Helena McKendrick

Water Pollution and Scarcity

Intended Grade Level 8th Grade

To introduce students to the magnitude and severity of water

Goal Statement pollution and water scarcity, and how they impact humans
A description of the enduring
understanding or big ideas that
students will possess at the end of
the Learning plan based on grade
level content standards and
curriculum.

This lesson will provide students with demonstrations and a

How will this lesson support the problem-based learning lab activity, giving them the chance to
learning goal? visualize the problem of water pollution, and work to find a solution
for a real-world, community problem.

S8.D.1.2.2 Describe potential impacts of human made processes

PA Standards (e.g., manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, mining) on Earth’s
List the Pennsylvania Standard(s) resources, both nonliving (i.e., air, water, or earth materials) and
relevant for this lesson. living (i.e., plants and animals).

● Water scarcity
Academic Language ○ Cape Town, South Africa
What language will students be ● Water pollution
expected to utilize by the end of ○ Pollutants
the lesson? Consider Language
○ Great Pacific Garbage Patch
function and language demands
(see Lesson Plan User Guide).
What key terms are essential?
What key terms are essential to
develop and extend students’
academic language?
What opportunities will you
provide for students to practice the
new language and develop
fluency, both written and oral?

Objective(s)
(1c: Setting Instructional
Outcomes)
Taking into consideration the
learning goal what is the
objective(s) of this lesson that will
support the progress toward the
learning goal?
The statement should be directly
observable (use verbs that can be
measured).
Technology Materials/
Resources
(1d: Demonstrating Knowledge
of Resources)
What texts, digital resources, &
materials will be used in this
lesson? How do the materials
align with the learning
objective/outcomes? If
appropriate, what educational
technology will be used to support
the learning outcomes of this
lesson? How do the resources
support the learning objectives?
Cite publications and any web
resources.
Anticipatory Set
(1a: Demonstrating Knowledge
● Students will be able to identify the percentage of usable
freshwater on our planet, and recognize its limited
availability.
● Students will be able to recognize and visualize different
types of water pollution, and determine which has the
largest impact on humans directly.
● Students will hypothesize, experiment with, and observe the
difficulty of removing pollutants from a water source, and
use their findings to propose a plan of action to a community
council.
● Technology
○ Projector
○ Laptop
○ PowerPoint
○ Students’ one-to-one devices
○ Padlet.com
● Materials
○ Blank paper
○ Writing utensils
○ Lab worksheets
○ Large juice bottle
○ Food dye
○ Access to water tap
○ Medium to large containers (filled with water)
○ Vegetable oil
○ Glitter
○ Miscellaneous trash
● Resources
○ https://www.earthday.org/wp-content/uploads/5-8-
Lesson-Plan1.pdf
○ http://www.scienceteacherprogram.org/pdf/EarthSci
enceDemos.pdf
○ https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/distribution-
water-and-above-earth-0
1. The teacher will start class by standing at the front of the
room holding an apple.
 of Content and Pedagogy)
How will you set the purpose and
help students learn why today’s
lesson is important to them as
learners?
How will you pique the interest or
curiosity regarding the lesson
topic?
How will you build on students’
prior knowledge?
How will you introduce and
explain the strategy/concept or
skill?
Provide detailed steps.
a. The teacher will tell the students, “this is one whole
apple.”
2. The teacher will cut the apple vertically into four, even
slices.
a. The teacher will then holding up one quarter of the
apple and ask the students, “what percentage of the
original apple is this?”
i. Anticipated student responses:
1. 25 percent
2. One quarter
3. The teacher will then cut the one quarter in half again.
a. The teacher will ask, “Now what percentage of the
original apple am I holding?”
i. Anticipated student responses:
1. About 12.5 percent
4. The teacher will then cut one of the 12.5 percent pieces of
the apple in half again to create two pieces to represent
about 6 percent each.
a. The teacher will again ask the students what
percentage of the apple they are holding.
i. Anticipated student responses:
1. 6 percent
5. The teacher will cut the 6 percent piece in half again to
create two pieces representing 3 percent of the apple.
a. The teacher will encourage the students to call out
what percentage they have just created.
i. Anticipated student responses:
1. 3 percent
6. The teacher will say, “The entire apple we started with
represented all of the water on our planet--both fresh and
saltwater.”
7. The teacher will hold up one of the pieces from step 5
(representing 3 percent) and say, “this slice represents all of
the freshwater on our planet, while the entire rest of the
apple represents the oceans.”
8. The teacher will say, “Now, we are going to do a slightly
different cut. I am going to cut this 3 percent portion into
three even slices, creating thirds each representing 1 percent
of the original apple.”
a. The teacher will cut the apple.
9. The teacher will hold up one of the 1 percent slivers and say,
“this sliver represents all of the freshwater that is usable to
all of the organisms on the planet.”
a. “This is water that exists in the atmosphere, lakes,
rivers, swamps, etc.”
b. “The other 2 percent is unusable by humans and
animals because it is in glaciers in ice caps or it
exists as groundwater.”
10. The teacher will project Padlet.com onto the board and
prompt students to respond to the question, “do you think
this will ever run out? If so, when?”
a. Students will have about a minute to respond
individually on the Padlet via their personal laptop.
b. The teacher will call on a few students with unique
responses on the Padlet to share their thoughts out
loud with the class while the teacher facilitates the
discussion.
11. After a few minutes of discussion, the teacher will project a
PowerPoint on the board which has pictures from her study
abroad to Cape Town, South Africa in 2018.
a. In 2018, Cape Town was experiencing a severe
water crisis, and limits on water consumption were
placed on residents and tourists.
i. Many faucets in public restrooms were
turned off entirely, and people were instead
encouraged to utilize hand sanitizer.
ii. The showers in the hotel had sand timers in
them that counted two minutes, so users were
encouraged to take brief showers.
iii. Public restrooms also encouraged people not
to flush for every use.
b. The teacher will project a picture of the landscape of
Cape Town, and ask students if they can tell where
the photo was taken.
c. The teacher will explain some of the fun and happy
highlights of her trip, and show accompanying
pictures, such as riding an ostrich, exploring table
mountain, seeing giraffes and zebras, etc.
d. The teacher will then display this photo of a sign in a
public restroom in Cape Town.
e.

