Water Thematic Unit

All About Water

Lesson Title: Water Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink?

Lesson Overview: In this lesson plan students review and research information on the availability of accessible fresh water across our planet. Using the information collected they create graphs to understand and compare either the availability of accessible water resources across the globe or the availabilty of water in the US and five other developing countries. The main objective is to understand relevant facts about Water through research and Graphical representation.

Curriculum subjects: Math, Science, Social Studies and Language arts

Estimated time: 2-3 days

Grade Level: 5th Grade

Curriculum goals: Idaho State Standards for 5th grade

Mathematics
  1. 5. M.5.1.1- Read and interpret tables, charts, bar graphs and line graphs. Collect organize and display the data with appropriate notations in tables, charts, bar graphs and line graphs
Science
  1. Standard 5 – Personal and social perspectives
  • Goal 5.3: Understand the importance of natural resources and the need to manage and conserve them.
  • Goal 5.1: Understand Common Environmental Quality Issues, Both Natural and Human Induced
Geography
  1. Standard 2
  • Goal 2.1: Analyze the spatial organizations of people, places and environment on the earth’s surface
  • Goal 2.2: Explain how human actions modify the physical environment and how physical systems affect human activity and living conditions
Language arts
Goal 1.2: Acquire Concepts About Text
  • 5. LA.1.2.3 - Use the features of texts, such as formats, graphics diagrams, illustrations, charts, maps, and organization to find information and support understanding 
Goal 2.1: Acquire Strategies and Skills for Comprehending Text.
  • 5. LA.2.1.3 - Draw valid conclusions based on information gathered from text and cite evidence to support the conclusion


ISTE standards for students
  • 1a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
  • 1b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
  • 1c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
  • 2a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environment and media.
  • 2b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. 
  • 2c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
  • 3b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
  • 3c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
  • 3d. process data and report results.
  • 4c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.


Lesson Objectives:
  1. Using Google Earth , visually understand our Blue Planet better(All the Water by David Tryse, UN Water video)
  2. Given access to an Internet search engine http://www.onekey.com/ students will research and retrieve information on
  • Available resources of water on our planet and determine the percentage of fresh water accessible for human consumption
  • Available resources of freshwater in the US and five other developing countries in the world.
  1. Using data collected from the Internet search students will interpret information collected through the following activity Spreadsheet Activity 1- Interpreting graphs
  2. Through E-Pal   http://www.epals.com/   students will correspond with a student from a developing country to better understand the real issues of water scarcity from an individuals point of view.
  3. Students will discuss and analyze what they have learned till now through a brainstorming session
  4. Using Gliffy -http://www.gliffy.com/  (a free online graphical presentation site) and information analyzed/collected students will summarize their findings.

Pre-requisite skills/ Key concepts:

Students should be able to
  • Perform basic computer tasks
  • Navigate through the Internet and research on required information

Lesson Procedure:

Part 1:   Motivational/Preparatory Activity

Activity I - Use the following videos to gain student attention and provide a visual introduction to the topic under consideration -All the Water by David Tryse, UN Water video


Activity II -
http://sciencemadefun.podbean.com/2008/02/24/water/
This is an interesting podcast on how water is a fascinating chemical, which could be shared with the students. The following site has many more interesting topics on how enjoyable, science can be.


Part 2: Informational Activity

  1. Students will be assisted by the Instructor in researching relevant information using the internet safe search engine
  2. The Instructor will teach concepts on graphical data interpretation and analysis.
  3. The Instructor will provide an opportunity for practice, using graphs with the help of the following GIZMO tool Graphing Skills
  4. Instructor will assist students to use the given Spreadsheet Activity- Interpreting Graphs
  5. Instructor will use the given you tube video Microsoft Excel Tutorial to help students create their own graphs using Excel Spreadsheets
  6. The Instructor will help students to create a gliffy account and assist them in summarizing their findings using it
  7. The Instructor will set up an e-pal account with a school in a developing country and guide students on how to use this tool  with the help of the following video

Part 3: Application Activity

Activity I – Students need to review the Google Earth site link All the Water by David Tryse and UN Water video provided to better understand our Blue planet and the amount of fresh water and drinking water available. The use of an audio/visual medium would help students get interested in the topic. They could then be asked to share and discuss their general views on the topic.

