Inquiry Lesson Plan Template (with Four Ways of Thinking connection)

Teacher:
Content & Title:
Grade
Valerie Ogden
ScienceClothing Production &
Level:
Disposal in the United States
8th Grade
Honors
Standards:
ADE Science Standards
S1.C4.PO3. Present analyses and conclusions in clear, concise formats.
S3.C2.PO2. Compare solutions to best address an identified need or problem.
Objectives (Explicit & Measurable):
SWBAT present their given disposal topic by conducting research and explaining key points off whiteboard.
SWBAT determine which disposal method is most sustainable for the environment by comparing and
contrasting the differences and similarities of types.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable Assessment: formative and summative):
(formative) Take a Stand: Groups will list key points on whiteboard and present their given disposal topic in
three minutes. Each group member must speak at least once.
(formative) Verbal discussions: Teacher will make informal observations about conversations students are
engaged in while doing research,
(summative) E-ticket: Students will answer a series of questions on e-ticket. An example is: What are the
consequences of throwing clothes into the trash? Students must score 85% or higher to be considered
proficient.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (steps that lead to completion of objective; sequence from simple to more complex) :
Recall information about clothing production
Define vocabulary terms
Follow a given set of procedures
List key points of research
Present research
Summarize disposal types
Describe how actions of disposal impact the environment
Lesson Summary and Justification: (summary gives detailed information about what students are doing.
Justification why is this lesson being taught)

Students start the lesson by answering a couple of questions that gets them to start thinking about disposal.
During explore, students will research disposal types and address a series of bullet point questions to help
them direct their focus. All students are expected to contribute during the research and writing of key points
on the whiteboards. During explain, students will present their whiteboards and talked about what they
learned about their disposal type. Students who are not currently presenting will take notes that will help
complete their e-ticket at the end of the lesson. Once all groups have present, students will play a board game
called The Good & The Bad that focuses on how personal actions directly impact the environment. As a
summative assessment, students will complete their e-ticket before heading out the door. Disposal is equally
important to teach about because clothes go through a cycle. Disposal is the last impact on the environment
and it is up to individuals as to how they want to end their clothes life cycle. From repurposing to recycling,
or simply throwing clothes into the landfill, there are actions that are more sustainable than others. We have
to teach students that clothes can contribute to the destruction of our environment.
Background Knowledge: (What do students need to know prior to completing this lesson)
To understand the full lifecycle of clothing, students should first learn how clothing is produced. Materials
can be considered nonrenewable and renewable so it is important for students to have an understanding how
the production of fabrics lays a foundation for its cycle. When looking articles of clothing derived from
cotton, it begins in a field. Raw cotton goes through an entire process from raw start to finished product
while guzzling amounts of water and electricity. In day two of this unit, students will learn how jeans are
made. Jeans are considered the most popular and versatile clothing in this world so knowledge can be
applied to daily lives. As a wrap-up of production, students will learn about the consequences of fast fashion.
Unfortunately, the rapid increase of products being made to match demands leads to a direct increase in
disposal.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Misconception: (what possible misleading thoughts might students have?)

All clothes can be reused.
All articles of clothing that are donated to churches, schools, stores, etc. will be accepted and worn.
Sanitation is not something to consider when thinking about the donation of clothes.
Clothes have minimal impact when they are thrown into landfills.
Disposal always requires less energy than production.
Process Skills: (what skills are you introducing or reinforcing)
Communication: Students will work in groups of four to research a disposal type then discuss the key points
that will be listed on whiteboard. Students, in groups, will play The Good & The Bad board game and
discuss the outcomes of each card drawn.
Comparing/contrasting: Students will compare and contrast the similarities and differences between each
disposal type through presentation and discussion.
Relating: Students will relate their own experiences of getting rid of clothes and seeing how their actions
directly impact the environment.
Applying: Students will apply their knowledge by writing answers on the e-ticket.
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.)

1.
2.

Values thinking means being able to examine how our values influence our decisions and actions we take.
Values can often be unconscious meaning people do not think about their values, yet it plays a direct role
anyway. Students may or may not know their values when it comes to purchasing clothing. The value could
be the importance of trends and looking at ones best to impress an audience. A lack of value could be having
a relative purchase clothing instead. The same goes for disposal in understanding clothes hold a value. An
individual who is focused on trends is more likely to dispose of clothes quickly because they are no longer
cute or stylish. The goal of this lesson is for students to have an increase awareness of disposal types.
Hopefully, students begin to change their values of disposal by realizing the direct impacts they have on the
environment. Creating awareness affects attitudes and attitudes reflect values.
Examining the values of other resolving in different points of view is another part of values thinking. As
students conduct their research in Explore, students have to address the bullet point: why would someone
engage in this type of disposal?. Knowing that trash is the worst type of disposal, there are people who toss
clothes anyway. This gets students to set aside their own values and explore different points of views.
Understanding other values can help students maintain an open-mind and be open for discussion.
Safety: (what safety rules and items need to be addressed?)
Explore
Do not sniff whiteboard markers or try to make your peers sniff them.
Do not place whiteboard rags in other peoples face, your own face, on top of peoples head, on top of your
own head, etc.
Do not draw on yourself or your peers.
Elaborate
Do not swallow the game pieces.
Do not give your peers paper cuts with the cards.
Inquiry Questions: (testable in the here and now.)
Which type of disposal is more environmental-friendly or sustainable?
How do my actions of clothing disposal directly impact the environment?
Key vocabulary: (list and define)
Materials: (list item and possible quantity)
Dispose: get rid of by throwing away or selling to
5 Whiteboards
someone else
30 Whiteboard markers
Recycle: the ground-down and reprocessing of fabrics
10 Game sets (includes board, pieces, and cards)
Reduce: the reduction of purchasing clothing
Reuse: the passing of clothing from one person to
another
Repurpose: the transformation of clothing to serve a
different purpose than what was originally intended
Unusable: clothes that have no function or value,

