Angela Graziano

Date Implemented: February 3, 2016 @10:30am

Subject/Grade: Science Second Grade

Water Conservation-Pollution
I.

II.

Integration of Learning Outcomes:

The students will be able to discuss ways to conserve water.
The students will be able to describe how water becomes polluted.
The students will be able to apply what they learned about water conservation to
differentiate between wise and wasteful statements.
Standards:
4.5.2.C- Identify how people can reduce pollution
4.5.2.- Describe how people can help the environment by reducing, reusing,
recycling, and composting

III.

Anticipatory Set:
Turn and talk to a partner, what are some ways that you use water? (shower, to
drink, water plants, cook, wash car, do laundry, wash dishes, etc.) Water is really
important because all living things need water in order to live.
Today we are going to talk about water conservation. The word conservation
means to save, protect, or prevent waste.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl0YiZjTqpw
Turn and talk to a partner what are some ways you can conserve water?
(turning off the water when brushing your teeth, scrubbing your hands or
the dishes, take shorter showers, run the dishwasher less, fix leaks in
faucets, throw trash in the trashcan so it doesnt get into lakes and
oceans, and dont throw away fresh water, etc.)

IV.

Procedures: Freddie the Fish Pollution Demonstration (Copyright The Owl Teacher 2015)
For today we are going to focus on conserving our water from pollution/trash,
which is one of the many ways we just mentioned that can save our water.
Display the Freddie the Fish PowerPoint (story) on the smartboard and the
Freddie the Fish Pollution poster taped onto the board.
1. This is my friend Freddie (show the sponge). Freddie is a trout who lives in a
river (pour water into the small plastic container and place the sponge in it).
Freddie needs cool and clean water to live. I want you to listen and watch
carefully to what happens to the water Freddie lives in.
2. The teacher will call on volunteers to read the Freddie the Fish cards #1-11.
Provide each student with the specific card that he/she is reading. On the cards
where it says to pour in an ingredient, the teacher will call on different volunteers
to pour each item into the small plastic container.
3. Ask the class the following questions:

What are ways that Freddies water became polluted? (soil from the trees,
presents the animals drop, fertilizers, salt from the roads, trash people
littered, polluted rain water, toxic smoke from buildings, and oil from
cars)
What did the water look like before the pollution occurred? (clean, clear)
What did the water look like after the pollution occurred? (dirty, not safe)
4. Thumbs up if you feel bad for Freddie and how dirty the water is that he lives
in. We want to try our best to not only save our water, but also keep it clean and
free from pollution. Clean water will be healthy for people to drink, use for
eating, and cleaning, and will be healthy for animals to live in and drink.

V.

Differentiation: No differentiation needed. The following accommodations will be used:

Speech Impaired Student- N/A. This student will be asked to participate in the
Freddie the Fish demonstration by pouring one of the ingredients into the bowl.
English Language Learners- During the procedural portion of the lesson, the
Freddie the Fish story will be displayed on the smartboard. This will allow these
students to read/follow along with their classmates who are reading aloud. In
addition, a Freddie the Fish Pollution poster will be taped to the board so the
students can recall what each real ingredient represented regarding a type of
pollution.

VI.

Closure:
We learned a lot today about what water conservation is, how you can conserve
water everyday, and what happens to water when you pollute. I want everyone to
write their name and one new thing they learned today on their sticky note. After
you wrote something, come up and hang your sticky note on the board. Read
some of the ideas to the class.

VII.

Assessment:
Formative- Throughout the anticipatory set, the teacher will ask the students to
turn and talk to a partner about ways people use water and ways people can
conserve water. The teacher will listen to the partners conversations and have
students share their ideas with the class. During the procedural portion of the
lesson, as the teacher reads the Freddie the Fish story, there are questions built in.
The teacher will ask the class to think about and share their answers throughout
the demonstration. At the conclusion of the lesson, the teacher will provide a mini
post assessment by having the students write one new thing they learned today
about water conservation.
Summative- The water conservation assessment will be a test given at the
conclusion of the unit.

VIII.

Materials/Equipment:
Computer/YouTube
Smartboard
Freddie the Fish PowerPoint

Tape
Poster- Freddie the Fish Pollution
Freddie the Fish story cards #1-11
Small plastic container
Zip lock bags
Plastic spoon
Water
Fish shaped sponge
Dish soap
Soil
Pancake syrup
Raisins
Green food coloring
Paper pieces
Coffee grounds
Salt
Sticky notes

IX.

Technology:
The smartboard is used during the anticipatory set to display a short YouTube
video on water conservation. The smartboard was also used during the procedural
portion of the lesson to display the Freddie the Fish story for the entire class to
read along with.

X.

Reflection on Planning:
For the anticipatory set, I thought it was a good idea to activate prior knowledge
by asking the students to share ways in which they use water. After a whole class
discussion, I showed a short video on water conservation to introduce the topic. After
watching the video, I held another whole class discussion about ways you can conserve
water in your everyday life. I highlighted the idea of conserving water from pollution.
During the procedural portion of the lesson, I thought that it would be a good idea
to get the students engaged in the reading. As some students were reading, other students
volunteered to add the authentic materials to the demonstration of Freddies environment.
Students also responded to the question of how Freddy was feeling as pollution kept
building up in his home. I thought this was an awesome story about pollution and an
engaging way for students to see an example of a real life situation. After the story and
demonstration, I asked the students to respond to questions about what the pollutants
were and how the water looked before vs. after it was polluted.
To close the lesson, I wanted to see what knowledge each student gained from this
lesson. I provided each student with a sticky note and asked them to write one new thing
they learned today. I assumed this would be a quick and effective way to assess how
much the students know about water conservation and pollution after having discussions,
watching a video, and listening and being a part of a demonstration.

XI.

Reflection on Instruction:
Overall I felt that lesson went great. I felt that the students were excited and eager
to see listen to the story of Freddie, watch what happens to his water, and participate in
the demonstration. Although, there are some things that I would change next time. First, I
would have the students pre-read either the story card given to them or the entire text.
This can be done by having the students do this independently, with a partner or small
group, or as an entire class that is led by the teacher. This will allow the students to
become more familiar with the text they are reading or listening to during the activity. I
thought of this because when some of the students were reading, they came across
unfamiliar words or they were reading too quietly for the rest of the class to hear. When
this happens, sometimes students tune out and do not pay attention. Another thing I
would do differently is to incorporate some reading skills into the text. This may
encourage the students to pay attention and read along, while helping them remember
important types of pollutions. Lastly, I would be more direct and strict regarding where
the students are seated. When students came into the circle to look at the bowl, it caused
other students to talk and yell that they could not see what was going on. An idea for this
would be to praise the students who are sitting on their bottom and leaning back to let
their friends see. In conclusion, I was really happy with the way my lesson went. I
thought it was a fun and engaging science lesson that grabbed the students attention,
encouraged them to discuss with their peers, share their ideas with the class, and be a
hands-on learner.