This unit is designed to provide children with the opportunity to explore and think critically about global and local factors that have an impact on the quality of our air. Both natural and man-made phenomenon will be explored as well as ways to curb any negative affects these factors may have on air quality.
This unit will culminate into both a Podcast on a chosen factor, a student-created brochure, as well as a letter to a congressman or representative clearly defining the problem and outlining a solution.
Building the Foundation
Subject Area
Science & Social Studies
Grade Level
Elementary: 5th & 6th
Approximate Time Needed
One quarter/grading period
Students will be able to:
• Identify factors, both natural and man-made, as well as explain the effect on air quality.
• Define what is meant by air quality as well as how it is measured
• Gather data on a chosen factor on both a global and local level
• Communicate the results of their research to others by presenting their data in a podcast
• Develop an air quality improvement plan
• Understand how balance is important to maintain a desired quality of air
• Record daily thoughts and discoveries in a learning journal
• Create a informational brochure concerning a specific type of air pollution
Curriculum-Framing Questions
Essential Question
Is quality important?
Unit Questions
How does mother nature affect the air we breathe?
How do humans affect the air we breathe?
What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air?
How can individuals/local community/global community do to improve/protect air quality?
Content Questions
How is air quality measured?
How does air behave as part of a global system?
How does air behave as part of our local system?
What are some health impacts that poor air quality can have on humans/ animals?
Assessment Plan
Assessment Timeline
KWL Charts
Before
During
After
Rubric Introduction & Discussion
Introduce Blogging
Introduce Podcasting
Brainstorming
Brainstorming
Informal Observations & Anecdotal Notes
Conferences
Podcast Creation
Self-assessment & Reflection
Informational Brochure
Assessment Summary
The unit will be introduced to the students with the use of KWL charts and a brainstorming sessions to assess prior knowledge of the content. Shortly thereafter, the use of rubrics and learning journals will be introduced to the students as ongoing assessment tools throughout the course of the unit.
Throughout the unit the teacher will also incorporate the use of informal observations/anecdotal notes, student-teacher conferences, and further brainstorming sessions as new topics are introduced to the overall unit.
The unit will culminate with the following student-produced materials which will help the teacher assess each students overall understanding of the materials covered: podcast, informational brochure, and self-assessment and reflection.
Unit Details
Prerequisite Skills
The student must possess the ability to breathe. Everything else will be covered throughout the course of the unit.
Instructional Procedures
Introduction:
At the beginning of the unit, introduce the essential question, “Is quality important?” Discussion from this point should be very open-ended to allow students to share their thoughts on the subject and to garner 100% participation in the discussion. As the initial discussion on quality starts to come to a close, a new discussion is to be steered toward the quality of the air we breathe and the factors that affect that quality, both positively and negatively.
To assess prior knowledge, the students will be asked as a classroom whole to brainstorm factors that affect the quality of our air on a global scale. Once a comprehensive list has been generated and recorded it is to be displayed somewhere visible within the class to be referred to throughout the course of the unit.
Introduce the four unit questions that they will be working on throughout the unit:
1. How does Mother Nature affect the air we breathe?
2. How do humans affect the air we breathe?
3. What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air?
4. W can individuals/local community/global community do to improve/protect air quality?
Although they will not be discussed in any detail initially, these questions will also be written and displayed somewhere in the room and ideas added to them when those questions are reached in context of the unit.
Using Thinking Tools to Set the Stage for Learning
Using the list of factors generated from the initial brainstorming activity, make a list to populate the Visual Ranking Tool. Have students work together in pairs to discuss and rank each of the factors that affect air quality in order from greatest negative impact to least amount of negative impact on our global air quality. Students will also work to justify their ranking through the notation feature in the Visual Ranking Tool.
This activity will be done once at the onset of the unit to assess prior knowledge and point of view and again at the conclusion of the unit to assess what they have learned from the unit as a whole.
Using the Google Search Engine to Empower Student Research
After the initial Visual Ranking exercise to assess prior knowledge, teaching research skills through the use of the Google search engine will become a cornerstone for success in this unit. Students will be taught the following operators and search engine modifiers to help them refine and direct their searches:
• Using quotations
• Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT, +, -)
• define:
• filetype:
• site:
Ample practice should be given to students after having been taught the above techniques. The end result of these strategies as they apply to this unit will be to empower the students to quickly find relevant data regarding the many factors that impact air quality, both natural and man-made.
Note: Prior to allowing students to freely search the internet through Google, the Google Preferences on each computer should be altered to reflect a Strict SafeSearch. Although it is standard practice for school districts to have filtering technology in place, these technologies simply block access to inappropriate websites, but do not edit the content of the site descriptions return in a Google result page. By enabling Google’s Strict SafeSearch, students are prevented from viewing inappropriate words in the site descriptions on Google results pages.
Using Google Earth to Gain a Global Perspective
Using the strategies taught with regard to the Google search engine, students will conduct “filetype:” queries in search of kml (Google Earth) files created by the web community that identify examples of air quality factors on a global level (ie. Volcanic eruptions, forest fires, coal-burning power plants, etc.). Once these files are found on the internet, the student needs to simply click on the provided link in order to download and view the file in Google Earth.
