Enivronmental "Run Down"

In this project, students answered the essential question" How do forces of nature and environment impact our local habitat?" To investigate this issue, 2nd graders students collaborated with I Love A Clean San Diego to adopt Carlsbad Frazee State Beach. During their initial beach clean up session, the kids were very upset about the amount of trash they found strewn throughout their local beach. Afterward, they had burning questions as to how the trash ended up at our beach and how they could promote awareness to the trash issues in their community.

They studied their local watershed and learned how trash flows to the beach. They interviewed experts, read literature, looked at data and research regarding the effects of trash on our local habitats, and discussed solutions to the issues they discovered. In the end, students created handouts to put at the local state beaches to promote awareness of the trash issues. They also created miniature models of the watershed and using simple machines to create a "marble run" that simulated how trash flows to the ocean. The handouts and watershed models were exhibited to the public at the Carlsbad Frazee State Beach.

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Essential Question

How do forces of nature and environment impact our local habitat?

How can we raise awareness to issues we find in our community?
How do we solve a problem and take action?

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Products:

*A Watershed Marble Run Model in groups of 3: Create a Rube Goldberg type marble run to represent the flow of trash into the ocean. Structures will represent buildings, pipes, hills, etc. Items used from upcycled/recycled materials such as upcycled wood, toys, plastic, cans, etc. Must include at least three uses of simple machines.

*Individual handouts with

1) Persuasive writing letters and narratives with audience’s interest in mind.

- Co-designed writing to kids, adults, community members.

- Advocating for change and how we can protect our local habitats

2) Image of sea animal

3) A representation of data to show effects of trash in the ocean.

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Exhibition:

Student products were exhibited at Carlsbad Frazee State Beach. Students presented their learning to the public and gave out their handouts to promote awareness of issues in their community.

A Few Activities:

*Paperbag activities: Challenges to build/construct something to solve a problem

Use dilemmas from read alouds such as “Make Way for Ducklings”
Problem solving in groups

*Design process: Review steps in the design process with experiments

*Why it is important to have a process?

*Exploring Six Simple Machines with experiments and paper bag challenges

*Reflecting about what works/didn’t work/sharing out

*Newton’s Laws of Motion: Applying it to practice

*Learning about energy: Kinetic Energy/Potential Energy/Gravitational Energy

*Data collection during trash clean up at beach clean up at Carlsbad Frazee Beach

*Writing persuasive pieces - drafts/critique and talking about audience

*Planning blueprint/getting critiques revising marble run

*Building marble run/designing artistic backdrop on structures (Building in sections)

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Possible Fieldwork:

Buena Vista Lagoon

Carlsbad Frazee Beach - beach clean up

Scripps Institute for Oceanography- SCOPE program

Birch Aquarium

San Diego Natural History Museum - Water Exhibit

Experts:

San Diego Coast Keeper & Project SWELL

Project Clean Water

Think Blue

California Watershed Network

I Love A Clean San Diego - Ms.Moriah

Georgia Hall - HTeCV 3rd Grade

Melissa Han - 1st Grade Project

Randy “Media Saves the Beach”

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Tentative Timeline: Jan 7th - Mar. 20th

Launch Jan. 7th

*Large fish tank in the classroom full of trash found littered in our school campus.

*Images of sea animals affected by trash and images of trash in the real world oceans

*Discuss dilemma & wonderings (Why is this a problem?!?! Where did the trash come from?? What can we do!??!)

First week: 1/7-1/10

*Learning about our watershed

*Reading about sea life

*Speaking with experts

*Discuss problem and solutions

*Fieldwork! Beach clean up at Carlsbad Frazee Beach - data collection

*Paperbag activities: Challenges to build/construct something to solve a problem

Use dilemmas from read alouds “Make Way for Ducklings”

Second week: 1/13-1/17

*Paperbag activities: Challenges to build/construct something to solve a problem

*Design process: Review steps in the design process with paper bag experiments

*Why it is important to have a process?

*Exploring Six Simple Machines with experiments and paper bag challenges

*Reflecting about what works/didn’t work/sharing out

*Newton’s Laws of Motion: Applying it to practice

*Writing persuasive pieces

*Fieldwork - Buena Vista Lagoon

Third week: 1/21-1/24

*Exploring Six Simple Machines with experiments and paper bag challenges

*Reflecting about what works/didn’t work/sharing out

*Newton’s Laws of Motion: Applying it to practice

*Writing persuasive pieces

Fourth week: 1/27-1/31

*Exploring Six Simple Machines with experiments and paper bag challenges

*Reflecting about what works/didn’t work/sharing out

*Learning about energy: Kinetic Energy/Potential Energy/Gravitational Energy

*Writing persuasive pieces

*Fieldwork

Fifth week: 2/3-2/7

*Planning blueprint/getting critiques revising marble run (Finding models?)

*Writing persuasive pieces

*Fieldwork

Sixth week: 2/10-2/13

*Building marble run/designing backdrop (Building in sections)

*Critique and revision throughout

*Putting book together

Seventh week: 2/18-2/21

*Building marble run/designing backdrop (Building in sections)

*Critique and revision throughout

Eighth week: 2/24-2/28

*Building marble run/designing backdrop (Building in sections)

*Critique and revision throughout

Ninth week: 3/3-3/7

*Building marble run/designing backdrop (Building in sections)

*Critique and revision throughout

Tenth week: 3/11-3/14

*Finalize construction of marble run

*Beach clean up at Carlsbad Frazee Beach - data collection

Eleventh week: 3/17-3/20

Exhibition week

*Exhibition at Carlsbad State Beach during Spring Break Concert Series

- In the works with California State Parks

*Exhibiting our writing at local brochure boxes throughout Carlsbad State Beach.

*Exhibit to the community and teach community about our local watershed

*Donate marble run to Agua Hedionda Lagoon Center and San Diego Water Conservation Authority to educate community about our watershed

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2nd Grade Content:

*Reading

Informational texts (NF)
Research
Analyzing maps and data

*Science

Students know the way to change how something is moving is by giving it a push or a pull. The size of the change is related to the strength, or the amount of force, of the push or pull.

Students know tools and machines are used to apply pushes and pulls (forces) to make things move.
Students know objects fall to the ground unless something holds them up

Local watershed

*Engineer Design Process

1. Ask

2. Imagine

3. Plan

4. Design

5. Improve

*Measurement/Data of trash collected in community

CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.D.10 Draw a picture graph and a bar graph to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph.
CCSS.Math.Content.2.OA.A.1 Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

*Geometry of objects and shapes used in marble run

CCSS.Math.Content.2.G.A.1 Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angles or a given number of equal faces.1 Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.

*Persuasive writing with audience’s interest and critique. Students will co-design the writing task.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g.,because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.