typically to the extent that it can no longer be worn or

repurposed.
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:
Open up the by asking students a series of questions Respond how many times per year they go
that relate to the idea of disposal.
shopping
State hands need to be raised in order to answer a
Respond students how many times per year they
question. If no hands are raised, teacher will select
clean their closets and dispose of clothes
students instead.
Respond students what they typically do with
Ask students how many times per year they go
clothes they no longer want.
shopping
Ask students how many times per year they clean their
closets and dispose of clothes
Ask students what they typically do with clothes they
no longer want.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Best Teaching Practice: questioning. Students are held accountable to participate in the class. Questioning
reduces the conduct of misbehavior by giving them something to think about or do.
Differentiation: Rather than verbally answering the questions, think of an interactive game to play such as
Kahoot!. Sticky notes can be passed around and students can put their responses on the notes.
ELL: Write the questions on a slip of paper and hand it to the ELL student(s) before class begins. Ask the
student(s) to think of responses and they will participate at least once.
Notes: Keep this engage portion short, less than five minutes so students have a sufficient amount of time for
Explore, Explain, Elaborate, & Evaluate.
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:

Based off your answers from these last three

questions, I want you to start thinking about how your

own actions impact the environment. Open up your
notebooks, please. I want you to write down the date
and this question: Which type of disposal is more
environmental-friendly or sustainable?. Please write
one paragraph of at least five sentences. I will give you
one minute. Ready, set, go!

Next, we are going to do an activity called Take a

Stand. We are going to be researching five disposal
types: reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose, and trash. I am
going to split the class into five groups. Within your
groups, it is your objective to define your term, explain
what process clothing goes through, and why people
would engage in this type of disposal.

I want you to think about the values or even lack of

values people have that determines how they dispose of
their clothes. Is one way more convenient that another
way? Is there a lack of materials or resources available
to repurpose clothes? Does it depend on area like rural
versus city? If your group struggles answering why
people would engage in this type of disposal, please let
me know and I can give you some guidance. Are there
any questions before we move forward into the

activity?

Open up notebooks
Write date and question on a blank page.
Respond to IQ#1 by writing a paragraph in one
minute.
Listen to instructions.
Follow safety rules and expectations.
Split into five groups of five.
Receive disposal type.
Use Chromebooks to conduct research on topic.
Stay focused on Chromebooks and not get
distracted by looking at other websites and
applications.
Be held responsible of answering at least one
bullet point.
Be held responsible to contribute to overall type.
Communicate with group members about disposal
type.
Receive whiteboard and set of markers and
answer:
Define your type.
Explain the process clothes goes through.
Where does clothes typically end up at the end of
this process?
Why would someone engage in this type of
disposal?

 Your objective is to make a compelling case why your Why is this disposal type the best method of
disposal type is the best method of disposal.
getting rid of clothes?
Write on whiteboard:
Ask any questions as teacher filters around the
Define your type.
classroom.
Explain the process clothes goes through.
Where does clothes typically end up at the end of this
process?
Why would someone engage in this type of disposal?
Why is this disposal type the best method of getting rid
of clothes?
Everyone in your group is responsible for answering
at least one bullet point. I will be passing out large
whiteboards and marker sets. You will write your
responses on the whiteboards. Please do not sniff the
markers. Do not draw on yourself. Do not use the rag
to cover your head. And please, do not do any of that to
your peers.
I am going to split you into groups with the people
you are sitting by. I am going to give you thirty seconds
to form groups of 5. Ready, set, go!
Assign disposal types once groups are formed.
Give students fifteen minutes to complete activity. Use
judgment to add or take away time depending on the
productivity of students.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Best Teaching Practice: bullet point to student. Each student is held responsible to answer one bullet point.
This splits the work evenly between members and everyone is held accountable to contribute to the topic. No
student should be sitting around not knowing what to do.
Differentiation: Give students a set list of guided questions to help direct research for each specific topic.
Define the disposal type so students know what they are looking for.
ELL: Do not place ELLs in the same group. This can make research and contributions difficult if they do not
have normal peer support.
Notes: Walk around class as students do research. Consistently check in groups and make sure they are on
the right track. Ask them guiding questions and answer any questions they might have. Encourage discussion
but keep volume at an appropriate level.
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:
Check in with students to make sure they do not need
more time to complete research and writing on

whiteboards.