It is during this phase of the unit that students will start thinking about becoming “specialists” in a particular factor affecting air quality and group themselves accordingly. Students will receive instruction in creating self-guided Google Earth virtual tours. Each group will then create a virtual tour which focuses solely on the factor in which they have chosen to become specialists.
Reminder: Be sure to install the Google Earth application on each computer the students will be using for this portion of the unit. (http://earth.google.com) This must be done prior to having the students search for KML files, since the computer will not know what to do with these files upon download without having the application already installed.
Tracking Growth with Learning Journals
Throughout the course of this unit, each student will be responsible for maintaining a Learning Journal. It is in this journal that students will write daily reflections concerning what they have learned, their thoughts on classroom discussions pertaining to the unit and their ideas for future research and concepts they are seeking to understand. The classroom teacher will be responsible for periodically reading and responding to what is written in these journals.
Bringing It All Together
This unit will result in three distinct culminating activities:
1. Student-created Podcast:
• Each group of specialists will be responsible for producing a podcast aimed at their specific factor. The following issues will be addressed in each presentation:
a. How much of an effect it has in comparison to others
b. What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air against the chosen factor?
c. What can be done to alleviate the problems inherent with the chosen factor?
• Each project is to be presented before the class as a whole
2. Letter to a Representative:
• Each student or group will also be expected to write a persuasive letter to their local representative (obtained through a Google search) containing the following elements:
o Identifying the issue and contributing factor
o Proposing their ideas for change
• Upon completion, these letters are to be mailed to the intended representative with hopes of obtaining a response.
3. Informational Brochure:
• Each group of specialists will be responsible for producing an informational brochure concerning there specific factor.
Google
• Search engines strategies
• Research a chosen factor
How much of an effect it has in comparison to others
What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air against the chosen factor?
What can be done to alleviate the problems inherent with the chosen factor?
Projects
• Student-created Podcast
o Presentations must be made to the class
• Letters to congressman/representative addressing their concerns and proposing their ideas for change
• Each student or group will be responsible for creating a personal plan of action in outline format.
Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction
Resource Student
• Make necessary classroom modifications as expressed in the student’s IEP
• Select helpful class partners who can support his or her needs
Nonnative English Speaker
• Select class partners that are best suited to work with the student and address his or her language needs
Gifted Student
• Require more in-depth information on all aspect of the projects
• Provide opportunities to conduct more in-depth research
Materials and Resources Required for Unit
Technology—Hardware: List all required hardware and where it is needed
Computer(s)
Internet Connection
Printer
Other
Other
Microphones, headphones, file server, Apple computers
Technology—Software: List all required hardware and where it is needed
Desktop Publishing
Internet Web Browser
Word Processing
Other
Google Earth, Apple Computers w/ Garageband
Printed Materials
There are no printed materials needed. Project is primarily web-based.
Nathan & Trudy's Unit Plan
This unit will culminate into both a Podcast on a chosen factor, a student-created brochure, as well as a letter to a congressman or representative clearly defining the problem and outlining a solution.
Building the Foundation
Science & Social Studies
Elementary: 5th & 6th
One quarter/grading period
Arizona Science Standards
5th & 6th
Strand 3 – Concept 1
Social Studies Standards
5th & 6th
Strand 4 – Concept 3
• Identify factors, both natural and man-made, as well as explain the effect on air quality.
• Define what is meant by air quality as well as how it is measured
• Gather data on a chosen factor on both a global and local level
• Communicate the results of their research to others by presenting their data in a podcast
• Develop an air quality improvement plan
• Understand how balance is important to maintain a desired quality of air
• Record daily thoughts and discoveries in a learning journal
• Create a informational brochure concerning a specific type of air pollution
Is quality important?
How does mother nature affect the air we breathe?
How do humans affect the air we breathe?
What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air?
How can individuals/local community/global community do to improve/protect air quality?
How is air quality measured?
How does air behave as part of a global system?
How does air behave as part of our local system?
What are some health impacts that poor air quality can have on humans/ animals?
Introduce Blogging
Introduce Podcasting
Brainstorming
Informal Observations & Anecdotal Notes
Conferences
Self-assessment & Reflection
Informational Brochure
Throughout the unit the teacher will also incorporate the use of informal observations/anecdotal notes, student-teacher conferences, and further brainstorming sessions as new topics are introduced to the overall unit.
The unit will culminate with the following student-produced materials which will help the teacher assess each students overall understanding of the materials covered: podcast, informational brochure, and self-assessment and reflection.
The student must possess the ability to breathe. Everything else will be covered throughout the course of the unit.
At the beginning of the unit, introduce the essential question, “Is quality important?” Discussion from this point should be very open-ended to allow students to share their thoughts on the subject and to garner 100% participation in the discussion. As the initial discussion on quality starts to come to a close, a new discussion is to be steered toward the quality of the air we breathe and the factors that affect that quality, both positively and negatively.
To assess prior knowledge, the students will be asked as a classroom whole to brainstorm factors that affect the quality of our air on a global scale. Once a comprehensive list has been generated and recorded it is to be displayed somewhere visible within the class to be referred to throughout the course of the unit.
