Topic: Water Pollution
Ages: 6-11 years
Time Allotment: TBD by Participating Educator
Minimum Suggested Time Frame:
Three 45-60 minute sessions broken down into the following components:
• Introductory Activity / VIEW Component
• READ Component
• DO Component
Further time will be needed should you choose to partake in the following activities:
• Additional Technology Extension
• Culminating Community Volunteering Connection Component
OVERVIEW
In their efforts to practice environmental citizenship, children can focus on reducing water pollution in and around their communities. In this multi-step lesson, children will participate in a series of literacy-based multimedia, online, and hands-on learning experiences to examine the concept of environmental citizenship as it applies to water pollution. Voluntary opportunities for volunteering within local communities will be presented to the children.
Integrated Curricula
Social Studies / Civics, Language Arts, Environmental Science
Learning Objectives
The children will:
• understand that water pollution has negative effects on aquatic life.
• identify ways that children and adults can conserve and protect water sources.
• be able to compare and contrast a healthy aquatic environment with an unhealthy aquatic environment.
Media Components:
Video
Dragonfly TV Episode #209: Ecosystems: “Salmon Run” Segment
Web Sites
Astronauts’ Views of the Home Planet: Earth from Space at http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/efs/
This web site can be used to help children understand that planet Earth includes the following three components: water, air, and land.
Storm Water Coalition at http://www.stormwatercoalition.org
This web site features a hands-on activity the students will complete entitled “Fred the Fish and Urban Stew.”
Butler County, Ohio at
http://www.butlercountyohio.org/conservation/Education/worksheets/Fred%20the%20Fish.htm
This web site features a slightly different version of the “Fred the Fish” hands-on activity for children to complete.
Earthday Groceries Project at http://www.earthdaybags.org/gstemplates.htm
This web site features three different printable world templates.
EPA’s Environmental Kids Club website at http://www.epa.gov/kids/water.htm
This web site includes an entire section for kids complete with educational games and activities.
The International Coastal Cleanup at http://www.coastalcleanup.org/index.cfm
This web site features a national program that focuses on cleaning up environments around bodies of water.
Water Education Collaborative at http://www.rmsc.org/communitylearning/partners/wec/
This web site focuses on the protection and preservation of water in and around Rochester, New York.
Materials
(For each student)
• Construction paper
• Crayons/markers
• Pencil
• Eraser
(For the group)
• At least one copy of Our Big Home: An Earth Poem by Linda Glaser (or one of the water-related books from the supplemental booklist)
• Computer(s) with Internet access
• TV Monitor/VCR
• VHS Copy of Dragonfly TV Episode #209: Ecosystems: “Salmon Run” Segment
• “Fred the Fish” Materials
See one of the following web sites for a list of materials needed to complete this activity:
http://www.stormwatercoalition.org or
http://www.butlercountyohio.org/conservation/Education/worksheets/Fred%20the%20Fish.htm
Preparation for Participating Educator
• Prior to teaching this lesson, it may be helpful to bookmark the web sites used during the course of this lesson on the computer(s) you and the children will be using.
• Preview the video VIEWING segment before watching it with the children in your care. This will help you better understand the content and how to engage children with questions before, during, and after this VIEWING segment.
• Cue the VHS video tape to the proper segment.
• Have art materials (paper, crayons/markers, etc…) accessible and ready to be distributed to the children.
INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY
1. In order to help young children understand that their planet, Earth, is comprised of several different components, access the following web site using the Internet: http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/efs/
2. Click on the following section: “Earth’s Water Habitats.” From the “Available Views” box, scroll down and select “Ocean” by clicking on it. Next, click on the “Start Search” box.
3. Choose an image that shows water as well as land.
4. Show the children in your care the image. Pose questions to the children that will help them arrive at the responses of “water” and “land.”
Sample Questions:
• What do you think this blue part might be in the photograph? (water)
• What do you think this greenish-brown part might be that I am pointing to in the photograph?” (land)
Explain to the kids that people can pollute water and land. Along with water pollution and land pollution, there is another type of pollution that people have to be careful about when trying to protect the environment. Ask the children if anyone can guess the type of pollution you are talking about. The answer you are hoping to elicit is air pollution.
