Submitted by: Sarabeth Kawugule
Collaborators: Whitney deBordenave
School: Crestview Elementary
Summary
The lesson is introduced with the concept that this will be a cross-curricular science and social studies lesson. We’ll talk about the bodies of water and regions of Virginia. We will also discuss the role that humans play in effecting their environment and the water cycle. We began by referencing a map of Virginia’s watersheds(found on Virtual Share). We discussed which watershed we lived in and what waterways our ways of living would effect. We took a clean bowl of water and “polluted” it with 18 typical pollutants. Then we brainstormed solutions to solve and prevent local water pollution. Using Pixie and working in small, student-selected groups, the students created audiovisual representations of their concerns for the cause. The students were eager to form a school or local club to inform the community of the pollution issue.
TIPC Ratings
This lesson is Developing in research as students participated in a demonstration using water and other “chemicals” to simulate the pollution of the James River. Through this demonstration and class discussion, students gained new knowledge. Teacher could increase research by allowing students to find organizations in their area that work on pollution prevention.
This lesson is Ideal/Target in Communication and Collaboration as students worked in self-selected groups to address the authentic task of raising awareness in our community about the pollution of the James River. Students were enthusiastic and sought out ways to promote their message throughout the school. These students talked about organizing an ecology club and have asked permission to do so from the principal.
The lesson was Approaching in Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. The students had to use the new information they learned to create awareness in their community. They used the new information they learned to form arguments and create ideas of how to prevent pollution.
Even though an authentic task was well designed, the lesson is Developing in Creativity and Innovation as the teacher did not allow the option of using more than one tool to create their awareness posters. Some other tools that could have been used are Comic Life, Pages, or Keynote.
Student Artifact
