Yvonne Rohan

Rationale
Dr. Varano

In this unit on pollution, 1st graders will learn all different aspects of
pollution and how it affects our environment. Students will be introduced to
the types of pollution such air, land, and water during one lesson. For the
next lesson students will learn the types of materials that pollute our land
such as glass, plastic, paper, and food waste. Students will engage in
learning and organizing these materials to recycle properly. As a class, we
will explore how to reuse and recycle materials by creating or inventing a
new use for it. My next lesson will discuss food waste and which food is
biodegradable and non-biodegradable. Then students will learn about
composting in my final lesson to tie everything together and bring the class
into the next unit.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards, the
students will be able to identify where waste from their home, school and
community goes for disposal and describe how pollution affects the health of
a habitat. They will demonstrate their understanding in multiple ways such
as identifying, stating, and classifying various things we went over on
pollution.

There will be two inquiries in my unit along with a performance based

activity. The performance based activity will be during my 3rd lesson.
Students will receive various material that is recyclable or reusable and will
work in small groups and design and create an invention with the recycled
material. One of my inquiries will be based on composting with worms and
the other will be based on a recycle relay.
At the end of my unit students will be able to define what pollution is,
accurately sort recycles by glass, paper, and plastic, create an invention with
recycled material, discover what is biodegradable, and explore composting.