Duration: 4-5 weeks
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Primary Subject/Course: Science
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Grade: 4
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Other subjects included: Language Arts/Social Studies/Math
Entry Task: |
Students will be asked first to monitor all their families' garbage and recycling for the span of a weekend. Upon being given the first task, students will be asked as a group to brainstorm what categories they think their family's waste will fall under to help them with their information gathering (Sc.4-5.2). Then they will be asked to email me with the amount of waste in each category on Sunday evening. I will use a poll-creating tool (such as this PollEv below) to collect the information together for students to see the results (Sc.4-5.2, SS.S.4.5).
Since students will be working on learning to read bar graphs in Math, this would be a great way to incorporate that into this lesson (M.1.6). In addition, it is a SLO for students to learn to multiply 2 and 3-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers so students could figure out how much waste their class would make in all the weekends in a month (M.7.2). Then students will be asked what this information means. Hopefully students will identify what waste their families generate the most. Each student will be asked to identify one piece of waste they think is a significant problem in their family. As a class, students can then generate ideas about what harm the waste they identified can be to the environment. They will then research ways this waste can be disposed of in the community (Sc.4-5.6). Students will post their answers on their classroom's Edmodo page so everyone in the class can see what they have written. Students will be asked to comment on at least two of their classmates posts with questions and suggestions of alternatives to the disposal suggestions made (LA.3.1.2, Sc.4-5.3). Then from this activity, I will lead into the "Driving Question".
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How can we as students put a common piece of waste in Airdrie home to a different use? |
Project Summary |
In groups of three, put together by categorizing the piece of waste identified by each student, students will be asked to find a way of re-using common pieces of waste (Sc.4-5.9, SS.S.4.1).
Throughout the project, students will be asked to reflect in a visual journal about each step along the way and why it is important to reduce, reuse and recycle waste (SS.1.6). They will be given writing prompts such as:
Their presentations will need to do the following:
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Timeline |
Week One:
Thursday - Students are asked how we can put garbage and recycling into categories. Essential Question: "What is waste?" Friday - Students receive entry task (collect data on waste family produces over the weekend). Parents will be notified of the start of the project the previous week. Sunday - Students send in information or bring it in to school Monday morning. Week Two: Monday - Students interpret data collected and arranged by myself. Tuesday - Students work to figure out the amount of waste they might collect over 4 weekends. Wednesday - Students will identify trends (what waste is produced the most). Essential Question: "What waste is most common?" "Why do we think that is?" "What problems do these products make?" "What is being done about this problem?" "What more can we do about these problems?" Students will journal the answers to these essential questions after small group discussions. Thursday - Students receive the project. In groups, make something useful out of waste a lot of people are throwing away. Students will also start researching what has been done in the past for re-using or recycling waste. Edmodo sharing session. Friday - Students brainstorm what criteria their inventions should be graded upon and what it means to be useful. Students will also brainstorm in their groups, with the use of their iPads for research, ways in which they can re-use or recycle the waste their group will be transforming. They will be asked to brainstorm ways to build upon the ideas they came up with in class over the weekend and start collecting materials that will help with their project. Week Three: The goal of this week is to come up with a plan to design something new using waste and then implement it. Monday - Google Docs and Edmodo will be used for students to communicate at home. In class, students work to design their project in groups. On Edmodo, they have to describe their design to other groups and give feedback to other groups. Tuesday - Students continue their designs. At the end of class they write a short reflection about their progress. Wednesday - Students continue their designs. At the end of class they write a short reflection about their progress. Groups finished their projects can start working on their presentations and flowcharts. Mini-Lesson on BrainShark and PowToon to teach students how to record their presentations for sharing online. Thursday - Students continue their designs. At the end of class they write a short reflection about their progress. Groups can start working on their presentations and flowcharts. Mini-Lesson on Flowcharts w/exemplars. Friday - Every group should be working on their presentations and flowcharts. Anything not complete will be divided up and worked on over the weekend between the group. Students will be given a contract committing them to finishing their group work over the weekend. Students will be given the presentation schedule for the next week. The first group to start their presentation will be the first to present. Week Four: Monday - Presentations and feedback and reflections. Tuesday - Presentations and feedback and reflections. Wednesday - Presentations and feedback and reflections. Thursday - Student revise their presentations and upload them online. Friday - Re-used and Recycled Products will be put on display at the school and one the class website. Parents will be encouraged to share their child's project on social media. *It is quite possible this project will take longer than this timeline. I would have this as my timeline but give myself 4-5 weeks to complete. |
Significant Content: Curricular Outcomes |
Science
Students will: GLO: 4-5 Recognize that human activity can lead to the production of wastes and identify alternatives for the responsible use and disposal of materials. SLO:
Social Studies
Students will: GLO 4.1 Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of how elements of physical geography, climate, geology, and palaeontology are integral to the landscapes and environment of Alberta. SLO
Language Arts
Students will: GLO 3 Listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to manage ideas and information 4 Listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to enhance the clarity and artistry of communication SLO
Mathematics
Students will: GLO 1 Develop number sense. 7 Collect, display and analyze data to solve problems. SLO
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21st Century competencies |
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Products |
Individual
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Team
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Audience |
Our audience will consist of parents and their social networks, the students themselves and the school community.
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Resources Needed |
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Student Handout |
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Assessments |
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Notes |
Letters and Numbers in Parenthesis within Project Summary are curriculum outcomes.
Due to this being a project for Grade 4 students, I will come up with plenty of websites that are safe for students to research and give them the resources they will need. This project was designed for PSIII class which has a 1:1 child, iPad ratio. I plan on using Edmodo for student communication in the classroom. Materials and resources were difficult to figure out because they would depend on what the students chose as the pieces of waste they wanted to transform. I want to implement this project in October 2015. |
Resources |
Get in the Loop! Teacher's Guide - Waste Unit Plan by Government of Alberta
Let's Do Science: Grade 4, Waste and Our World - Science Alberta Foundation |