Search the NASA web site for an image showing some type of weather involving wind or air, such as a hurricane. Explain that although we cannot see air just by looking for it, we can see and hear air when it is associated with different kinds of weather.
Option: Provide children with pictures of planet Earth that the children can color.
The following link will take you to three different printable world templates:
http://www.earthdaybags.org/gstemplates.htm
Using crayons, invite the children to color the water and continents as they would look if the planet were healthy. Children can be shown how to color the watery sections blue, and the continents green or brown.
Stress that while practicing environmental citizenship, children and adults need to work together to protect the water, the air, and the land.
VIEWING ACTIVITY
Dragonfly TV Episode #209: Ecosystems: “Salmon Run” Segment
• Salmon Run: Andy, Mason, and Marshall investigate whether more salmon thrive in Washington’s Dewatto River or Union River.
• Baby Turtles: Carlos and Akeem study the nesting habits of Juno Beach’s baby turtles, determining what conditions are optimal for survival.
• Sand Dunes: Victoria and Alejandra investigate why some plants thrive and others cannot withstand the elements on the Guadalupe-Nipomo Sand Dunes.
• Scientist Profile: Tree-climbing scientist Nalini Nadkarni explores the survival of forest canopies.
• Riddle: How can you gather environmental information from everywhere in a giant forest?
Before Viewing the Program
The following words are introduced by various characters in the episode:
• Ecosystem
• Habitat
• Spawn
Discuss each vocabulary word with the children in your care. While discussing the words, try to make real world connections between each word and the prior experiences of the children. After sharing each vocabulary word, try to re-word each term into kid-friendly language. Keep paper and crayons ready in case sketches or illustrations are necessary to help kids visualize and understand the meaning of each vocabulary word.
• Ecosystem: a system made up of an ecological community and its environment especially under natural conditions
• Habitat: the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows
• Spawn: to produce young especially in large numbers
(Sources of Definitions: http://www.wordcentral.com/)
Access the prior knowledge of the children in your care by asking some questions related to what they already know about the topic of salmon.
Using the information the children provide, brainstorm and write a list of things that the children know about salmon on chart paper or poster board.
Keep this list visible throughout the course of these lessons about water pollution. Be sure to encourage children to add more details about the topic of gardening after they watch the VIEW segment.
After Viewing the Episode
After watching the episode with the children in your care, you can help the children better understand the content of the videotape by posing comprehension questions based on the content that they have just watched.
Here are some samples of the kinds of questions you might ask:
• What did you learn about salmon that you didn’t know before watching the episode?
• What is one way that dead salmon help their ecosystem?
• What might have caused some of the salmon to die?
• How do fish breathe?
READING ACTIVITY
In a whole group setting, read aloud Our Big Home: an Earth Poem by Linda Glaser or one of the suggested books from the water-related booklist or another book from your personal library that features thematically appropriate content.
One way to engage your young listeners during the reading experience is to pause at a strategic point in the story and to ask the children a question related to something critical in the story.
After you finish reading the entire story, it is also helpful to ask the children several comprehension questions to gauge the children’s level of understanding.
Here are some examples of the types of comprehension questions you might want to ask during and after reading:
• What are some ways people can use water? How about animals?
• Why does the earth need rain? (sun, soil, etc…)
• What do people and animals need to breathe?
• How is daytime different than nighttime?
• What does sharing mean to you? Besides sharing the earth, what other kinds of things have you shared?
DOING ACTIVITY
“Fred the Fish” Water Pollution Activity
1. http://www.stormwatercoalition.org
2. Click: “Educators Toolbox”
3. Click: “Lesson Plan.”
4. Click: “Lesson Plans & Activities”
5. Click: “Fred the Fish and Urban Stew”
6. Follow the instructions provided on the web site regarding materials and lesson procedures.
A slightly different version of the “Fred the Fish” lesson can be accessed at the following URL using the Internet: http://www.butlercountyohio.org/conservation/Education/worksheets/Fred%20the%20Fish.htm
Additional Technology Extension
Encourage the children to visit the EPA’s Environmental Kids Club Web site at the following URL:
1. http://www.epa.gov/kids/water.htm
2. Click: “What’s Wrong with This Picture?” The children can play this interactive game to identify sources of water pollution.
