Goal:
1. Students will review what they already know about ocean pollution.
Resources:
1. "What I Know About Ocean Pollution" chart.
2. Materials
a. Large sheet of paper for each group
b. Markers
Time:
Approximately 1 hour. Time includes 1/2 hour to brainstorm and complete worksheet and 1/2 for class discussion and team chart.
Procedure:
Step 1 - Ask students what they know about ocean pollution.
Step 2 - While brainstorming, students will use chart to indicate what they know about ocean pollution.
Step 3 - Group students into teams of 3 or 4 to compare their charts.
Step 4 - Each team of students will make a large chart of their thoughts to see how it compares to the rest of the class.
Step 5 - Using statistics, each team will present their chart to the class indicating the similarities and differences that they observed among their teammates. Each chart should include statistics based on their comparisons of individual student charts. For example, 2 students know about ocean pollution prevention, I student knows about oil spills, 3 students know about chemical pollution, etc.
Step 6 - Collect individual student charts.
Assessment:
1. Each student must turn in a completed chart of "What I Know About Ocean Pollution.'' This will not be evaluated, but will be marked if it was turned in or not because it would be difficult to evaluate knowledge of the student before being exposed to ocean pollution. For example, some students may be very well educated due to multiple resources in their past, whereas, other students may not have been exposed to ocean pollution at all. The objective is to stimulate thoughts about ocean pollution.
2. Each team will make a chart of their team's individual charts put together. This will be presented to the class, but will not be evaluated.
Curricular Strands and Major Concepts:
1. Language Arts- communication, writing skills, critical thinking.
2. Math- statistics.
3. Science- pollution, habitats, ecosystems, ect.
4. Social Studies- human impact on the environment.
Possible Extension:
1. Return the charts to the students at the end of the unit for a compare / contrast activity according to what they filled out and what they actually learned from the Ocean Pollution Unit.