Inquiry Lesson Plan Template (with Four Ways of Thinking

connection)
Teacher:
Content & Title:
Grade Level:
Nicole Fiene
Sustainability
Water Pollution
1st
Standards:

PO 2. Participate in guided investigations in life, physical, and Earth and space sciences.

PO 5. Identify ways to conserve natural resources (e.g., reduce, reuse, recycle, find alternatives).

Objectives (Explicit & Measurable):

Students will be able to identify the problem with water pollution and
brainstorm ideas of how to solve the issue.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable Assessment: formative and summative):
(formative): Teacher will observe and take notes as students are
working through the experiement.
(summative): Students will submit a writing piece stating the problem
with water pollution and at least one way to solve the problem of
water pollution.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (steps that lead to completion of objective; sequence from
simple to more complex):

Students will be able to understand what water pollution is

Students will be able to understand how water pollution affects
wildlife/human life
Students will be able to develop at least one idea of how to solve the
problem of water pollution.
Lesson Summary and Justification: (summary gives detailed information about what
students are doing. Justification why is this lesson being taught)

Students will be learning about water pollution by hearing the story of

Freddy the Fish and the problems he runs into as he encounters water
pollution. Students will be active in polluting their own container of water to
understand what water pollution looks like. Based on their observations,
students will think about the impact water pollution has on all forms of life
and brainstorm ways in which we can prevent water pollution from
occurring.
Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know prior to completing this
lesson)

Have an idea what pollution/littering is

Understand that water is an important resource that we use each day
Misconception: (what possible misleading thoughts might students have?)
Water pollution can easily be cleaned up
Water pollution does not affect animals living within the water or
around it
Process Skills: (what skills are you introducing or reinforcing)
Observing Observing how water pollution affects Freddy as he
encounters different forms of pollution
Communicating Communicating ideas about how to prevent water
pollution with classmates and in writing
Predicting Predicting how our future will look if we do not take care of

the issue, and what the future will look like if we do take action
Four Ways of Thinking connection: (Provide a complete explanation of how your
lesson plan connects to futures, system, strategic, or values thinking. Define the way of
thinking you selected and used in this lesson plan. Remember, this should be included
meaningfully in the lesson plan.)
Futures Thinking defintion: When studying sustainability and thinking of sustainable solutions for our
planet, it is important that we not only focus on the present situations we could fix, but how we want
our future planet to look. However, using Futures Thinking, we are not just thinking about how we want
to improve our future to make it brighter, we we are thinking about our past and present decisions that
will negatively impact our future if we do not change them now. We may start by thinking of futures we
do not want to have and work from there. For example, students may think about how they do not want
to see our future oceans covered in even more garbage than they are today. Therefore, we work on a
solution that will help us to prevent this future, and in its place, create a better one.
How this lesson plan connects to Futures Thinking: This lesson plan connects to Futures Thinking
in the way that students will be thinking about the future if we do not fix the current issue we are facing
with water pollution as well as thinking critically about what actions we must take now, creating
solutions to fix water pollution in order to have clean waters in the future.
Safety: (what safety rules and items need to be addressed?)
All materials given to students to act out Freddys story will be used responsibly and
with respect of the materials and of others. Any students not using materials with
respect and responsibility will be asked to sit out.
Inquiry Questions: (testable in the here and now.)
1. (to explore): How do you think water pollution affects life that lives within the waters
and around them?
2. (to elaborate): What can we do to make sure that Freddy has clean waters to live in?
Key vocabulary: (list and define)
Materials: (list item and possible
1. Pollution: the presence in or introduction
quantity)
into the environment of a substance or thing
1. Freddy the Fish Story
that has harmful or poisonous effects.
2. Freddy the Fish materials: small plastic
2. Pollutants: a substance that pollutes
container, water, sponge cut into the shape
something, especially water or the
of a fish, soil, syrup, salt, food coloring
atmosphere.
(red/green), brown sugar, paper dots,
3. Ecosystem: a biological community of
warm water with soap.
interacting organisms and their physical
3. Student assessment/writing worksheet
environment.
4. Environment: the surroundings or conditions in
which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.

Engage - In this section you should activate prior knowledge, hook student
attention, pose a question (IQ#1) based on your lesson objective that students
will seek to answer in Explore.
Teacher Will: (hook)
Students Will:
Teacher will ask students if they have ever
Students will listen to the teacher
seen trash on the side of the road, or ever
and think about the questions
witnessed anyone littering. Teacher will ask
being asked, reflecting on the
students what they think happens to that
previous days activity concerning
trash after it is littered. Teacher will remind
waste and water. Students will
students of the activity done the previous day
concerning waste and water and remind
participate in sharing answers
students that one reason our waters have
when appropriate.
trash in them is because some individuals
choose to litter instead of properly disposing
of their trash. Teacher will then explain to
students that in todays lesson, students will
be exploring how the waste such as trash, oil
and other pollutants affect the animals that
live in and near polluted water, and overall,

how water pollution affects our lives as well.

