In this unit students were challenged to take a look at the current water crisis taking place across the world. Less than 3% of the world's water is fresh, drinkable water. Yet, we continue to pollute, overuse and over-consume the fresh water we have available. My students were asked to examine this crisis and the impact it could have on the future. Also, they researched and discovered ways to decrease water use usage, especially in drought stricken areas. In order to accomplish this goal, my students visited Living Lands and Waters to learn about river and watershed pollution, they learned about the endangered Colorado River from a water law expert, met with a local botanist to examine drought tolerant plants, and participated in a guided reading unit. After this initial learning students created drought tolerant gardens, in hopes to inform those in drought stricken areas, to convert their spaces to drought tolerant spaces. In their groups they created a research proposal highlighting 8 drought tolerant plants. They also created a business proposal that contains each one. Of these 8, each group picked three to purchase for our drought tolerant garden. Students designed and built their plots from scratch in our makerspace. Then they planted their drought tolerant plants and cared for them. They concluded the project by creating informative posters that share the importance of conserving water and how drought tolerant gardens can conserve the limited water we have. These posters are displayed at the Quad Cities Waterkeeper office through the summer of 2016.
Guided Reading Titles: Not a Drop to Drink, H2O, Water Wars
Guided Reading Titles: Not a Drop to Drink, H2O, Water Wars
Field Trip to Living Lands and Waters
Building the Plots
Planting Day
Learning Standards
1. Find evidence from literary or informational texts to support thoughts and research.
2. Use technology to produce writing and cite sources as well as work with others.
3. Include multimedia parts and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize important points.
4. Produce clear writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to the purpose and the audience.
5. Explain how the individuals, events, and ideas in a non-fiction text work together.
6. With some help from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, and focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
7. Write opinions to support ideas with clear reasons and proof.
8. Complete short research projects to answer a question, using several sources and thinking of additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
9. Brainstorm, gather, and organize information about a topic to create an informative piece of writing.
10. Gather appropriate information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the usefulness and accuracy of each source; quote or paraphrase the information and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and using citations.
11. Explain the story elements and parts and how they work together.
2. Use technology to produce writing and cite sources as well as work with others.
3. Include multimedia parts and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize important points.
4. Produce clear writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to the purpose and the audience.
5. Explain how the individuals, events, and ideas in a non-fiction text work together.
6. With some help from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, and focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
7. Write opinions to support ideas with clear reasons and proof.
8. Complete short research projects to answer a question, using several sources and thinking of additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
9. Brainstorm, gather, and organize information about a topic to create an informative piece of writing.
10. Gather appropriate information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the usefulness and accuracy of each source; quote or paraphrase the information and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and using citations.
11. Explain the story elements and parts and how they work together.