f. The teacher will segue into an introduction to the

water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa.
g. The teacher will say, “as some of you predicted in
our discussion, it is possible for areas to run out of
usable fresh water, and in some places it is already
happening.”
i. “With only 1 percent of the world’s water
fresh and usable, water scarcity is a real
problem affecting humans around the world.”
h. “Now imagine if a percentage of this already small
percentage is ruined by water pollution…”
 Instructional Activities
(1a: Demonstrating Knowledge
of Content and Pedagogy; 1e:
Designing Coherent Instruction)
2. The teacher will display a picture of the Great Pacific
3. While water pollution affects both fresh and saltwater
4. To demonstrate water pollution, and help students visualize
1. The teacher will ask the students, “what do you think of
when you think of water pollution?”
a. The teacher will ask the students to individually
sketch out a picture of what they are thinking of.
b. They will have about 3 minutes to complete this.
Garbage Patch on the board.
a. The teacher will say, “many of your drawings and
visualizations probably looked something like this
with large pieces of trash, or possibly even oil.”
b. The teacher will explain that the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the
North Pacific Ocean
sources (100 percent of the apple--if you will), water
pollution tends to impact humans and ecosystems the most
when its affecting our limited fresh water supply. These
impacts can be catastrophic for an ecosystem.”
the impact pollutants have on water systems, even when
they cannot be seen, the teacher will use a large water
container (recycled juice bottle), water, and food coloring.
a. The teacher will start by adding a small amount of
water (about ½ cup) to the bottle.
b. Then, the teacher will drop in a few drops of food
coloring, and stir it a bit, so that the coloring turn the
water completely red.
c. The teacher will say,”the red is fully visible at this
point because the molecules of dye are close enough
to each other to be seen.”
d. “If I were to add more water, what will happen to the
water’s coloring and why?”
i. The teacher will prompt students to close
their eyes and visualize what they feel will
happen to the water.
e. While the students eyes are closed, the teacher will
add water to fill the container, and the color is now
invisible to the naked eye due to the dye molecules
being so far apart.
 f. The teacher will ask the students, “is the dye gone?”
and they will hopefully understand the dye has not
left the water, and its molecules are still there.
g. The teacher will explain that this is what happens
with many water pollutants. Some material will be
dumped into a clean water source. Initially, it will
likely be very visible where the material is dumped,
but eventually, as the water flows to different areas,
it becomes mixed with clean water and the pollutants
become dispersed until the original pollutant is
invisible. However, just like the food dye, it is not
gone. The ecosystem depending on the water is still
very affected by the pollutants even though they
cannot be seen.
5. The teacher will say, “These pollutants are negatively
impacting the ecosystem and they cannot even be seen. So
how do you think a community should go about removing
them from the water?”
a. The teacher will say, “today, you will be working in
groups to help a “community” remove pollutants
from their fresh water source. Your job will be to
determine the positives and negatives of each
method of removal, and determine which one is
best.”
b. “You will have the option to “purchase” different
tools from me to clean the water, but must be
conscious of how much your solution costs, so you
can report to the community how much they need to
spend to clean their water. Your solution should be
cost effective, or else the community will not care.”
6. Students will be divided into groups of 3-4. Each group will
receive a bin filled with water, vegetable oil, glitter, and
pieces of trash.
a. The teacher will have the “tools” for sale, including
spoons, coffee filters, pipettes, cotton balls, gravel,
and sand.
i. Prices for tools:
1. Spoon- $50
2. Coffee Filters- $150
3. Pipettes- $150

