Teacher: Clara Schneider

Date: June 12th, 2018

Grade Level: 2

Objective: Students will be able to create a method to clean dirty water using
appropriate materials following the Primary Design Folio.

Standards:
NGSS:
2-PS1-2
Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials
have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose
2-ESS2-1
Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing
the shape of the land
2-ESS2-3
Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or
liquid

CCSS:
Life Science (Science)
2.2.E.1 Recognize and describe that the surface of the Earth is more than half
covered with water
2.3.E.1 Recognize and describe that water can be found as a liquid or a solid on the
Earth’s surface and as a gas in the Earth’s atmosphere

Engineering and Technology (Science)

7.3.C.9 Develop an understanding of engineering design
7.3.C.10 Develop an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and
development, invention, and experimentation in problem solving
7.3.D.11 Develop the abilities to apply the design process

Writing (English, Language Arts, and Reading)

4.2.A.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic, state an opinion,
supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words to connect opinion and
reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
4.2.B.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and
strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
4.2.B.6 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to
produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
4.2.C.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).
4.2.C.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided
sources to answer a question.

Reading Informational Text (English, Language Arts, and Reading)

3.2.A.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to
demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
3.2.D.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including
history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2-3 text complexity
band proficiency, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Mathematics
2.2.A.5 Add and subtract within 1000, using concrete models or drawings and
strategies based on place value, properties of operation, and/or the relationship
between addition and subtraction

Resources/Materials:
● Strainers
● Coffee filters
● Cotton balls
● Rubber bands
● Paper towels
● Plastic tubs
● Chromebooks

Vocabulary:
Filter- pass (a liquid, gas, light, or sound) through a device to remove unwanted
materials

Pollution- unnatural or harmful substances

Students will encounter these words throughout the lesson and they are pertinent to
understanding of concepts and activities. Some direct instruction of vocabulary may
have to be done, especially for students who do not speak English as their first
language. Words will be provided on a word wall with pictures and examples for
reference throughout the lesson sequence.

Engagement:

Post the question: How many times a day do you use water?
*If time permits, allow students to keep a tally chart keeping track of every time they
use water throughout a day
-They could do this for multiple days and combine their data to find the average
number of uses per day
Examples: drinking, flushing the toilet, taking a bath or shower, brushing teeth,
watering yard or garden, washing dishes, filling a pet’s water dish or fish tank,
cleaning, doing laundry, swimming, fishing, etc.

● Pose the question to students: How does water get to your faucet?

To facilitate discussion and probe thought processes, further questions may include:
❖ Where does the water come from?
❖ Why can we drink water from a faucet but not straight from the Earth?
❖ What happens if water runs out from the source?

Broaden the horizon: Do all places in the world have clean drinking water? (This will
help set the framework for the second half of the learning sequence)
Many people around the world do not have running water in their homes, or even
access to clean water. They must gather water from sources near their homes such
as communal wells, sewers, rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, or swamps. What do you
think they find in this water? Fish, plants, trash, waste, chemicals, etc.

Exploration:

Scenario: You are running out of water and you must collect water from sources near
your home! Would you like to use this water for drinking, cleaning, and cooking?
(Show a bucket of dirty water from an outside source, if possible)
-Create a scale with the students to rate the water from really clean and drinkable to
really dirty and wouldn’t use for anything (this could be a rating scale of 1-5, or an
option of “clean”, “somewhat clean”, “dirty”, “really dirty”, etc) Any scale works as long
as the students have agreed on criteria for the rating system

Ask students: What are YOU going to do about it?

Present students with options of materials- but also tell them they can use anything
else around the classroom or brought from home.

Allowing students to choose their materials should facilitate discourse so that the
students must defend which materials they think they should choose and why. The
teacher should also be circulating the groups and asking questions such as: Why did
you choose the coffee filter and not the paper towels? I see you chose the plastic tub-
do you think that is the BEST material for this purpose? Why?

Materials: strainer, coffee filters, cotton balls, rubber bands, paper towels, plastic tubs

Students will work collaboratively to research how to make the best water filter out of
materials they have access to.
What to consider when they research:
What materials are the best materials and why? (metal may rust, plastic may break,
etc)
What materials are the cheapest?
What materials would be easiest to access?
What happens if the water you have access to is not a liquid? Maybe it is in a glacier
or underground?

● Students will work together to build the water filter going through the
engineering design process- brainstorm, plan, build, reflect.
❖ Allowing students to guide themselves through the design process will allow
them to apply their knowledge of what materials are best suited for their needs.
❖ Discussion will engage students in defending their ideas with the knowledge
that they acquired during research
❖ Students can test and re-build based on knowledge acquired through trial and
error experimentation

Student will rate each group’s filtered water on the agreed upon scale to determine
effectiveness of the filter.

This will also allow students some metacognitive reflection time in which they can rate
their own water filter and compare it to other groups. Some questions to probe
students’ thinking may include: I see you only gave your group a 3- what do you think
you could have done to make it a 5? This group got a 5- what parts of their filter seem
to be the most effective that maybe other groups didn’t include?

Chart each material used and what the resulting rate of water cleanliness was to
determine which materials were most effective and least effective.

This will allow for students to visually see which materials were more effective as well
as provide opportunities for students to practice math skills such as tallying, graphing,
comparing, and organizing and analyzing data.

Explanation:

● Once they have made their water filter, students will individually construct a
letter to an organization that helps provide clean drinking water to
disadvantages areas such as the Red Cross, Charity: Water, etc.
● The letter will address:
➢ Why did they build their water filter? What is the issue at hand?
 ➢ What is the reason behind using the materials that they did?
➢ How do they know their water filter is effective?
➢ Why do they recommend that the organization choose THEIR design over
others?

❖ Students’ ability to construct an argument will give the teacher more formal
feedback to assess student understanding of where water is found, the water
crisis, properties of water, and economic responsibility.

*Students may use chromebooks or any provided research articles as well as data
from our in-class experiment as evidence for their arguments

Elaboration:

● Students will read informational texts about how overuse of water is leading to
issues of water pollution and lack of clean drinking water.
❖ Texts will be differentiated to meet students’ reading levels
❖ This extension will relate our in class experiment to something that they can
see in their everyday lives and something that is a concrete issue easily
comprehensible to that age group
● Students will make a PSA with their group to get the school to conserve water
(this could be posters around the school, written announcements, video, skit for
an assembly, etc.)
❖ Allowing students the freedom to choose how their present their information will
encourage students to take ownership of their learning and engage them more
than assigning them a certain format.
❖ In addition, providing opportunity to present information in multiple mediums
will help meet the learning styles of different students in your class. For
example, if a group did a skit, one child could lead the way on writing the script
while one plans out props and actions, and another works to put the project
together electronically. It is important to allow students who have different
talents and intelligences to utilize these skills.
● Students could use Powtoon, Discovery Education boards, etc. for their
presentation
❖ It is important to provide our 21st century learners with opportunities to explore
and gain confidence with different technological programs and resources.
Computer literacy is a growing need for today’s learners and workforce.
Students will need more support and guidance at the beginning (especially in
the earlier grades), but should then been phased out to more independent
technology use.
 ❖ This is also a good opportunity to integrate appropriate technology use into
your lesson. Reminding students what it means to be a good “digital citizen”
and other dos and don’ts of technology use.

Evaluation:
Look at results of water conservation initiative and reflecting on change made in the
school

❖ The reflection portion is especially important in a longer lesson sequence such

as this. Students should engage in thoughtful conversations about what went
well with their design process and what they would change if they did it over
again.
❖ This is also a good opportunity to engage students in conversations about
collaborative work by posing questions such as:
➔ What was one thing your group did well when working together?
Communication? Compromise?
➔ What is one positive attribute that you contributed to your group?
➔ What is one way that you might improve to be a better group member? What
do you want to work on for next time?
These opportunities for metacognition are extremely important in students’ critical
thinking skills, social skills, and problem solving skills. Some students may be more
apt at reflecting and thinking metacognitively, but some students will need a lot of
support to reflect. The guiding questions should help facilitate this. Allow students to
reflect any way they choose that they think best gets their ideas out- maybe they can
draw a picture, talk to a friend, write in their journal- any way they can express their
ideas is a good way!

Students will get in contact with the principal or building service to try to gain access
to how much money the school spent on water in months prior, and then months after
they started their initiative- they can calculate the difference and amount of money
saved

If possible, you could also use information about how many gallons of water were
actually used previously and then saved as a result

❖ Being able to determine criteria for success is an important critical thinking skill
and allow students to analyze that they wanted to achieve with their project