Environment/Earth Day Interdisciplinary Unit
Earth Day: An Interdisciplinary Unit
Subjects: Science, ELA, Math, and Arts
Grade Level: Middle School (6th, 7th, 8th)
Can be modified to suit ELL
Authored by: Lydia Jabbour & Seraphine Lin
Summary: Throughout this unit students will be able to gain an understanding of the importance of protecting the environment. This will be done through a series of mini projects that will focus on the various facets of the environment from a variety of lenses. This unit will change the focus from the personal level to a more global level.
Rationale: As global citizens, we all play a part in taking care of our earth and preserving its beauty and natural resources. It is important to understand our roles and responsibilities if we want to leave a better earth for those who come after us. Many of our students will be English language learners who hail from different countries. We want to emphasize global issues of environmentalism and conservation on a local level and impart on our students how these issues affect us all, no matter where in the world we are from. Our students will study environmentalism in a variety of disciplines and learn how they can contribute to the cause in multiple ways. They will come away from the unit better equipped to be responsible global citizens and continue to employ safe environmental practices in their everyday lives.
STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTS | |
Unit Title: Earth Day Established Goals:
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Understandings: Students will understand that…
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Students will know:
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STAGE 2 – ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE | |
| Performance Tasks: -gathering assigned number of online resources/ links-presenting information from their assigned source-creating a detailed infographic or display -organizing pertinent statistics and data into charts or graphs | Other Evidence:
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STAGE 3 – LEARNING PLAN |
| Summary of Learning Activities:Lesson 1: (approximately 2-3 days) Discipline focuses will be: Science, Social Studies, and ELA. Students will be introduced to and taught what is an “environment”, and the various meanings of and types of environments that exist in the world and on a personal level. The teacher will present on Adobe Spark with a focus on the earth’s environment and the parts therein. Students will be taught important vocabulary and concepts concerning ecology, such as pollutants, ozone, emissions, contaminants, carbon footprint, climate change, etc. This will be taught through the use of videos, readings, and visual aides. Students will also take some virtual tours: Environmental Change in Borneo through Google Expeditions. The students will be able to understand what is happening in their environment and be able to make sense of the current climate patterns. During the progression of the lesson the students will be required to take notes on the presentations using Google Docs. This will allow the students to keep track of their thinking and collaborate with their partners. They will write a minimum of ten observations, at least three of which must be new information learned.The students will utilize the note template within Google Docs to organize their notes and thinking. At the conclusion of the lesson, the students will be able to demonstrate their understanding by writing exit slips. Lesson Presentation. Lesson 2: (approximately a week.) Discipline focuses will be: ELA, Science, Math, Social Studies. Students will be introduced to the following texts and/or experiment, Farewell, My Subaru by Doug Fine, This is Our Earth by Laura Lee Benson, and Stem Oil Spill Challenge by vivifystem.com (can be purchased for use here from the Vivify Stem Teachers Pay Teachers store). These texts and experiments incorporate math and social studies in their explorations.Students will be grouped according to reading ability and language proficiency levels and assigned the appropriate text. Farewell, My Subaru will be assigned to more advanced students, Stem Oil Spill Challenge to the intermediate, and This is Our Earth to lower proficiencies. Each group will read, discuss, and annotate their texts/experiences. Annotation will be done using Google Keep or Docs, platforms that allow for quickly adding notes that all group members can share. Students will annotate a minimum of 5 passages per group. After this has been completed, groups will share out their findings with the class. In this way, they will share their information in a jigsaw. The students in the class will then post collaboratively to a class Padlet. The group members who are presenting will also be require to make the first post on the Padlet with one takeaway from their experiences. The class will receive an understanding of the contents of each of the 3 texts/experiences and their unique perspectives on the topic of environmentalism and conservation. Lesson 3: (approximately one week) Discipline focuses are: Math, Science, and Social Studies.In their respective groups from the previous lesson, students will be assigned a state or country to research regarding the topic of pollution. Their data will cover areas of timeline statistics, causes, effects, and preventive actions. They will collect a minimum of 5 online sources and create an annotated bibliography. The teacher will review the validity of the resources. NewsELA or Google Scholar can be used, as they provide differentiations and language translations. Groups will then compile their information into a project of their choosing, such as a poster, digital presentation, or written essay to demonstrate their understanding. To do this, they will utilize a variety of tools, not limited to Canva or Adobe Spark. Their product will answer the pertinent questions regarding pollution in their assigned state/country to be shared with the class. The teacher will use a rubric to ensure all key points are included. Lesson 4: (approximately one week) Discipline focuses are: ScienceStudents will focus in on the topics of recycling and reusing. The teacher will present on these areas and help the class answer the questions “What is recycling?” and “Why is it important to reuse?” The class will take a virtual trip to Golden Hills Wind Energy Center, El Romero Solar Photovoltaic Plant, and Forms of Energy by Vita Systems via Google Expeditions to view recycling plants. The students will then be tasked to work with a partner or group and brainstorm the environmental needs in their community and work together to draft an action plan/ proposal to how they would want to enact this change within their community. The students will then be tasked to write a project proposal and submit it to the teacher, complete with what need they see in the community, and how they propose addressing that change. The students would be able to utilize the project proposal template in Google Docs. This would be written geared towards a member of the government, such as a mayor. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge on the topic by writing an exit slip. Lesson 5: (approximately one week) Discipline focuses are: Arts Students will culminate this unit by reusing and repurposing recycled materials of their own. In groups, they will collect recycled supplies from home and school to create their own model. The models will be of the student’s choosing; they can be a model of a landfill, harmful effects of pollution, or even an art structure created from the recycled materials. Students who are less artistic, will be given the option to be able to repurpose items, These projects will display the students’ knowledge gained throughout the unit and will allow them to express themselves in a variety of venues. Each group will present their creation to the class and discuss the recycled materials used, where they came from, and what their model represents in the big picture of environmentalism. Lesson Extension: At the conclusion of this unit, the class will take a field trip to Pratt Nature Center in New Milford. They will participate in a variety of fun activities that promote ecology awareness. They will be able to observe with their own eyes the concepts of environmentalism, recycling, and decomposition that they have learned throughout the unit. |
| Alignment to ISTE Standards for Educators:5a Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs.5b Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.5c Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital learning environments that engage and support learning.6a Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings.6b Manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces or in the field.6c Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and computational thinking to innovate and solve problems.6d Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, knowledge or connections. | Alignment to ISTE Standards for Students:3a Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.3b Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.3c Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.3d Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.4c Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.5a Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.5b Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.6b Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.6c Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations. |
| Other StandardsNGSS: MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales. MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.Common Core ELA Standards: (English Language Arts) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearlyCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1.ACome to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.5Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.CT SS Frameworks: GEO 6–7.8 Evaluate the influences of long-term, human-induced environmental change on conflict and cooperation. | Resources:Rubric for Jigsaw activity
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