Activity II – Using the kid safe Internet search students need to research and retrieve information on
  1. Available resources of water on our planet and determine the percentage of fresh water accessible for human consumption.
  2. Available resources of freshwater in the US and five other developing countries in the world.
 
Activity III - Using the information collected from the Internet search, students are required to interpret information on either one of the topics mentioned with the help of the following activity  Spreadsheet activity 1 - Interpreting Graphs. Students can then be asked to discuss their inference or what they have learned/understood from this activity.

Activity IV - Using the given You tube video Microsoft Excel Tutorial and the assistance of the teacher, students will replicate the spreadsheet activity or create a bar graph representation of the data collected.

Activity V – Using E-pals teachers can assign each student an E-Pal from the chosen developing country. Once this is established, students would correspond with their E-pals to better understand the real issues of water scarcity from an individuals point of view. Students could then be asked to determine the reason for water shortage in their E-pals country (whether it is due to the geographical location / improper management/improper water conservation methods etc)
Part 4: Closure Activity
  • Using Gliffy -http://www.gliffy.com/  (a free online graphical presentation site) and information analyzed/collected students will summarize their findings. This would act as a visual reference of the information researched till now and support better classification/retention of ideas and concepts.
  • Students could then use their gliffy diagrams as reference to discuss their views on what they have learned about availability of water suitable for human consumption  on our planet Earth, the difference in the availability of water resources in the US and other countries and issues faced by students and people in developing countries.

Technology-Enhanced Accommodations

Students with Cognitive Difficulties
  • Gliffy - It is a perfect tool for visual thinking, writing, studying and learning. This would help students with mild cognitive disabilities to retain information better and provide a balance remediation of skill deficits to help develop more creative higher level thinking skills. Gliffy used in this lesson plan provides an opportunity for all learners to better correlate, understand and present information.
  • GIZMO ( Graphing Skills ) - This game would be very helpful in teaching students how to graphically represent and interpret data. My theme currently requires students to use graphs to analyze their consumption of water and to understand the difference in water availability across the globe. The interactive nature of this game provides the much needed practice and visual understanding for students with cognitive disabilities.

Students with Physical Disabilities
  • Dragon Search - Students who are unable to use their hands for typing or writing can use their voice to create e-mails, search the web or access web pages. This would be a boon to have to enable students with physical disabilities to participate equally in researching and using various content on the web for my project on water without being left behind.
  • Intellikeys - IntelliKeys is a flat, programmable keyboard that plugs into your computer. This "plug and play" keyboard is used to assist students who have difficulty using the standard keyboard or mouse. It comes with basic overlays that provide alternative keyboard layouts. These assist with entering letters and numbers, navigating on-screen displays, and executing commands. IntelliKeys can also be used as an alternative for mouse functions or as a switch. This provides students who cannot use a regular keyboard an equal opportunity to use and learn from technology available through the computer which is an integral part of my thematic unit.

Students with Sensory Disabilities

Classroom Sound-Field Amplification Systems - Use of a sound-field amplification system provides the teacher with a unique opportunity to maximize listening and learning opportunities in the classroom by amplifying the teacher’s voice. This not only helps students with auditory problems but helps all students receive the proper sound field to enhance attention and focus. This audio system will be used throughout the unit.

At Risk Students

Notefish -  Notefish is a web tool that lets you manage projects while you research online. Special needs kids will like being able to drag and drop images, color pages and annotate notes right from their browser without having to wait until later. It helps students with difficulty in remembering things to do and sequence of tasks . With regard to my unit, it would be helpful for students to organize and keep track of information collected while researching topics on water conservation using internet safe search engines.

Gifted Students  

Graphing calculator - This graphing calculator will help challenge gifted students to learn and understand more advanced concepts of graphing which is an essential part of my unit under Math. Students would also be able to provide an in depth graphical representation of data regarding water availability in different countries. 

Assessment
  • Excel Spreadsheet Rubric
 
  • Gliffy summary of finding
    1. Diagram summarizes the main topics of the Lesson plan
    2. Displays student understanding of concepts.
    3. Includes analysis of research material on availability of water resources, inference of graphical interpretation of data, findings from E-pal correspondence and overall views and opinion on chosen subjects.
Materials, resources and equipment
  1. Computers with Internet Connection
  2. Microsoft Excel software
  3. Access to the following resources