Safe Places in the Community: Day 8 of Unit

Safe Places in the Community: Parks
Grade 3
Teacher: Ms. Jennifer Steinmetz
Day 8: 45 minutes

Goal: The goal of today’s lesson is to show students how many parks there are in Winona, MN. They will discover where parks are located and which park they are closely located to. Pollution is a problem of today’s society. Due to new technologies the world has changed in many ways. Some of these changes has made life better and health for many people better, however of these changes, it has equally negatively affected the environment causing different kinds of pollution that’s harmful to both the environment and humans. Children are our future; they need to be able to identify the types of pollution, the sources of the pollution, and how they can protect the environment from pollutants so that our Earth stays healthy. This lesson is the first of two days.


Materials
• Garbage
• Copies of lists of parks in Winona, MN.
• Computer
• Projector
• List of vocabulary words.
• Pictures of different types of pollution.
• 1 celery stalk per group with leaves still on them
• Water
• 1 glass per group
• Red food coloring
• Spoons
• Knives
• Cutting board
• Stories about people helping prevent pollution to be read aloud to the children.
• White tag board: ½ sheet per student
• Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
• Chalkboard/Whiteboard
• Chalk/White board markers
• Directions for each student explaining the celery experiment
• Map of Winona, which children should have already from previous days.


Procedure
Introduction
1. Spread garbage all over the floor and desks of the students before they arrive to class. (Garbage such as: crumpled papers, candy wrappers, pop bottles, etc. However nothing that is going to get messy.) 0 minutes since you will be doing this before class.
2. When the children walk in the room they will probably ask many questions as to why there is garbage every where, do not answer any questions and say it is part of today’s lesson. 0 minutes, this is done as they are entering the class before the bell rings.
3. Begin the lesson by asking children if they enjoy having garbage all over the room. Most likely their answers will be, “No,” that is when you bring up the topic of throwing garbage on the ground at parks and how it is not a good idea, just like how throwing garbage around the classroom is not. Allow for discussion. 3 minutes

Developmental Experiences
4. Refer to the question written on the board, “How many parks do you think are in Winona?” Go around the entire room and allow each child to make a guess. As each child says their answer write it on the board below the question. 2 minutes
5. After each child has guessed a number add all the numbers together and divide by the number of students to come up with an average (do this on the board and explain to the children as you figure it out how you are doing it and what an average means. Average: typical or common number.) Then pass out a paper to each child with the names of all the parks in Winona. Ask them if the number of parks surprises them? Why or why not?
a. They might come up with answers such as: they only thought the park around their neighborhood was the only one, or they never imagined that one town could have so many different parks. 5 minutes
6. Next go to the computer and show the children where some of the parks are on googleearth.com (you will have this set up before class begins with the site already up and hooked up to the projector). As you are getting the computer ready have the children bring out their maps of Winona. As you go to different parks on googleearth.com have the children mark on their maps where parks are located. (By now they have a good idea of how to locate an address or a certain area, which you can help locate the correct place to put a mark for the park. Have them point out some unique things they see.
a. Such answers might be: all the woods around a park, a park in the middle of town, different types of parks, etc. 8 minutes
7. Ask the children what is pollution?
a. Allow them to explore ideas: bad for the Earth, people’s litter, etc. 3 minutes
8. Pass out the list of vocabulary words and go over each word with the children. 3 minutes
9. Next, go over the pictures taped on the board in the front of the room: air, water, and land pollution. Have the students discuss what is wrong with each picture and write their responses below each picture as they are said. (Air pollution picture, water pollution picture, and land pollution picture.) Again allow for discussion such as: what caused this pollution, what can be done to prevent it, etc. 7 minutes
10. Split the students up into 3-4 people groups with the people surrounding them so that they can put their desks together. Give the handout explaining the directions for the celery stick experiment on it to each student. Go over the directions with the entire class and explain that this experiment will go into tomorrow’s lesson. Ask for any questions. 2 minutes
11. The students are then to do the experiment and follow the directions, which were orally given to them and the written copy in front of them. Next have each group pick one person to come up front and get the supplies: glass, celery stick, water into the glass, spoon, and then put 8 drops of red food coloring into their glass. They are to stir the water and food coloring once they are back at their desks. Once it is fully stirred they can put the celery stick in the water. Each group must then write all group members names on a piece of paper and set the glass on top of it on the windowsill. 10 minutes
12. Once the class is back in their original spots ask the students what they think will happen and why? How do they think this experiment would relate to land pollution?
a. Some answers may include:
i. Celery will die because it is sitting in the toxic red food coloring.
ii. Celery will turn red from the red food coloring.
iii. The polluted water will go into the celery and kill it.
iv. Polluted ground water will go into our plants and kill them.
2 minutes

Closure
13. To end the day, explain to the children that they are to make bumper stickers representing warnings and laws concerning pollution. Some ideas for their bumper stickers could be: NO LITTERING, NO TRUCKS, NO DUMPING, NO BURNING. Provide them with paper, markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Tell the students that they will not have enough time to finish it today; therefore it will be homework due for tomorrow. (If there is no time left, allow them to take materials they need and they will not get work time, it will all be homework). While the children are working on their bumper stickers meet with the group who is constructing the park for the cardboard box. Explain to them that they will not have time to work on it today, but ask for any ideas they have thus far and what materials they will need to work on it tomorrow. Left over time.

Assessment
The assessment today will be on the children’s responses to the pictures of pollution and the bumper sticker they started to make. Did they understand each picture’s meaning? Did they get the concept of what air, water, and land pollution is and where it comes from? What was their saying for their bumper sticker? Was it appropriate for the idea you were trying to teach.



Vocabulary
Pollution: the introduction of harmful substances or products into the environment.
Litter: objects spread or scattered about. Pop cans on the side of the road, candy wrapper on the playground, or newspapers at the park on the ground.
Surroundings: The external situation or items around you, setting, and objects that affect life and expansion; also known as the environment.
Environment: the combined surrounding of things, setting, or influences.


Group Member Names:


Celery in Red Water

Materials:
1. Glass
2. Water
3. Red food coloring
4. Spoon
5. Stalk of celery

Experiment:
1. Fill your glass half full with water.

2. Add eight drops of red food coloring to the water in the glass.

3. Use a spoon to stir the water and food coloring.

4. Put the stalk of celery in the glass. The leaves of the stalk up!

5. Put all the members names on a piece of paper.

6. Place the paper on the windowsill and the glass with the celery in it on top of the paper.

Write your predictions below of what will happen to the celery stick: