Design for Learning

Instructor: Autumn Combs

Area: Science

Title: Reduce Your Use

Date: Day 2

Grade Level: 3rd

Estimated Time: 50 min

Standards Connection:
Describe ways to sustain natural resources, including recycling, reusing, conserving, and
protecting the environment.
Recognizing the impact of society on human health and environmental conditions
Learning Goals:
When given a 3-2-1, students will demonstrate knowledge of reducing by giving three things we
can reduce and two things that were learned during the lesson, answering at least 4/5 correctly.
Evaluation of Learning Goal:
Students will be given a 3-2-1. They will give three things that they can reduce. These can be
items talked about in class or some that they think of themselves. If they are new examples, they
should be correct and should be explained in more detail by the student if needed. The student
will also list two things that he/she learned during the lesson. These five components will
comprise the score. Students should score at least a 4/5 to be considered proficient in this area of
the unit. The final section of the 3-2-1 is a question that the student still has about reducing. This
is not part of the grade, but students should be encouraged to ask something. The main purpose
of this section is so that the teacher can see if there are any gaps or areas that still need to be
addressed.
Engagement:
Teacher will bring in reusable lunch container. The google slides presentation should be on as
well. Today we are going to talk about something new. Teacher will hold up the lunch bag. We
are going to begin talking about reducing, reusing, recycling today and continue for the
remainder of this week. Ms. Combs decided to bring in a lunch bag today to start off our lesson
on reducing. In your brain, think about why Ms. Combs brought a lunch bag as an example of
reducing. Wait a little while for students to be able to think about why you brought the bag. You
can walk around showing them the bag, making a big deal out of the exercise. Now you will have
an opportunity to talk to your group. What is your idea? Give students time to talk to their group
about the reason the lunch bag was brought. While the groups are talking, teacher should be
walking around, keeping note of students misconceptions and correct answers. When you have
listened to each group and gathered data, call their attention back to you. Back to me. Wait for
students to be quiet and direct attention back to teacher. Were not going to share our ideas yet

but I do want you to keep the ideas in your brain for now. Well come back to it later and see if
you guessed correctly.
Learning Design:
Teaching
Teacher will pass out the graphic organizer that will act as the bridge throughout the week. I am
passing out an organizer for you to use during our unit. This is very important, so make sure that
you put your name, number, and date on it. We will be using this all week so you will need to
keep up with it. It will also be like your study guide for the test that we will have at the end of the
unit. Make sure that each student gets a copy. Lets start on the side with the chart for natural
resources. Teacher will put the organizer on the Lightsmith for students to see the correct side
that they should be on. This is what we talked about yesterday but Ms. Combs wants to review
the information to make sure that you remember it and it sticks in your brain better. Turn to the
first slide of the presentation. Remember that yesterday we talked about our environment. Can
someone remind me what our environment is? Give students a chance to think. Call on student
who is raising their hand. ________. Give student a chance to speak. I hear you say that the
environment is nature, like trees, plants, air, and water. You are right. Good job remembering!
Teacher should turn to the next slide. Now the environment is made up of natural resources. Can
someone remind me what natural resources are? Call on student who is raising his/her hand. Yes,
they are things that make up the environment that people can use. Some examples of natural
resources are air, water, petroleum, and coal. Take a look at your graphic organizer. Turn the
Lightsmith on so that you can point out the Natural Resource section. Make some notes in this
section about natural resources. Add some examples too that we talked about either yesterday or
today. Give students time to fill out natural resources section. Walk around as they work. Look to
see if anyone needs help. Once it looks as though the students are finished go back to the
Lightsmith and begin to make notes on the teacher copy. So I am going to write on my organizer
that natural resources are things that come from the Earth that humans use and my examples are
going to be coal and water. Ok, now remember that natural resources can be divided into two
different categories. The first one is renewable resources. Switch back to the Google Slides
presentation (slide 3). Someone tell me what renewable resources are. Call on student with raised
hand. _______, yes, they are resources that are replaced quickly. _______, give me an example
of a renewable resource. Give student a second to answer and continue to randomly ask students
to give examples of renewable resources. This should be a fast activity that will help review the
material and keep students engaged in the lesson. ______, give me another example. ________,
another example? Great job. All of those were great examples. I hope that you were able to write
down your definition and some examples. I will give you a few more minutes to finish. Wait until
the majority of the students have finished. Ok, natural resources can be divided into renewable
and (wait for students to finish the sentence) non-renewable resources. Teacher will turn to the
next slide of the presentation (slide 4). What are non-renewable resources? What did we talk
about yesterday? Call on student to answer. Yes, non-renewable resources take a really long time
to be replaced so that means that there is a limit to these resources. ______, give me an example
of a non-renewable resource. Great. _______, can you give me another? Good. So make sure

