Great Lakes Pollution Lesson Plan

1. Great Lakes Pollution Lesson Plan

2. Outline of Lesson Plan • Standards: • Tech Standards: • NETS.S 2a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media • NETS.S 4a. . Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. • Curricular Standards: • GLCE 6 – G5.1.1 Describe the environmental effects of human action on the atmosphere (air), biosphere (people, animals, and plants), lithosphere (soil), and hydrosphere (water) (e.g., changes in the tropical forest environments in Brazil, Peru, and Costa Rica).

3. Outline of Lesson Plan • Objectives with Technology • 1. From memory, the learner will be able to identify two laws passed to reduce pollution in the Great Lakes with 100% accuracy by responding to the polls embedded in the PowerPoint presentation. • 2. Given passages on the pollution of the Great Lakes, the learner will be able to compare pollution in the Great Lakes in 1969 to present day by composing a blog post, open to the whole class, which includes 3 laws that have improved the quality of the Great Lakes. • 3. Given a classmate's blog on the Great Lakes, the learner will be able to critique the environmental effects of human action on the lakes by writing one paragraph explaining what could be added to the blog and why. The author can then use this peer review to improve his/her blog.

4. Outline of Lesson Plan • Methods and Materials • Lecture, Reading, Discussion • PowerPoint with embedded polls, textbook, computers, internet access, Blogger • Procedure • Students will enter the room and take 5 minutes to respond to the following prompt: “How has human activity influenced the pollution levels of the Great Lakes?” • Call on several students to hear answers to the above question. • Hand out lined paper to each student for them to take split-page notes on the reading. On the left side will be key terms and questions, such as Cuyahoga River, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, point-source pollution, runoff, etc. Students will write definitions and/or answer the questions on the right side as we read

5. Outline of Lesson Plan • Procedure (cont.) • Hand out a paper outlining the mini-project the students are to complete. • Explain that each student will dive deeper into the issue of pollution in the Great Lakes by composing a blog post comparing the state of the lake in 1969 to today. Included in this comparison needs to be 3 laws and how they affected the anti-pollution efforts. • Explain that they will also be posting a critique in the comment section of a classmate’s blog by writing one paragraph on what could be added to it and why. • Give the students a list of the articles (the resources from last deliverable) that they can use for this project. • Model for them by showing a blog post you created. • To check for understanding of the various anti-pollution laws enacted, go through the PowerPoint with the poll questions asking to select which are laws that were passed regarding pollution in the Great Lakes.

6. Outline of Lesson Plan • Procedure (cont.) • Explain that they will have the next 2 days to work on this project in class. • Provide students with the rubric that they are to be graded on so they know what to expect. • As students work on this, walk around and provide assistance as needed.

7. Classroom Considerations • For this lesson, I plan to sign out the computer lab or library for 2-3 days. The first day when I am showing students models and explaining instructions will not necessarily require computers with internet access, but the other 2 days will. • The computer lab has several rows of computers, with the teacher’s computer in the front. It also is equipped with a projector, so I can display my Power Points, internet articles, etc. as needed. • If the lab is not available, I will sign out the laptop cart and conduct this lesson in my classroom. • Obviously, computers with internet access is required for the blog posts and critiques. Since some students do not have this at home, I am providing 2-3 days to work in class. If they don’t finish, the lab is also open to students before and after school hours.

8. Accommodations • Handing out the project sheets and going over them in class allows students to both read off the sheet and hear me say it as well. This should allow for better attention to the directions. • I provide a list of web sites to use for this project. • I model how to construct a blog post from the available resources and how to access and create a blog on Blogger. • I also provide web links that have step-by-step details for creating a blog if the students still do not understand. • The project is broken down into what should be done each day to provide chunking for those overwhelmed by large assignments • I will be walking around observing and providing one-on-one assistance as needed. • Since some students do not have internet access at home, 2-3 days in class are provided to work on this project. In addition, the lab is available both before and after school.

9. Evaluation • Students will be evaluated on a 5-3-1 point rubric for this project. • Sections will include comparison between 1969 and now, explanation of anti-pollution laws, and critique of classmate’s blog. • The poll in the Power Point will serve as a formative assessment for me to see where my students are at and what I need to tweak in the lesson. • I will also formatively assess by moving around the room and observing as the students work on their blogs and critiques.

10. Future Classroom • I can definitely see myself using this interactive presentation in my future classroom. It was fairly easy to set up and provides an alternative to the usual, completely linear, Power Point presentation. • One way I could use this is to present information that does not necessarily have to be shown in a linear fashion. The students could be given the choice on what part to cover next. This choice may help to increase engagement and student involvement. • I could also use this for a review game. The first page could have several buttons on it that equal different categories. The students choose which one to do first, and on each slide will be a poll question for the students to answer. In this way, both they and I can quickly see where their understanding of the material is currently at.