Introduce the four unit questions that they will be working on throughout the unit:
1. How does Mother Nature affect the air we breathe?
2. How do humans affect the air we breathe?
3. What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air?
4. W can individuals/local community/global community do to improve/protect air quality?
Although they will not be discussed in any detail initially, these questions will also be written and displayed somewhere in the room and ideas added to them when those questions are reached in context of the unit.
Using Thinking Tools to Set the Stage for Learning
Using the list of factors generated from the initial brainstorming activity, make a list to populate the Visual Ranking Tool. Have students work together in pairs to discuss and rank each of the factors that affect air quality in order from greatest negative impact to least amount of negative impact on our global air quality. Students will also work to justify their ranking through the notation feature in the Visual Ranking Tool.
This activity will be done once at the onset of the unit to assess prior knowledge and point of view and again at the conclusion of the unit to assess what they have learned from the unit as a whole.
Using the Google Search Engine to Empower Student Research
After the initial Visual Ranking exercise to assess prior knowledge, teaching research skills through the use of the Google search engine will become a cornerstone for success in this unit. Students will be taught the following operators and search engine modifiers to help them refine and direct their searches:
• Using quotations
• Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT, +, -)
• define:
• filetype:
• site:
Ample practice should be given to students after having been taught the above techniques. The end result of these strategies as they apply to this unit will be to empower the students to quickly find relevant data regarding the many factors that impact air quality, both natural and man-made.
Note: Prior to allowing students to freely search the internet through Google, the Google Preferences on each computer should be altered to reflect a Strict SafeSearch. Although it is standard practice for school districts to have filtering technology in place, these technologies simply block access to inappropriate websites, but do not edit the content of the site descriptions return in a Google result page. By enabling Google’s Strict SafeSearch, students are prevented from viewing inappropriate words in the site descriptions on Google results pages.
Using Google Earth to Gain a Global Perspective
Using the strategies taught with regard to the Google search engine, students will conduct “filetype:” queries in search of kml (Google Earth) files created by the web community that identify examples of air quality factors on a global level (ie. Volcanic eruptions, forest fires, coal-burning power plants, etc.). Once these files are found on the internet, the student needs to simply click on the provided link in order to download and view the file in Google Earth.
It is during this phase of the unit that students will start thinking about becoming “specialists” in a particular factor affecting air quality and group themselves accordingly. Students will receive instruction in creating self-guided Google Earth virtual tours. Each group will then create a virtual tour which focuses solely on the factor in which they have chosen to become specialists.
Reminder: Be sure to install the Google Earth application on each computer the students will be using for this portion of the unit. (http://earth.google.com) This must be done prior to having the students search for KML files, since the computer will not know what to do with these files upon download without having the application already installed.
Tracking Growth with Learning Journals
Throughout the course of this unit, each student will be responsible for maintaining a Learning Journal. It is in this journal that students will write daily reflections concerning what they have learned, their thoughts on classroom discussions pertaining to the unit and their ideas for future research and concepts they are seeking to understand. The classroom teacher will be responsible for periodically reading and responding to what is written in these journals.
Bringing It All Together
This unit will result in three distinct culminating activities:
1. Student-created Podcast:
• Each group of specialists will be responsible for producing a podcast aimed at their specific factor. The following issues will be addressed in each presentation:
a. How much of an effect it has in comparison to others
b. What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air against the chosen factor?
c. What can be done to alleviate the problems inherent with the chosen factor?
• Each project is to be presented before the class as a whole
2. Letter to a Representative:
• Each student or group will also be expected to write a persuasive letter to their local representative (obtained through a Google search) containing the following elements:
o Identifying the issue and contributing factor
o Proposing their ideas for change
• Upon completion, these letters are to be mailed to the intended representative with hopes of obtaining a response.
3. Informational Brochure:
• Each group of specialists will be responsible for producing an informational brochure concerning there specific factor.
Google
• Search engines strategies
• Research a chosen factor
How much of an effect it has in comparison to others
What challenges do we face in protecting the quality of our air against the chosen factor?
What can be done to alleviate the problems inherent with the chosen factor?
Projects
• Student-created Podcast
o Presentations must be made to the class
• Letters to congressman/representative addressing their concerns and proposing their ideas for change
• Each student or group will be responsible for creating a personal plan of action in outline format.
• Select helpful class partners who can support his or her needs
• Provide opportunities to conduct more in-depth research
Internet Connection
Microphones, headphones, file server, Apple computers
Google Earth, Apple Computers w/ Garageband
• http://www.epa.gov/iaq/combust.html
Dust Storms:
• http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Dust
• http://www.kidzworld.com/article/707-dust-storm-on-the-loose
Volcanoes:
• http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=static.volcano_events
Forest Fires:
• http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3310-85746--,00.html
Wood Burning:
• http://healthandenergy.com/coal.htm
Power Plants:
• http://healthandenergy.com/coal.htm
• http://fi.edu/guide/hughes/energypolution.html
Download Google Earth:
• http://earth.google.com
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