Water Pollution Lesson Plan Outline: Pollution and Conservation Unit

Introduction
● Lesson topic: water pollution
● Length of Lesson (estimated): 1 hour
● VA Standards of Learning 3.10b The student will investigate and understand that natural events
and human influences can affect the survival of a species. Key concepts include the effects of
human activity on the quality of air, water, and habitat.

Learning Objectives
Students will read and analyze current news articles and draw conclusions about water pollution.

Pre Lesson Preparation and Materials

● Students will be introduced to key vocabulary words during Reading/Language Arts time and will
be posted on a word wall regarding pollution and environmental conservation
● projector and whiteboard
● printed articles and graphic organizers

Teaching and Learning Sequence

● Introduction/Anticipatory Set
● View video clip of Gulf Coast Oil Spill Footage
● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwkFO9UDpjg&feature=related
● Students will Think-Pair-Share about ways that humans pollute our water
● Begin a KWL chart on the whiteboard about water pollution; ask follow up questions as
needed about what students know and wonder about water pollution

● Lesson Development
● Students will be divided into groups of 4-5, each group will be given a current news article
about water pollution. Update to make sure they’re current, we’re using these articles:
● http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,2004412,00.html
● http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/16/gulf.oil.disaster.reaction/index.html
● http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/12/bangladesh.hasan.shipyards/
index.html?iref=allsearch
● http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/09/china.green.pioneers.wu.lihong/
index.html?iref=allsearch
● http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/06/29/nigeria.oil/index.html?
iref=allsearch
● http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20090415/Note2.asp
● Groups will read their articles and summarize using a cause and effect graphic organizer
● http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/class/pdfs/2007S/go/wr2004_11_go.pdf
● Monitor students progress, assist as needed
● Students will give a brief summary of their articles to the class making sure to include
cause and effect
● Ask follow up questions as necessary and encourage students to ask questions
as well about their peers’ articles
● Complete a concept map on the whiteboard on water pollution, use each of the first
circles for the groups’ articles’ topics and the two secondary circles as cause and effect

● Closure –
● Complete Learned section of KWL
● View video clip “Captain Planet”
● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQWt0_iAlO4&feature=related
● Students will discuss any connections between the video and articles introduced earlier
and this clip and will write one sentence about our lesson as an “exit slip.”

Homework
● Students will be given copies of the articles read in class and will re-read one of the articles.
● Students will write their own series of 4 QAR questions (Right There, Think and Search, On My
 Own, and Author and Me) regarding the article they re-read.
● Students should also write answers to their 4 QAR questions.
● Students will share their questions with a partner tomorrow in class and will then answer the
questions, sharing the answers they wrote to the questions they also wrote and discuss.

Assessment
● Formative
○ Monitor students during KWL discussions, Think-Pair-Share, and Group work to make
sure they are on-task and understand the material.
○ Read exit slips to check for understanding of the concept.

● Summative
○ Evaluate QAR questions and answers for understanding of the concept.