Grab student attention and explain part 2 of Take a

Stand.
Now that we have finished the first part of our

activity, it is time for groups to come up and present

what they have learned. Each group member is

expected to contribute by speaking at least once. When

you are not presenting, you will take notes in your
notebook. Make sure you take really good notes
because this will help you answer your e-ticket at the
end of class. Do I have a group that would like to
volunteer?

Students Will:
Wrap up research and writing.
Listen to expectations of presenters and audience.
Present information on whiteboard.
Each member will contribute by speaking at least
once.
Place whiteboard in the back of classroom.
Call on another group to present.
Take notes as groups present.
If needed, go to the back of the classroom and
write any additional notes they missed during
presentations.

 When students are done presenting, have them put their

whiteboards propped up in the back of the classroom.
After a group volunteers, have the students in that
group volunteer another group to present.
If needed, allow students to go to the back of the
classroom and write any additional notes they missed
during presentations.
Address any confusion in vocabulary or ideas:
Recycle: the ground-down and reprocessing of fabrics
Reduce: the reduction of purchasing clothing
Reuse: the passing of clothing from one person to
another
Repurpose: the transformation of clothing to serve a
different purpose than what was originally intended
Unusable: clothes that have no function or value,
typically to the extent that it can no longer be worn or
repurposed.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
Best Practice: Each member speaks at least once. This gives all students a chance to contribute to the
presentation and splits the talking between members. It is helps students practice public speaking skills.
Differentiation: Have students participate in a Gallery Walk rather than presenting.
Notes: Make sure students who are not participating are taking sufficient amount of notes and paying
attention to peers.
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)

Now that we have an understanding of each disposal
type, I want to shift to our own actions. How do my
actions of clothing disposal directly impact the

environment?

To explore this second inquiry question, we are going

to play a board game: The Good & The Bad. This game

is like Chutes & Latters. You select your starter piece

and you can guess what it is: articles of clothing. Each
person takes turns rolling a dice. When you roll the
dice, you move that amount of spaces on the board.
Each space is colored with red and green. Once you
land on a space, you have to draw a card according to
your color. Each card will have a scenario that
describes how disposal choices impact the
environment. The card will tell you to move spaces
forward, spaces backwards, or to stay the same.
For example, this green card says, You purchased
secondhand clothing rather than contributing to fast
fashion. Good for you! Move one space forward
For example, this red card says, You threw a perfectly
good pair of shoes in the trash because they were no
longing in style. Now your shoes will contribute to
landfill waste. Move three spaces backwards.
Your goal is to make it to the end of the board to win.
We will be playing in groups of two-three. So, form
seven groups of three and two groups of two.

Students Will:
Listen to instructions on how to play board game.
Split into groups of 2-3
Set up board game and select starter piece.
Roll dice to determine who goes first.
Play game according to instructions.
Try to make it to the top of the board to win.
Think about the red and green cards and how it
relates to personal choices.
Stay on task and focused while playing game.

 Create groups if they are unable to figure it out on their

own. Split groups of friends if they have hard time
focusing.
Pass out games to each group and release them to play.
Best Teaching Practice Strategy/Differentiation/ELL and Teacher Notes
ELL: Include an Instructions Sheet students can refer to throughout the game.
Notes: Students will get excited while playing this game. Chatter is encouraged, but make sure volume stays
at an appropriate level.
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:
Grab student attention and give them one minute to Clean up board games.
clean up board game and have them organize the Review notes prior to e-ticket.
sets.
Ask any questions.
Instruct one student from each group to place board Start e-ticket. No talking.
game at the front of classroom.
Turn in e-ticket when completed.
As a mentioned right before we started
presentations, I encouraged you all to take good
notes because I would be passing out an e-ticket to
check your comprehension. Do I have any questions
about what we have learned today before you get
started with the assessment?
Go ahead and close your notebooks. Clear your
desks. I am going to pass out this e-ticket. Zero
volume.
Closure: (revisit objective, IQs and make real world connections)
Thank you for all of your hard work today! Did you all like the board game? [Wait for student response.]. If
we have extra time on Friday, I can pull out the board games. For homework, I want you all to go through
your closets and record the amount of articles you own. This may take a while, especially if you own a lot of
clothes. Please do not spend more than half an hour counting all of your clothes. That is not necessary. If it
gets to that point, estimating is fine, but I do want you to have a pretty good idea of the quantity. You can
find this homework assignment uploaded on Google Classroom. There is a chart you can print out or fill
online. Please bring that completed for class tomorrow because we will be analyzing this data.
Next, I would like to introduce our service project for this unit. As you are counting your clothes for
homework, and you notice there are some items you no longer wear or would like to get rid of, please put
them in bags and bring them to class tomorrow. This is optional, but I highly, highly encourage you to clean
out your closets. Please label your bags if they are for donation or for recycling. Any questions? Have a
wonderful day.