LESSON PLAN

Water Pollution

Jyotsna + Geoff
LESSON PLAN: Water Pollution

Grade​
: 6th grade students

Subject​
: Science

Environmental Awareness and Care

Unit​
: Caring for my locality / environment, Environmental Awareness

Aim/ Learning Objectives​

: Students will learn about what causes water
pollution and how to be environmentally aware by using a prototype game
created on Scratch, doing an activity and then working on a worksheet.

Skills​
: Students will develop an understanding of the language associated with
water pollution and being environmentally aware.

The students will also develop skills in:

• Questioning, observation, predicting , discussing, brainstorming,

problem-solving

• Investigating and experimenting

• Estimating and measuring

• Analysing

• Recording and communicating

MATERIALS

1. Pick up your trash game on Scratch on their computers

2. Dish washing liquid, soil, vegetable oil (to pollute water samples)
 3. Tap water
4. 6 Glass jars or clear plastic cups
5. 1 spoon or 1 per group
6. Coffee filter paper
7. Pen and paper
8. Worksheet: Water Pollution • Samples of litter found on the beach. (As part
of the exercise it is useful to have some samples in reserve)
9. Stones and sand for filtration for advanced experiment

PROCEDURE

1. Start with the game.

2. Play in groups of 2.
3. Ask students to play for a while.
4. Discuss about the game and the topic they think it deals with.
5. Conduct an experiment/activity based on the discussions.

SCRATCH GAME

Trash your bag!

DISCUSSION POINTS AND QUESTIONS

● Did you like the game?

● Describe the game.
● What do you like about the game?
● What is water pollution?
● What causes water pollution?
● What does litter go to do with it?
● What are contaminants?
● What kind of litter is found on the beach?
● What materials are the most harmful?
● “Did You Know” facts - ​
Discuss them!
● What is acid rain?
● What are the effects of Water Pollution?
● How can water pollution be controlled?
ACTIVITY: WATER POLLUTION EXPERIMENT

1. Fill 3 separate clean clear glasses or bottles halfway with tap water in and
observe the water, as is. Students should record their observations in the first
section of the worksheet. Elicit answers from the students as to what they think
will happen to the water once oil/washing up liquid/soil is added.

2. Add the oil to the first glass of water to create “polluted water”, the dish soap to
the next glass, and the soil to the last glass. Students should complete their
observations in section 2 of the worksheet. Elicit answers from the students as to
what will happen once the polluted water is stirred up.

3. Stir the glasses of water with a spoon to create movement in the polluted
water; observe what happens to the water. Prompt the students to answer if this
could happen in nature, when and why? What do they expect to happen next?
Record observations as above.

4. Continue to observe the water and see what happens after 5 minutes. Elicit
from the students what they think is happening. Record observations as above.

5. Filter the polluted water through the coffee filter into a clean glass, repeat for
each of the glasses. Record observation as above. Filter with other items for
advanced students for section 6.
Record data after conducting the experiment

Worksheet: Water Pollution

Water samples used in the
experiment
Observation:
What does it look like?
What colour is it?
What does it smell like? Are
there any particles in the water?

Tap Water

Polluted Water

Polluted water after

movement

Polluted water after

standing for five minutes

Filtered water – using a

coffee filter

Other items used for

filtering (i.e. clean stones
/ sand etc)

Explain the results:

1. What happened to the clean water when items were left in it for …… (Number of days)?

2. What happened to the polluted water when it was moved?

3. Was the filter effective in removing the pollution from the water? Explain.

4. Explain which was the most effective filtering system - clean stones, sand, coffee filter? Compare
the colour of the water samples and particles in it.

5. Could the filtered water still be contaminated – i.e. does it smell?

LEARNING THEORIES THAT SUPPORT THIS LESSON PLAN

Activity Theory: ​
Activity theory focuses on understanding human activities as
complex phenomena. Activity is an interaction (of a human being with an object)
that is carried out for a reason and that produces meaning. We express ourselves
through activities, so our activities also represent us.

Anchored Instruction:​
Anchored Instruction is a way of planning education
around an interesting activity or situation, during which students have more
freedom to explore around the topic and construct their knowledge on the
subject. It encourages students' active thinking and promotes problem solving
abilities, and in the meantime, makes sure that the students don't get carried
away with the "anchor".

Case-based Learning: ​
This learning theory focuses on searching for the solutions
of a specific activity, event or problem. In our case the collaborative team work
on the Scratch would make the kids work on the case and understand and talk
about the game together.

Socio-constructivism: ​
According to this theory the way we construct knowledge
is very much dependant on the culture in which we are raised and are thus
socio-culturally determined. The social interactions a child has when growing up
guides their thoughts and behaviors and builds their knowledge. The three ways
this knowledge is achieved is through imitation, instruction and collaboration.

And along the same lines is ​

Zone of Proximal Development, ​
where learner can
only perform with help from a teacher or an instructional tool are located in the
Zone of Proximal Development. ZPD implies that students should be assigned
with tasks that they cannot do on their own, but will successfully perform with
assistance.

References:

Website: explorer.ie
http://www.marine.ie/Home/site-area/areas-activity/education-outreach/explorers-educ
ation-programme

Teacher’s guide to lesson plans: ​

http://www.seametrics.com/water-lesson-plans