Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Grade Level:
4th grade
Standards:
Writing: 4.W.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
Math: 4.MP.4. Model with mathematics. Students experiment with representing problem situations in multiple ways
including numbers, words (mathematical language), drawing pictures, using objects, making a chart, list, or graph, creating
equations, etc. Students need opportunities to connect the different representations and explain the connections. They
should be able to use all of these representations as needed. Fourth graders should evaluate their results in the context of the
situation and reflect on whether the results make sense.
Science: SC04-S1C2-05 Record data in an organized and appropriate format (e.g., t-chart, table, list, written log).
SC04-S1C3-02
In this lesson, the students will be introduced to the water crisis in Kenya. The students will be working in
groups of three and conducting an activity called the Water Commons Lab. In this activity, the students will
use regular and peanut M&Ms to generate the projection of water pollution over time. The students will
start with 100 regular M&Ms in a pan and closing their eyes they will use a spoon to scoop up as many M&Ms
as they can in thirty seconds. After thirty seconds is up the students will count the remaining M&Ms and
subtract this number from 100. The students will then add that many peanut M&Ms to their pan. This process
will continue until all of the regular M&Ms are gone and there are only peanut M&Ms remaining. The peanut
M&Ms represent polluted water. The students will then take their data from the activity and create their own
line graph individually depicting the trend in increasing water pollution.
Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know prior to completing this lesson)
Students need to know what a line graph is and how to work responsibly in groups.
I am introducing the students to the skill of collecting data and using that data to generate a line graph.
I am also introducing to the students the skill of interpreting their graph and predicting future results.
Four Ways of Thinking connection: (Provide a complete explanation of how your lesson plan connects to futures, system,
strategic, or values thinking. Define the way of thinking you selected and used in this lesson plan. Remember, this should be included
meaningfully in the lesson plan.)
This lesson applies to futures thinking because the students will be creating a line graph showing the increasing amount of water
pollution in Kenya and the predict what will happen if we do not come up with a solution to aid Kenya in their water crisis.
Engage - In this
section you should
activate prior knowledge, hook student attention, pose a question (IQ#1)
based on your lesson objective that students will seek to answer in Explore.
Teacher Will: ( hook)
Students Will:
Have you ever went camping or on a trip and you were told not to
drink the water because it will make you sick?
You will then turn to your data table and record the total number
of peanut M&Ms in your pan for round 1. You will record the total
number of peanut M&Ms in the pan after each round.
You will then do the same thing, with closed eyes scoop M&Ms
into your cup then count the remaining M&Ms, subtract that
number from 100 and add that number of peanut M&Ms to the
pan.
Make sure to record the results in your data table.
You will continue this process until all of the M&Ms left in your
pan are peanut M&Ms.
When I say go, you can get into your groups of three and I will
come around and give you your materials.
Before we start, can I have someone raise their hand and retell us
what your directions for the activity are?
Are there any questions before we begin?
Ready Go!
One student will raise their hand and retell the instructions for
the activity to the class.
If any students have questions regarding the activity they will
ask them now.
The students will get into groups of three and wait for the
teacher to pass out their materials.
The teacher will go around to each group and pass out their
materials.
You will have ten minutes to complete this activity and record all
of your data.
The students will begin scooping their M&Ms into their cups.
You may begin working now.
The students will record their data and complete the activity.
The teacher will walk around and make sure each group is
following the instructions correctly and is on task.
The teacher will answer any questions the students have regarding
the activity.
The teacher will give the students a five and then three minute
warning.
Teacher Will:
The teacher will do waterfall to gather their attention. (waterfall
is a strategy used to refocus the students. How it works is the
teacher will call waterfall and then the students will respond
with making a waterfall with their fingers and making shhhing
water sounds with their mouths.)
Students Will:
The students will respond with waterfall fingers.
Now we are going to look into a country that is facing this very
situation with water pollution and scarcity.
The teacher will share facts about Kenya
Students Will:
If any of the students have questions, they will ask them at this
time.
You may now begin making your line graph and then when you
are done with that you may start your paragraph.
Today we were able to use our science skills to conduct an experiment and predict future trends in the data. You were also able to
come up with your own ideas about what you would do to help fix the water crisis in Kenya through your written paragraphs. Through
through this lesson I hope you students were able to have a new perspective on how the water situation is different in other countries.
Real world connections: Learning about how we can make a difference, help students to be more culturally aware and more well
rounded.
**Best Practices List the Best Teaching Practices you will use to enhance the learning outcomes. In each
section where prompted, list the best practice, how the practices will be used and the purpose.