Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Kelly Wall Date:

Group Size: 21 Allotted Time 1 hr 10 min Grade Level 4

Subject or Topic: Pollution Inquiry

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

 Describe how human activities affect the environment.

Standard - 3.4.4.C2

Describe the engineering design process:

Define a problem. Generate ideas. Select a solution and test it. Make the item. Evaluate the item. Communicate
the solution with others. Present the results

Learning Targets/Objectives:
 Students will discover how water is polluted and filtered by completing an inquiry
experiment.
 Students will be perform the engineering design process by defining a problem,
brainstorming, testing a solution, and sharing their results with their peers.

Assessment Approaches: Evidence:

none
Subject Matter/Content:
 Not all damage to the environment can be reversed

Prerequisites:
 An ecosystem is all living and non-living things interacting together
 Most ecosystems have stability
o Ecosystems usually have stability or balance
 o Over long periods of time, changes in climate, populations, and erosion can
cause big changes in the ecosystems
 Succession- one community is replaced by another until a stable
community occupies the area.
 succession is an orderly change that happens slowly over time.
o Ecosystems can also change quickly
 One event can cause a huge change in an ecosystem
 Example: Storms tournedos, earthquakes, fires
o People can cause changes in ecosystems as well
o People effect the earths ecosystem more than any other species
 Example: Destroying the environment
o People can repair the ecosystem
 Reclamation- repairing some of the damages to the ecosystem
 Not always possible

Key Vocabulary:
 Filter- to remove (something unwanted) by using a filter

Content/Facts:
 People can cause changes in ecosystems as well
 People effect the earth’s ecosystem more than any other species
o Example: Destroying the environment
 People can repair the ecosystem
o Not always possible
 Water is polluted by
o Soil from farms
o Sand/ dust from construction
o Fertilizer makes algae grow (green food coloring)
o Trash
o Oil- Oil or syrup
 Stem Design
o Define a problem
o Identify what is needed
o Brain storm what is needed
o Make and test the best solution
o Evaluate results
o Share results
o Repeat

Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:
 Group students
 Have students collect the materials for the group
 o Warn students that if do not follow directions, they will have to
watch and can’t participate
 Hand out guided notes
 Today we will be talking about pollution
 Have student record each pollutant as the teacher introduces them.
 Pick up the soil
o Explain that soil can come from farms when they are planting their
crops. When it rains, loose soil will wash into the stream
o Have students dump soil into the water.
 Pick up the sand
o Explain that when there is construction work, there is a lot of extra
dust and soil that is loose and will wash into the water
o Have students dump the sand into the water
 Pick up the fertilizer
o Ask students what fertilizer is and what it does?
 It has nutrients that help plants grow
o Where is it used?
 Laws, gardens, golf courses
o Explain that fertilizer help algae grow
o Ask if students know what algae is
 What color is it?
 Algae is actually a plant that lives in the water it is usually
green. It looks like this
 Show pictures of algae
 Just like plants, fertilizer can make algae grow, some algae is
good but too much algae can actually hurt the animals like
fish that live in the water.
o Have students dump green water into the water
 Pick up the oil
o How do you think oil can get into our water?
 From oil spills, cars leaking etc.
o Have students dump oil into the water
 Trash
o How can trash get into the water?
o Pour paper into the water

Development/Teaching Approaches
 Look at your water, remember this is what polluted streams, rivers, pond,
and lakes all look like
 What is the problem here, why should we care if our water is all dirty?
o I want you to write the problem on your worksheet
 “Polluted water is a problem because……”
o Ask students to share their problem
 Observe the water and draw what you see in the next space.
 Can we find a way to clean the water?
 o What is another word for cleaning water
 Filtering water, filter; means to get all of the dirt and extra
stuff out of the water
 I gave you a bunch of tools, I want you brainstorm way that you can clean
your water using one or more of those tools
o Take this time to brainstorm with your group write down/ draw what
you will use and what pollutant you think it will help you remove
o Have a teacher check your design before you try to clean the water
 Now try to clean the water using the ideas that you came up with.
 As the students are doing the experiment, have them try to look back at
their design and see if they can revise it to get more pollutants out of the
water
 Warn students that there is about 5 mins left so they should be wrapping up.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
 Teacher cue to get students attention and stop their experiment
 Ask the students to share the process of how they filtered their water.
 Give students a minute to reflect on how clean their water is
o Would you drink that?
o What do you think is an important take away from this experiment?
 Humans can have a negative effect on the environment. We
can do things to fix the damage, but sometimes we cannot fix
it completely.
 Is there a perfect design?

Accommodations/Differentiation:
 Follow all IEPs
 Translate sheet into Spanish

Materials/Resources:
 Inquiry Sheets
 Sand
 Gravel
 Water
 2 liter bottles
 Bowls
 Cup
 Cup with holes in the bottom
 Soil
 Water with green food coloring
 Trash (paper)
 Syrup
  rubber bands

Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

Remediation Plan (if applicable)

Personal Reflection Questions

Additional reflection/thoughts