CULMINATING COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING CONNECTIONS: ROCHESTER, NY
Participating in a local volunteer program can help children extend and apply the learning that has taken place through the READ, VIEW, & DO components of the Learning Triangle.
In the Rochester, New York area, the Water Education Collaborative (WEC) sponsors a local Coastal Cleanup event.
Using the Internet, visit the following web site to learn more about participating in the local Coastal Clean up event:
1. http://www.rmsc.org/communitylearning/partners/wec/
2. Click: “Get Involved”
3. Click: “Volunteers Needed”
4. Click: “Annual Coastal Clean Up”
Help kids investigate the following volunteer activities to determine which activities might also closely match the lesson content:
• Community Water Watch (CWW)
• Help Plant Vegetation Along Streams
CULMINATING COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING CONNECTION: NATIONWIDE
The International Coastal Cleanup is an international program that focuses on cleaning up environments around bodies of water.
http://www.coastalcleanup.org/index.cfm
Using the “Cleanup Locator Map,” after-school practitioners, educators, and parents can find events in their own geographic areas.
After clicking on a particular state, an adult may register online. Any information provided by a participating adult will be forwarded to the local Cleanup Coordinator and that adult will be contacted to confirm his or her participation. Any adult who registers may invite others to volunteer with him or her. As long as proper supervision is provided, the children in your care may also participate.
WATER-RELATED BOOKS
Caring for Our Water (Caring for Our Earth)
Carol Greene
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc. (September 1, 1991)
A Drop Around the World
Barbara Shaw McKinney
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Dawn Publications (April 1, 1998)
A Drop of Water
Walter Wick
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Scholastic Press (April 1, 1997)
D.W. All Wet (D. W. Series)
Marc Brown
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (April 1, 1991)
Every Drop Counts: A Book about Water (Target Earth)
Jill C. Wheeler
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Abdo & Daughters Publishing (September 1, 1993)
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Arthur Dorros
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Harper Trophy: Reprint edition (May 7, 1993)
Freshwater Habitats: Life in Freshwater Ecosystems (Watts Library)
Laurie Toupin
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Franklin Watts (September 1, 2004)
Oil Spills (Our Planet in Peril)
Jillian Powell
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Bridgestone Books (November 1, 2002)
One Less Fish
Kim Michelle Toft
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (March 1, 1998)
Our Wet World
Sneed B. Collard
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (June 1, 1998)
Polluted Waters (Green Alert)
Jennifer Stefanow
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Raintree (February 1, 2004)
A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
Lynne Cherry
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Voyager Books: Reprint edition (April 1, 2002)
Save the Swamp (A Better World)
Mary Packard
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Children’s Press (October 1, 1993)
Science with Water (Usborne Science Activities)
Helen Edom
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: E.D.C. Publishing (September 1, 1992)
The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book About the Water Cycle (Magic School Bus)
Pat Relf
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (June 1, 1996)
Water Pollution (Earth’s Conditions)
Andrew Donnelly
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Child’s World (August 1, 1998)
CULMINATING EXPERIENCE
Invite children to apply their knowledge of environmental citizenship to the scenarios presented by Eeko World.
What if you could create your very own, one-of-a-kind creature and help it survive in a topsy-turvy environment? The new EekoWorld website is geared toward kids ages six to nine and lets them explore ecosystems, environmental issues and conservation while playing two interconnected online games.
EekoCreature lets kids create unique critters, unleash them on the world and help make environmentally-correct choices like limiting clear cutting or supporting the creation of national parks to keep their creature healthy. And in EekoHouse, the kids can earn health points by conserving in everyday ways like recycling, shutting faucets and saving energy.
The highly interactive and customized game play is just one avenue to engage this age group. The EekoWorld website also features animated tours of ecosystems — from problems and solutions to actions kids can take — as well as animated demonstrations of recycling, water cycles and plant/animal food chains explained by kids, to kids. As a staple of PBS websites, EekoWorld offers rich parent and teacher resources including lesson plans, activities and external reading to encourage kids to be more aware of their environmental impact and take steps to keep the Earth healthy.