After much discussion, research, laughter, and debate, Marlee and Pamela decided to focus their project on an exploration of how plastics pollution impacts ocean habitats at the Grade 3 level. We both have motives for how passionate we are about developing a course that inspires students to take part in a positive and necessary change in order to keep the west coast safe. Pamela is a prairie girl and very excited to do anything that involves the ocean. Marlee was relocated to the west coast at the age of 10 and feels it’s her responsibility to educate students on how to protect this little piece of paradise. Grade 3 is a great age for exploring these bigger concepts and their broadening worldview. The curricular Big Idea ‘living things are diverse, can be grouped, and interact with their ecosystems’ allows us to examine biodiversity within the ocean while more specific curricular outcomes and competencies inform the learning on pollution and the effects of on-going human impact on the environment. We have some very fun ideas for our unit that we’re excited to flesh out and put into practice. Hopefully, the final project will match our vision! Fingers are crossed!!!
We have laid out our course profile below for your perusal and commentary. Constructive criticism is welcomed!
Waste in Our World: Plastics and Ocean Habitats – Grade 3 Science Unit Profile
Target Audience
Our target audience is Grade 3 students, ages 7 to 9 in the Cowichan Valley School District No. 79. Cowichan Valley has a diverse population, comprising both small urban centres and rural communities. Schools draw students from both areas as well as students from the Malahat First Nations.
Course Timeline
This Science unit would run for a period of 4 – 6 weeks, enabling students to construct their understanding through a variety of learning experiences, both face-to-face and online environments.
Course Delivery
The unit will be delivered as a blended learning course using the station-rotation model. This will include online instruction and activities as well as face-to-face learning, individual supported work and collaborative projects with classmates to encourage cooperation and develop responsibility.
We are using GoogleSites to house our unit, including all relevant support materials and links for students, teachers and parents. In addition to providing a common system to communicate between teachers, students and parents, having all materials accessible online will facilitate a transition to fully online delivery if required in the future.
Face-to-face instruction will be recorded and posted for students to review when needed to support their learning.
Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
The objectives and outcomes of this course are developed from the British Columbia Grade 3 Science Curriculum, Curricular Competencies and Content.
Curricular Competencies
Students are expected to be able to do the following:
- Questioning and Predicting
- Demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world
- Observe objects and events in familiar contexts
- Ask simple questions about familiar objects, events, and local environment
- Planning and Conducting
- Make exploratory observations using their senses
- Processing and analyzing data and information
- Experience and interpret the local environment (the ocean)
- Discuss observations, ex. using Menti or Padlet to respond/encourage participation, draw conclusions from observations
- Represent observations and ideas by drawing charts and simple pictographs, ex. use Canva to show the different types of garbage found after a beach walk
- Applying and Innovating
- Take part in caring for self, family, classroom and school through personal approaches, ex. simple home recycling plan, beach walk and clean activity, informational posters to raise awareness for school, develop an online presentation to share other classes on ocean pollution, etc.
- Transfer and apply learning to new situations, ex. use Powtoon to share a Know-Wonder-Learn type of activity to state one thing they already knew about biodiversity in the ocean, what they wonder about the impact of plastics in the ocean, one thing they learned and one thing they changed within their household, class, school, or even community
- Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving, ex. brainstorming ideas to clean up the ocean on Padlet then get them to create the idea using an online illustrator (Suggestions are welcome!)
- Communicating
- Share observations, research, and ideas orally, ex. recording a short response to an inquiry question on Flipgrid to share with a partner or the class
Content
Students are expected to know the following:
- Biodiversity
- Define biodiversity as the variety of different types of living things in an ecosystem
- Identify the characteristics of local plants, animals and fungi
- In the local environment
- The knowledge of local First Peoples
- The interconnection between living and nonliving things in the local environment; our shared responsibility to care for the local environment (i.e. stewardship); information shared from the local First Peoples community and Elders
- The knowledge of local First Peoples
- Of ecosystems
- Population: all the members of the same type of living thing (species) in an area (the ocean)
- Communities: difference populations in an area living together
Focus Questions for the Unit
- What animals or mammals do we know inhabit our Pacific West Coast Waters?
- Why is there plastic in our oceans? Where does it come from?
- How does ocean plastic affect marine animals and humans? Does it affect more than others?
- How do we help to slow down or stop this from devastating our future generations?
Course Materials
Software
The majority of the learning materials will be teacher-generated and available online within the unit shell. Topical open source texts, videos, and websites will be linked/embedded with accreditation when appropriate.
Hardware
While a class set of iPads would be ideal, by using the station rotation model we can accommodate for limited classroom resources. Students will be rotating through the stations during class time on a fixed schedule.
Attendance and Punctuality
Regular and punctual attendance at school is an essential part of student success. It is especially important as this course is based on participation and experiential learning rather than lecture. As the online component of the unit is expected to be done during class time, students who miss lessons will have an opportunity to make up that time during work blocks.
Assignments
Assignments will be shared in each individual module/lesson. As individual students require varied methods of instruction, assignments and expectations may vary depending on student needs. This will be discussed between the teacher and the student’s family prior to the beginning of the course.
Assignments will comprise both group and individual activities and include different ways of demonstrating learning through writing, drawing, creating and speaking.
The final summative assessment will be an inquiry based project that students will have investigated themselves throughout the course. They will have the option to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways including posting to the class blog, creating a visual presentation with Powtoon or Canva, creating an online teaching game with Flowlab, or an original idea discussed with, and approved by, the teacher.
Assessment
Students will demonstrate their understanding through engaging/participating in the unit’s activities and projects. Both formative and summative assessments will be used to assess their understanding with preference given to formative assessment as a way to support and encourage the construction of knowledge.
Strategies will include:
- anecdotal notes, guided feedback loops with both teacher and peers
- use of both teacher and student-generated rubrics to inform expectations
- checking for understanding via active participation in class discussions and the course blog, as well as using online tools such as Kahoot, Padlet and Menti
- successful completion of posting assignments on course website
Special Accommodations/Considerations
As this unit follows a station rotation model and allows for individualized instruction, the needs of any students with a disability, injury, illness, or cultural concern will be accommodated as appropriate.
In the case of another instance of emergency online teaching like the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, online access may be problematic for students studying at home due to low bandwidth, lack of internet access, or adult support to navigate the course. If this is the situation, accommodations to the course delivery model will be made to ensure that the information and tools needed to complete assignments are available offline, eliminating the need for internet access. However, we sincerely hope this will not be the case again!