that you have this side of the organizer filled in. Walk the room as students work to finish this
section. This first half of the lesson was meant as a review. It should not take long considering
the information was taught yesterday, but the repetition and writing in the graphic organizer will
help the information stick. When students finish, call their attention back to you. I think that
most of you have finished with the resources side of our organizer so go ahead and turn it over
to the other side. Now remember that I told you we were going to talk about reducing today.
Think back to the lunchbox. Lets begin talking about reducing. Follow along with your
organizer and take notes of important things that you want to remember later about reducing.
Turn to slide 5 of the presentation. I want you to look at this. In your brain first think about this
picture. What is it? Give students time to think. Talk to your group about this picture. Teacher
should walk around the classroom while the students are talking. She should make notes about
some of the conversation that she hears so that she can address it later. ______, what did you and
your group say this is a picture of? Wait time. Yes, it is a dump or a landfill. This is where all our
trash goes when we throw it out. Reducing can help cut down on the amount of trash that gets
sent to the landfill. Teacher should change to slide 6. Reducing happens when you cut down on
the amount of time that you use something or cut down on buying extra things because you have
found a way not to need those things. This can be a little difficult to understand sometimes so I
need you to have your listening ears on. My lunch container allows me to reduce. How do you
think that is true? Talk to your group. What am I reducing? Give students time to discuss.
______, what did your group talk about? Yes! It does allow me to reduce the amount of bags that
I buy to put my food in. If I am not buying as many resources, then I am reducing. When we
reduce, we cut down on the amount of resources that have to be used and we help the
environment by cutting down on the amount of waste that enters the environment. Can you think
of ways that you reduce? Allow time for thinking. Listen in on conversations. Yes we reduce the
amount of energy that we use by turning off lights when we leave rooms. Whats another way? By
turning off the water when we are not using it? Good! These are all great ways. Reducing is the
most important part of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle). It is the most important because
reducing not only prevents waste, but saves resources for other people to use. Because you do
not have to buy so many things you are saving natural resources that would have been used to
make your things and you are saving electricity/power that would have gone into making your
product. Reducing is very important for our environment because you are saving resources for
everyone to be able to use. I want you to talk to your group about why it is important for our
environment for us to reduce. Allow groups time to discuss their ideas. Call on student to share
thinking. _______, what did your group say? Thats right. We are preventing extra resources
from being used but did you know that we are also preventing pollution from getting into the
environment. Turn to slide 7 of the presentation. Pollution happens when harmful materials are
added to the environment (refer back to landfill). Do you think that this landfill is made up of
pollution? Yes! It is not healthy that all this trash gets dumped. If there are chemicals, then it can
seep into the group or run into the water and get to animals and harm them or get to humans
and harm us! This is why it is important for us to reduce the amount of resources we use, so we
can reduce what we use and the waste that we create.
Practice:

I want you to practice thinking of ways to reduce. First, I am going to pass out a piece of paper
that you will fill out during this practice. Go ahead and put your name on it when you get it. Pass
out papers to each student. There are different situations hanging up around the room. In a
minute you will be able to move around the room. I want you to read each paper and determine
if the person is reducing or not. If yes, put a sticker on that paper. If you dont think so, leave
your sticker off. Then you will write about it on your sheet. So lets look at number one. It says
Ella and her mom use cloth grocery bags when they go to the store instead of plastic ones. Is
that an example of reducing? If I think so I will put a sticker on the situation and then on my
paper, under number one (teacher should hold up a sheet and point to give students a visual) I
will write yes and then explain why I think they are reducing. You will go to each situation and
fill out your page as you go. You may get a clipboard if you would like to use one. I am setting
the timer. Go ahead and get started. Set the timer for fifteen minutes. Give students a chance to
walk around the room and determine if the different situations are reducing situations or not. The
teacher should walk around the room with the students. Pay attention to S, J, R, and K to make
sure that they understand what is going on. Talk them through the situations so that they can
make their decision if necessary. As students finish, have them sit down and wait patiently. When
timer goes off, call the class attention back to you. Ok I need you all to go to your seats. Wait for
students to be seated. Teacher should gather each example so that they can be reviewed as a
class. Lets look at number 1. Ella and her mom use cloth grocery bags when they go to the store
instead of plastic ones. ______ is this an example of reducing? Yes! Why? Give student time to
answer. Yes, because they are reducing the number of plastic bags they use which means they are
reducing the amount of waste that they create. Number 2.Michael turns off the lights every time
he leaves his room. Is this reducing? There are a lot of stickers on this one so I think most people
said that it was reducing. _____, why is this reducing? Yes, because he is reducing the amount of
electricity that he is using. Next. Teacher should put the next example on the Lightsmith. Read it
out loud. When Daniel brushes his teeth, he turns off the water when he is not using it. Talk with
your group about what you chose for this one. Is it reducing? Give students time to talk to their
groups. Back to me. _______, what did your group talk about? Ok, so you said the situation is
reducing and the reason you know this is because he doesnt use more water than he needs. That
is very important to remember when talking about reducing, it is all about the amount of
resources you prevent wasting. You all are doing a great job with these situations. Lets look at
the next one! Teacher will put the next situation on the Lightsmith and read it aloud. Caroline
puts the cardboard in the recycling bin near her house. Is this reducing? _______, what do you
think? Wait for student to give answer. This is talking more about recycling materials instead of
reusing. Could we argue that this is an example of reducing? This question is meant to get my
higher level kids thinking. Call on J, P, and L to answer this question. _______, what do you
think? Yes, you could argue that even though Caroline is recycling, she is reducing the amount of
new materials that have to be used for the next product. Good job. Teacher will show the next
situation. Next, Diana and her dad buy yogurt in a large container instead of individual serving
sizes. Talk to your group. During this time, go to K, R, S, and J to talk to them and help them
verbalize their thinking. When each student has had a chance to share, call the attention of the
class back. Back to me. Ok, _______, what did you and your group talk about? Give time to
answer. Yes. This is an example of reducing because instead of buying a lot of little plastic