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes

N/A
Explore - In this section students should take the lead and actively use materials
to discover information that will help them answer the question posed in
Engage. Teachers may choose to give steps to follow, especially for younger students,
but the goal is for students to discover some or all of the sub-objectives of the lesson.
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #1)
Students Will: (list all steps)
Teacher will ask students: How do you think
water pollution affects the life that lives within
the waters and around waters that are
polluted? Teacher will announce that she will
be reading a story about a Fish named Freddy
and that students will follow along with the
story, adding in each type of pollution that is
mentioned within the story as it is mentioned
and that students will be exploring how
wildlife is affected by water pollution through
the story. Teacher will explain that the
materials that are set out at each of the
groups tables will need to be treated with
respect and handled responsibly. Teacher will
explain that any students that are not
handling materials resonsibly will be asked to
sit out and watch/listen. Teacher will then read
the Freddy the Fish story aloud to the
students, making sure that students are
following along and adding pollutants as
necessary.

Students will listen to the first Inquiry

Question posed, keeping it in mind as they
are working through the explore portion of
the lesson. Students will be working with
materials responsibly and listening closely
as the teacher reads Freddy the Fish,
adding each pollutant as it is named in the
story. Students will be expected to be
making observations as the story goes
along.

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes

ELL: ELL students will be grouped together to best communicate ideas and
support one another throughout the experiment.
Explain In this section students share what they discovered, teacher connects
student discoveries to correct content terms/explanations, students
articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the lesson sub-objectives
by answering the question from Engage before moving on.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
After reading the story, teacher will
Students will think critically about
ask: How do you think Freddy feels
the questions posed by the teacher
now that his environment is polluted?
and reflect on their experience in
What did you observe during the story the explore portion of the lesson.
as more and more pollutants were
Students will share their thoughts
added to the water in which Freddy
and reactions with the class to
lives? And lastly, what have we learned demonstrate understanding.
from Freddys story about how water
pollution affects wildlife that lives in or
near water? Teacher will call on
several students to answer these
questions and state their
understandings of how animals are
affected by water pollution. Teacher
will record ideas on the board for
students to see a collective list of
adjectives describing how Freddy feels
and how water pollution affects life on

Earth.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Teacher will summarize/write students thoughts on the whiteboard at the
front of the room to serve as a resource throughout the lesson and to
demonstrate writing for the class/ELL students.
Elaborate In this section students take the basic learning gained from Explore and
clarified in Explain and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a particular aspect of
this learning at a deeper level. Students should be using higher order thinking in this
stage. A common practice in this section is to ask a What If? question. IQ #2
Teacher Will: (pose IQ #2)
Students Will:
Teacher will then pose Inquiry Question #2:
Students will listen to teacher
What can we do to make sure that Freddy has
questions, thinking critically about
clean waters to live in? Teacher may ask in a
how they can prevent and rid our
different way: What can we do to solve the
waters of water pollution in the
problem of water pollution. How can we make
future. Students will be expected to
sure that people dont dump garbage into the
water we have here on Earth? Teacher will
work diligently on their pictures
announce that students will be working on a
and writing pieces, elaborating on
writing piece where they will state: 1. What
their ideas and learning that they
water pollution is and 2. At least one idea of
have acquired throughout the
how we can prevent water from being
polluted. Teacher will explain the worksheet on lesson.
which the elaborate portion will be completed
on, explaining that the student will need to
draw a picture of how they see water pollution
in their mind in the box provided at the top of
the page, and on the lines below, explain what
water pollution is in their own words and at
least one idea of how to fix water pollution so
that it no longer exists in the future on the
lines below their picture.

Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes

Teacher will work with ELL students, having them state their ideas aloud
before they begin writing their ideas down on paper. Teacher will help ELL
students to formulate ideas and get them down on paper.
Evaluate In this section every student demonstrates mastery of the lesson
objective (though perhaps not mastery of the elaborate content). Because this also
serves as a closing, students should also have a chance to summarize the big
concepts they learned outside of the assessment.
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
(This portion will be carried into Day
Students will participate in giving
5 of the 5-day unit).
responses and summarizing the
After students have had plenty of
learning they have done throughout
time to finish up their writing from
the lesson. Students will be expected
the previous day, teacher will ask a
to share ideas about how to treat the
few students to share the picture
problem of water pollution to ensure
they have drawn and what they
that water pollution is non-existent
wrote with the class. Teacher will ask in the future.
students questions to summarize the
important concepts they have
learned throughout the lesson.
Teacher will begin by asking what
water pollution is. Then teacher will
ask students: who is affected by

water pollution? Teacher will then

ask a few more volunteers to share
ideas for how to solve the problem of
water pollution. Teacher will record
these on the whiteboard at the front
of the classroom.
Closure: (revisit objective, IQs and make real world connections)

Teacher will close the lesson by stating: Alright students, now that we have identified the
problem with water pollution, and we have brainstormed several different ideas to make
sure that water pollution does not keep happening in our future. Who can raise their hand
and remind me how water pollution affects life in water and life around water? Teacher will
call on a student to answer. Teacher will then say: Who can remind me of some ways that
we can make sure that animals like Freddy have clean waters to live in, and we have clean
water to use? Again, teacher will call on a student to answer. Teacher will then remind
students that water is a vital resource for all forms of life, and one that we need to protect.

**Best Practices List the Best Teaching Practices you will use to enhance
the learning outcomes. In each section where prompted, list the best
practice, how the practices will be used and the purpose.

Student Assessment:

Name:______________________

Water Pollution

I can prevent water pollution by

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