Katie Fischetti: Human Impacts on Ocean Pollution and Ocean Species Endangerment

Katie Fischetti: Human Impacts on Ocean Pollution and Ocean Species Endangerment

Polluting the ocean...WHAT A WASTE!

Project Overview

1.4 billion pounds of trash are dumped into the ocean and Over 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year. (n.a, 2011, p. 1). It is no secret that mankind has taken advantage of its home on Earth for quite some time. My project will focus specifically on this ocean pollution. Pollution in the ocean can come from trash, sewage, oil, noise heat, and chemicals. Students in this unit will interact with books, movies, websites, games, and diagrams to gain a sense of what the local and global impacts of ocean pollution are to marine life. The class will begin by seeking a global partner conducting similar research in their part of the country or world. The class will then spend two weeks doing collaborative learning and independent research in the topic of ocean pollution. The class will write letters informing the community about the issue and how individuals can create change. They will also write a persuasive blog with their opinion about the issue that they will share with a collaborative partner. The take away from the unit should be an increased knowledge of the harm of ocean pollution, and ways in which community members can help assuage the problem. Student will continue their learning about the issue by engaging with their global partners.

Targeted Grade Level(s)

Second Grade

Project Length

Four weeks

Project Learning Goals

Students will be able to:

●  understand the harm humans are causing to the ocean world

●  name the different types of ocean pollution

●  understand how animals are adversely affected by human pollution

●  engage in interactive lessons about species endangerment

●  determine a practical and reasonable local project to help assuage pollution problems

●  create projects out of waste to demonstrate the magnitude of waste in the world

●  share findings and thoughts in a letter and blog to family, friends, and community members

Essential Questions

●  Where does ocean pollution come from? How does pollution hurt the ocean?

●  What happens to goods once they are no longer being used?

●  What can humans do to reduce their use of natural resources, reduce their waste and develop a global or local solution?

●  How can we help inform others about the dangers of ocean pollution?

●  How are marine animals being adversely affected by human waste?

●  Why is ocean pollution a global problem?

●  How does one member of a community seek to provide change to a local or global issue?

Enduring Understandings

●  Humans are responsible for vast amounts of pollution worldwide and need to seek solutions to problems they have made..

●  There is no “away” when you throw away a good.

●  Humans need to be more aware of their actions and strive to make environmentally conscientious choices.

●  One of the biggest steps in causing change is advocacy for your viewpoints

●  Marine animals are at risk of dying due to polluted oceans and dangerous living conditions.

●  Ocean pollution is a global problem.

●  Even children can make a difference by making small changes in their lives, their family lives, or the lives of their community members

National and State Standards

Essential Standards for second grade:

Social Studies/Geography and Environmental Literary

2.G.2.2 Explain how people positively and negatively affect the environment.

Information and Technology/ Research Process

2.RP.1.1 Execute the steps of a simple research process (three to four steps).

Information and Technology/Technology as a Tool

2.TT.1.3 Use technology tools to present data and information (multimedia, audio and visual recording, online collaboration tools, etc.).

2.TT.1.1 Use a variety of technology tools to gather data and information (e.g., Web-based resources, e-books, online communication tools, etc.).

Common Core Standards for ELA second grade:

READING INFORMATIONAL TEXTS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.6

Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3

Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

WRITING

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.1

Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g.,because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.6

With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.7

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

SPEAKING AND LISTENING

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1

Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.2

Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

ICT Integration

I want the children to be able to use technology for advocacy purposes. At the beginning of the unit, the class will search for a global partner on epals and we could find an domestic or international school doing a similar project where we can learn about the pollution and impacts in their community. During the unit, children will be collaboratively and independently interacting with websites and games on the computer, IPAD, or promethean board. Student will type up letters in a word document to send to a person of influence about the issues we are learning about. I would also like them to share information and opinion/ ideas on a class blogging forum using Wordpress.com for parents and community members to be able to read. Their global collaboration partners will also be reading their blog and sharing their thoughts and research on the blog as well.

Proposed Calendar of Activities and Exchanges.

(At the beginning of the unit, have the students begin collecting recycled goods in class like bottle caps and wrappers)

Week 1: Global Outreach

Look into finding a class on epals that is in a different part of the world or country from us that would like to do a similar project in their communities and blog about their learnings so that we can see how their research/findings/solutions are similar or different to our own.

Week 2: Learning

Monday: Students and Teacher, together, will engage with and discuss:

1.  “I Can Save the Ocean” by Alison Inches

2.  “Save the Ocean” PowerPoint: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Save-the-Ocean-1849426

3.  Informational diagrams

4.  Video of the diver saving the sting-ray from trash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUCmT1OV-wA

5.  20 minutes of the movie “Bag It”

Students will compose a journal entry after this day to show their learning.

Tuesday: KWL Chart: What do I know, want to learn about ocean pollution, 20 minutes of “Bag It.” For this day, students will show their learning, or desire to learn, in their KWL chart.

Wednesday: Students will be split into four groups. Each group will be responsible for collaboratively reading the book assignment to them and then, together, creating a visual with key information points to share with the class.

-  “Saving Animals from Ocean Spills” by Stephen Pearson

-  “All the Way to the Ocean” by Joel Harper

-  “Turtle Turtle Watch Out” by April Pulley Sayre

-  “One Well: The Story of Water on Earth” by Rochelle Strauss

20 minutes of “Bag It”

The collaborative visual will showcase student learning.

Thursday: Group presentations teaching the class about your book (informal assessment), 20 min of “Bag it”, Each child will be responsible for writing a journal response about one of the other groups’ presentations and what they learned that was similar to their own book or new information they learned.

