research done and if they needed more, it would be assigned as homework.
Day Four: On this day students will be provided with poster board, crayons, markers, glue and other materials to make their poster. Students will be instructed to give a title on their poster and to write about 3- 5 sentences explaining their solution to climate change in their community. The students will be encouraged to get creative with their drawings and to work as a group to put it all together.
Day Five (Earth Day): Students will be given 5 or 10 minutes to finish up their projects. Next, the group will present their poster to the class and explain how they will help fight pollution. Lastly, their posters will be hanging up in the gym before the Earth Day assembly so that other students in the school can see their work.
Some appropriate poster examples would be:
Both of these examples adequately answer and give examples of what one could do to help with pollution in their community. They are creative and colorful posters that grab your attention. You can tell thought and effort were put into the projects to get the message across. This is what we will be looking for when grading the projects!
Rubric for poster project:
Category | 4 (Outstanding) | 3 (Satisfactory) | 2 (Unsatisfactory) | 1 (Incomplete) |
Content | Group displayed strong knowledge of the causes of pollution. Group used vocabulary terms including pollution, litter, environment, and waste to express their ideas of what and where pollution comes from. Students suggested ideas not discussed in class about the possible causes of pollution. | Group displayed knowledge of the causes of pollution. Students used some key vocabulary terms from the pollution unit. Students were able to express their feelings about pollution using material discussed in class. | Group displayed little knowledge of the causes of pollution. Students used little to no vocabulary from the unit. Students were not able to express their opinions about pollution or what causes it. | Group did not complete the required project. Students used no vocabulary. Students did not express the causes of pollution. |
Effort | Group put enormous care into and displayed genuine effort of their best work. In presentations, students were animated and expressive. Group worked together well and evenly divide work among each other. | Group displayed effort in completing the project. In presentations, students were expressive in front of the class. Group worked well together. | Group displayed little to no effort in completing the project. Student's best work was not shown in completion of the project. In presentations, students were not animated or expressive. | Group displayed no effort in completing the assignment. Students did not hand in a full project. In presentations, students were not animated or expressive. |
Organization | Group’s poster was well organized and neat. Students checked for and edited grammar and spelling errors. Students showed creativity in their completed poster. | Group’s poster was organized and neat. Some grammar and spelling errors remain. | Group's poster is not organized or neat. Many grammar and spelling errors remain in the completed project. | Group's poster is not organized or neat. Student’ did not check for grammar or spelling errors. |
Timely | Group handed in the poster on or before the appropriate date. | Group handed in the poster one day late. | Group handed in the poster two to three days late. | Group did not hand in a completed poster. |
At the end of this lesson students should be able to:
Know and explain the definition of pollution.
Be able to name the main types of pollution, including air pollution, water pollution,
land pollution, and noise pollution.
Identify what the causes of pollution in our environment are, including individual human actions (not recycling, littering) as well as large scale actions (factory buildings, cars)
Work in groups and collaborate on a project that involves making a solution and describing effects of pollution
Inform others about pollution, its negative affects, and
what can be done to prevent it