Title:

Type:
Subject:
Grade

Mystery (Who polluted the Water?)

Lesson Plan
Science
5

Duration:
60 Minutes
Author:
Clatrina Lane
Instructional Unit Content
Standard(s)/Element(s)
Content Area Standard
S5CS1 Students will be aware of the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and
skepticism in science and will exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how
the world works.
TAG Standard
Advanced Communication Skills
10. The student supports and defends his/her own opinions while respecting the
opinions of others.
Higher Order Critical Thinking Skills
11. The student draws conclusions based upon relevant information while discarding
irrelevant information.
Summary/Overview
Water is necessary to all living things. Earth is unique in our solar system having about
70 percent of its surface area covered with water. Of this water, only about three percent
is potable (fit for human drinking). Of this three percent, almost two-thirds is tied up in
glaciers and sea ice leaving approximately one percent of Earth's water available for use
by living organisms including humans. This amount of available drinkable water is
further reduced by the introduction of pollutants to our water cycle. Clean water is not a
limitless resource. The focus of this lesson is to solve a mystery to determine who is
more responsible for polluting our water system.

Enduring Understanding(s)
At the end of this lesson the student will understand
a. Who is responsible for pollution of water resources and the subsequent clean up.
b. What you do has an impact on your environment.

Essential Question(s)
How can human behaviors impact water resources?
Concept(s) to Maintain
Human behaviors can have a negative effect or positive effect on the environment.

Evidence of Learning
What students should know:
a. Pollution occurs when the environment is contaminated with harmful
substances.
b. Human behaviors such as littering, driving, industry, and development impact
water resources.
What students should be able to do:
a. Identify forms of pollution.
b. Describe how people pollute the water system through human behaviors which
affect the
environment and the plants and animals that live in it.
c. Describe ways to filter the water system.
d. Supports and defends his/her opinions while respecting the opinions of others.
e. Gather, organize, analyze, and synthesize data from multiple sources to support or
disprove a hypothesis.
f. Draw conclusions based upon relevant information while discarding irrelevant
information.
Suggested Vocabulary

filtration

impurities

purification

pollutant

Procedure(s)
Phase 1: Hook
Students will preview four different jars of water. Each jar will contain a different
substance. Jar # 1 has vinegar mixed with it, Jar #2 has dirt and water, Jar #3 has car
oil and water, and Jar #4 has Windex and water. Ask students to select the jar of water
they would prefer to drink from. Then ask students which jar contains water that is
safer to swim in.
Phase 2: Examine the Content
Share the Mystery. Distribute Who Dirtied the Water to students.
Hand them a canister that contains materials that will be added to the dirty water bell
jar. The canisters will be labeled with only the entity the canister represents.
Beaver:
River:
Runoff:
Wetlands:
Shellfish:
Hoodites:
Settlers:
Carpenters:
Farmers:
Fisherman:
Houses:
Sunbathers 1:
Sunbathers 2:
Sunbathers 3:
Boaters:
Laundromats:
Merry Maids:
Ships:
Factories 1:
Factories 2:

wood chips
sand
charcoal
dry grass
crushed shells
shells
organic garbage
nails
potting soil
nylon line
toilet paper
colored paper
newspaper
plastic pieces
Styrofoam
dish detergent
baking soda
oil
molasses
vinegar

As I read the story, each student with a canister will come forward when they hear their
part and tell the class who or what they represent, describe what they think is in the
canister, and add it to the water in the bell jar.
Students are to record on their data table who or what is doing the adding and the
actual substance that has been added to the bell jar. Develop a list of tentative
hypotheses of what is polluting the water more.
Explore books on pollution to gain a better understanding of different types
of water pollutants.
Phase 3: Synthesis Activity
Students are to record on their data table who or what is doing the adding and the
actual substance that has been added to the bell jar. Develop a list of tentative
hypotheses of what is polluting the water more. Each team will categorize its
clues and determine cause and effect relationships.
2. Based upon patterns/data found within the clues, each team will refine its
hypothesis and propose a solution to the mystery.
1.

3.

Class Discussion: How can human behaviors impact an animal habitat? How did
the plant life around James Pond change? How did the animal life around James
Pond change? In what order did the animal life around James Pond change? Why?
Why was Farmer Freds pond not affected in the same way?

Summarizing Activity
Students will write a letter to local government officials describing the need for a better
water filtration system. In their letter they will identify the primary source(s) that have
contributed the most devastating effects on the water system throughout the years.
Resource(s):
Books on water pollution (checked out from media center)
Anchor Text(s):
Technology:
Handouts:

Handout 1: Who Dirtied the Water

Handout 2: data table

Who Polluted The Water?

Once upon a time there was a beautiful piece of land. It was almost an island, connected
to the mainland by a narrow land bridge, and surrounded on three sides by a lake. The
lake was filled with clear water and was dotted with a few small green islands. (Point to
the jar). Fish and other aquatic life thrived in the water. The land was covered with trees
and the land and the lake teemed with wildlife.
Would you want to swim in this lake?
Would you eat fish caught in this water?
Would you like to go boating in this lake?
Animal life flourished along a nearby river and the BEAVER were plentiful. A RIVER
ran along one side of the land, carrying sediment with it as it flowed into the lake.
WETLANDS grew along the edges of the lake. Grasses from the wetlands sometimes
washed into the lake and became food for the fish.
In the shallow water, clams and other SHELLFISH thrived.
A small group of people lived on this land, which they called Faintland. The people were
called the Faintites. The Faintites people fished for food and shellfish in the lake. They
dumped some of their garbage near the lake. We still find the piles of the shells they left.
Would you want to swim in this lake?
Would you eat fish caught in this water?
Would you like to go boating in this lake?
After many years SETTLERS from Europe came to live in the area. The settlers built a
town much larger than the Faintite villages. Some of the towns garbage was dumped
into the lake. CARPENTERS built houses, farms, and stores that filled the Faintites
valley.

As the town grew, the settlers filled the wetlands to provide more land on which to build.
FARMERS cut down trees to clear their fields. Without trees and wetlands to hold the
soil, rain carried soil into the lake.
Would you want to swim in this lake?
Would you eat fish caught in this water?
Would you like to go boating in this lake?
More and more HOUSES and shops were built, and the town of Faintland grew into a
city. Sewer pipes were constructed to remove the waste from houses and bathrooms.
The sewage flowed through the pipes into the bay.
Since the wetlands had been filled in, RUNOFF water washed pollution from the streets
directly into the lake.
FISHERMAN found that nets made of plastic were stronger than those made of rope.
Sometimes these nets got lost in the water.
Fisherman and other BOATERS sometimes threw their rubbish overboard.
Would you want to swim in this lake?
Would you eat fish caught in this water?
Would you like to go boating in this lake?
The city built LAUNDROMATS where people could wash their clothes. The detergents
went down the pipes with the sewage into the lake.
People hired MERRY MAIDS to clean their houses. They used poisonous tile and drain
cleaners, which flowed into the sewage system.
Even swimmers and SUN BATHERS going to enjoy the lake sometimes left garbage on
its beaches.
As the city grew, SHIPS came to unload their supplies. Sometimes these ships spilled oil
into the lake.
FACTORIES built along the waters edge often dumped their toxic wastes and chemicals
into the water.
Would you want to swim in his lake?
Would you eat fish caught in this water?
Would you like to go boating in this lake?

When the reading is complete, ask:

1. Who polluted the water?
2. Who is responsible for cleaning it up?
Who is adding?

Who Polluted the Water Data Table

What is added?