containers, if we buy just one, we are using less plastic which means we are reducing. I want you
to fold your Finding Ways to Reduce sheet and glue it into your social science notebook.
Assessment:
Teacher will pass out quick write for the day. I am passing out an activity for you to complete
individually. Dont forget to write your name, number, and date on the paper. You will have four
minutes to finish this quick write. You may begin when you get it. Teacher will set the timer so
that you do not lose track of time. Teacher may work with R as a scribe for his answers. S and J
will receive help during the assessment from aides. When time is up, collect the paper. Time is
up. Finish your thought and I am going to come around and collect these.

Closure:
Now that you have been thinking about reducing materials we are going to start an art project
that will use reducing. Teacher will show students that bag of materials that are available to use
during the art project. Can someone tell me how reducing plays a role in our projects? Therefore
we are not buying new art material which saves resources and energy. Allow students time to
work on their projects.

Resources and Materials:

-

Lunch bag
Paper for teacher notes
3-2-1
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Google Slides Presentation
Three Rs graphic organizer
Stickers
Reducing scenarios
Construction paper
Tape
Finding ways to reduce sheet
Clipboards
Projector
Lightsmith
Recycled items
Glue
Scissors
Markers

Extensions/Accommodations:
P, J, and L- Strategic questions (bold in the lesson)

R, K, S, and J- Talk to them individually during turn and talk. Assessments may be read aloud to
students. J and S will receive assistance on the test from aides from the resource room.
Reflection:
This lesson was effective according to the lesson objective. Of the 17 students who took the
assessment, 16 of them were considered proficient with the material as stated in the lesson
objective. The one student who did not pass this material is one of the students who was not
considered proficient during yesterdays lesson. There are two different reasons that I can think
of that may be effecting him during these lessons. First, this student receives support from the
Title I teacher during parts of the science lessons. He catches parts of the lessons but is unable to
be present for the entire lesson. Another reason that he could be doing poorly on the assessment
is that this child has recently qualified for special education. Now he has an IEP and requires
more attention. These two reasons could be negatively impacting the students performance.
If I were to teach this lesson over again, I would shorten the time spent on reviewing the
previous days material. This was helpful for the students to review, but it could have lasted a
shorter amount of time. Another thing that I would change is the fact that I did not have any
visuals to show reducing. I had a picture that we could talk about, but I think that if I would have
brought in different sizes of yogurt containers, I would have been able to give a better visual for
the students to understand this difficult idea.

1.

Ella and her mom use cloth

grocery bags when they go to

the store instead of plastic
ones.

2.

Michael turns off the lights

every time he leaves his room.

3.

When Daniel brushes his

teeth, he turns off the water

when he is not using it.

4.

Caroline puts the cardboard

in the recycling bin near her

house.

5.

Diana and her dad buy yogurt

in a large container instead of

individual serving sizes.

6.

When Alex goes to the park,

he picks up the trash that he

sees that others left on the
ground.

Name:___________________

Date:_______________

Finding Ways to Reduce

Directions: Find each scenario. Read it and decide if the person is reducing or not. Once
you decide, write yes or no and tell why.

1. Is Ella reducing? Why or why not?

2. Is Michael reducing? Why or why not?

3. Is Daniel reducing? Why or why not?

4. Is Caroline reducing? Why or why not?

5. Is Diana reducing? Why or why not?

6. Is Alex reducing? Why or why not?

Name:___________________

Date:______________
Reducing

3 things I can reduce

2 things I learned
today

Name:___________________

1 question I still have

about reducing

Date:______________
Reducing

3 things I can reduce

2 things I learned

1 question I still have

today

about reducing

Name:___________________

Date:______________
Reducing Rubric

3 things I can reduce

2 things I learned
today

1 question I still have

about reducing

Answers may vary.

Examples of correct

Answers may vary.

Students should have

Students are not

required to ask a

answers include:
electricity, water,

answers that pertain

to reducing. Possible

question but are

highly encouraged to

paper, plastic etc.

answers include:
1. Reducing means

write one here. This

question is mostly for

using less of a
resource.
2. Reducing
prevents waste.
3. Reducing is
important
because it
prevents
waste/pollution.

the purpose of the

teacher to influence
future instruction.