Friday: 20 min of “Bag it,” Class discussion about why so many people are not living the conservation life, who benefits from people buying lots of disposable goods, what is the big “take away” from the movie journal entry.

Week 3: Researching

During this week, students will be given a fill in the blank question sheet to record their research during each different day. When they are finished they will write two of their own open ended questions for a peer to answer. (These guided sheets and open ended questions will be helpful to assess student learning this week).

Monday: Types of Ocean Pollution

http://marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/olhum.htm

Tuesday: Ocean Pollution Harms: Children will peruse articles about the Citarum River

http://peakwater.org/tag/citarum-river/

Wednesday: Ocean Pollution effects on marine life

http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/oil_spill/effects_on_wildlife_and_habitats.php

Thursday: Solutions

http://www.kidsecologycorps.org/our-environment/natural-cycles/water-pollution

http://teachunicef.org/sites/default/files/units/do_you_want_paper_or_plastic.pdf

Friday: KWL chart: what did I learn (informal assessment)

Week 4: Drafting letters and blog pieces/ Final Thoughts

During this week, students will select a person to advocate ocean conservation to. They will create an informational, complete with suggestions on how to aid the effort, letter to write and actually send to this person. The students will also be writing a persuasive blog about why people should want to save the ocean and reduce waste. We will share this with our global collaboration partner. They should use information from their research for both pieces.

Monday: Brainstorming, pre-writing, group meetings

Tuesday: editing/ revising, group meetings

Wednesday: Typing Letters Final Draft (formal assessment)

Thursday: Typing Blogs Final Draft (formal assessment)

Friday: This day is about creating awareness from the beast itself, the trash that is doing so much of the pollution.

1)  Read aloud, “Sea Change” by Joel Harper

2)  Look at the website that sells vacuums built from the trash taken from each of the different oceans

http://www.core77.com/posts/17722/electroluxs-vacs-from-the-sea-made-from-plastic-debris-harvested-from-the-ocean-17722

3)  Craft Day with recycled goods

4)  Post pictures on the blog

*As a continuing piece of the unit. We will check the blog for responses from our global partner and stay in contact with them with responses on the blog. We will interact in whatever form of communication they post for us as well.

Project Assessment with Scoring Rubric

Informational Letter

1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Sentence Structure, Syntax, Grammar Usage / -few complete sentences
-few sentence beginnings vary
-incorrect use of verbs and nouns
-few correct punctuation marks / -writes some complete sentences
-some sentences beginnings vary
-some nouns and verbs used correctly
-some punctuation used correctly / -mostly complete sentences
-most sentence beginnings vary
-most nouns and verbs used correctly
-most punctuation used correctly / -Consistently writes in complete sentences
-All nouns and verbs are used correctly
-Sentence beginnings vary
-Sentences include higher-level vocabulary
-punctuation used correctly
Organization, craft, “Does it Make Sense” / -rarely makes sense
-rarely stays on topic
-rarely follows a logical sequence / -sometimes makes sense
-sometimes stays on topic
-sometimes follows a logical sequence / -mostly makes sense
-mostly stays on topic
-mostly follows a logical sequence / -Sentences consistently make sense
-Sentences stay on topic
-Follows a logical sequence
Present information clearly with items from research / -Uses little information learned from the research to educate the reader / -Sometimes uses information learned from research to educate the reader / -Mostly uses information learned from research to educate the reader about the issue / -Consistently uses information learned from research to educate the reader about the issue
Showed understanding of topic / -Information presented is rarely factual
-Information used from research is sometimes understandable / -Information presented is sometimes factual
-Information used from research is sometimes understandable / -Information presented is mostly factual
-Information used from research is mostly understandable / -Information presented is factual
-Information used from research is understandable and cited in a resource list

Persuasive Blog

1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Sentence Structure, Syntax, Grammar Usage / -few complete sentences
-few sentence beginnings vary
-incorrect use of verbs and nouns
-few correct punctuation marks / -writes some complete sentences
-some sentences beginnings vary
-some nouns and verbs used correctly
-some punctuation used correctly / -mostly complete sentences
-most sentence beginnings vary
-most nouns and verbs used correctly
-most punctuation used correctly / -Consistently writes in complete sentences
-All nouns and verbs are used correctly
-Sentence beginnings vary
-Sentences include higher-level vocabulary
-punctuation used correctly
Organization, craft, “Does it Make Sense” / -rarely makes sense
-rarely stays on topic
-rarely follows a logical sequence / -sometimes makes sense
-sometimes stays on topic
-sometimes follows a logical sequence / -mostly makes sense
-mostly stays on topic
-mostly follows a logical sequence / -Sentences consistently make sense
-Sentences stay on topic
-Follows a logical sequence
Present Opinion clearly with knowledge from research / -Opinion is unclear or unstated
-Research does not aid to support opinion / -Opinion is sometimes clear
-Opinion is sometimes supported by research / -Opinion is mostly clear
-Opinion is mostly supported by research / -States opinion clearly
-Uses research to support opinion
Showed understanding of the topic / -Information presented is rarely factual
-Information used from research is sometimes understandable / -Information presented is sometimes factual
-Information used from research is sometimes understandable / -Information presented is mostly factual
-Information used from research is mostly understandable / -Information presented is factual
-Information used from research is understandable and cited in a resource list

Student Assessment

I can tell a friend what the different kinds of ocean pollution are.
I can discuss the negative impacts of human waste on the ocean.
I can come up with a solution for the problem of ocean pollution
I can explain why many ocean animals are at risk due to pollution.
I can use research to inform a friend about the issue. .
I can use research to share my opinion about the issue.
I can capitalize my sentences, use correct spacing, use appropriate punctuation.

Resource Compilation