Closure
(1e: Designing Coherent
Instruction)
How will students share or show
what they have learned in this
lesson?
How will you restate the teaching
point and clarify key concepts?
How will you provide
opportunities to extend ideas and
check for understanding?
How will this lesson lead to the
next lesson?
4. Cotton ball- $50
5. Gravel- $250
6. Sand- $250
7. Students will have about 20 minutes to hypothesize which
tools will work best, devise a plan, purchase their tools, and
experiment with the tools and water.
8. Throughout their experiments, the students should be
observing the results, and recording their data and findings
on a sheet of notebook paper.
a. The teacher will circulate the room and answer any
student questions, and redirect when needed.
b. The teacher may model an effective way to organize
the observations on the notebook paper on the board
(Chart labeled with “tool tested,” “price,”
“observations,” “effectiveness for oil,”
“effectiveness for glitter,” etc)
9. When finished experiment, the students will review their
data and observations and conclude which method worked
best, and how much it cost.
a. Students will also return lab materials to rightful
spots.
1. When finished with their experiment, the students will work
in their groups for the remainder of the class period to write
a letter to the “community” council explaining their
findings, and proposing a method for removing the water
pollutants from the fresh water source.
a. The letter can be typed or handwritten.
b. The letter must include the “cost” for the community
and its effectiveness in cleaning out each pollutant.
c. The letter should use a CER (Claim Evidence
Reasoning) model.
d. This letter will be stapled to the groups’ lab
worksheets and turned in.
2. For homework, students will research a local
method/strategy used for removing pollutants from the
water, OR research a time a major water pollution event
occurred and the solution put in place to solve it.
a. For either of these options, students should bring in
notes on their research, and be ready to share the

Differentiation
(1e: Designing Coherent
Instruction)
What differentiated support will
you provide for students whose
academic development is below or
above the current grade level?
What specific differentiation of
content, process, products, and/or
learning environment do you plan
to employ to meet the needs of all
of your students?
How does your lesson support
student differences with regard to
linguistic, academic, and cultural
diversity?
How will your lesson actively
build upon the resources that
linguistically and culturally
diverse students bring to the
experience?
How will your lesson will be
supportive for all students,
including English Language
Learners, and build upon the
linguistic, cultural, and
experiential resources that they
bring to their learning?
How will your lesson is designed
to promote creative and critical
thinking and inventiveness?
next class.
● To be inclusive to many types of learners/ learning styles
this lesson appeals to Bloom’s Taxonomy
○ Knowledge: define water pollution and water
scarcity
○ Comprehension: predict how you think water
scarcity will affect humans, predict what you think
will happen to the dye as the teacher adds water
○ Application: apply your knowledge of water
pollution and pollutants to the lab activity
○ Analysis: test and experiment with different tools to
remove pollutants from the water sample
○ Synthesis: collect data and design a plan of which
tools worked best, write a letter to the city council
○ Evaluation: defend your design and viewpoint
though CER (claim evidence reasoning) model in
your letter
● Visual learners- have opportunities to visualize how small
the percentage of usable, freshwater is, visualize what water
pollution looks like, see first hand photos of water scarcity
● Kinesthetic learners- have opportunities to sketch and also
works in a hands-on activity to try different methods of
removing pollutants.
● Auditory learners-value the storytelling of Cape Town’s
Water Crisis, listening to the narration of the demonstrations
● Students reading and writing above grade level can be
creative with the letter to their city council, and maybe even
chose to present the letter in a presentation or video
● Students reading and writing below the grade level will be
given a list of sentence starts if needed, such as:
○ “The most effective method of removing the
pollution was…..”
○ “The cheapest method of removing the pollution that
still worked was…..”
○ “We believe the city should ….”
● Since I value the importance of collaborative learning,
students will be grouped in table groups throughout the
beginning of the lesson, and then be broken into small,
heterogeneous groups for the lab activity, so students can
 bounce ideas off their peers.

Accommodations n/a
(1e: Designing Coherent
Instruction)

Modifications n/a
(1e: Designing Coherent
Instruction)

○ Students will respond individually to the question

Assessment (Formal or “do you think this [usable fresh water] will ever run
Informal). out? If so, when?” via Padlet.com.
(1f: Assessing Student Learning) ■ The teacher will use the responses to lead an
oral discussion about the question.
How will you and the students
■ The teacher will also review these responses
assess where the learning
objectives, listed above, were met? to check for participation and engagement in
Each formal or informal the lesson.
assessment should describe how it ○ Students will sketch out their visualization of water
is aligned to the above pollution
objective(s). ■ The teacher will use this activity as a pre-
assessment to check students’ prior
knowledge and understanding of water
pollution, and also for participation.
○ During the lab, the teacher will circulate the room to
check for understanding and comprehension.
○ The teacher will collect each group’s lab worksheets
and letter to assess for understanding of the task and
content and completion of the directions.
■ The teacher will use observations used while
circulating to assess for good group
collaboration and effective use of science
process skills.

I modeled this lesson around my demonstration on water pollution.

Reflection on However, I knew I wanted to tie in my experiences from the Cape
Planning/Instruction Town Water Crisis to teach students about the scarcity of fresh
water--and therefore the value of preventing water pollution. I tried
to appeal to a variety of different learning styles and process skills,
 and made that my focus while planning everything from the lab
activity to the Padlet discussion. I love problem-based learning
activities, so instead of assigning students a lab, I wanted to give
them a fake “real world” problem in a community, which they
needed to solve--all while taking finances into consideration. I hope
my multimodal lesson will be more engaging than a typical lecture
on water pollution and scarcity.