Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit Template
ELA/MATH standards: www.engageny.org
SCIENCE standards: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/sci/documents/p-12-science-learning-standards.pdf
SOCIAL STUDIES standards: https://www.socialstudies.org/c3
Theme: Pollution Cause and Effect
Grade: 3
MATHEMATICS
OBJECTIVES (AT LEAST ONE FOR EACH:
READING & WRITING)
Student will be able to calculate how many
pieces of trash they will produce during lunch
over 30 days.
Students will write how they can cut down on
their lunch trash in at least three sentences.
Students will be able to create a bar graph
depicting the amount of trash used by the
class during one lunch and during 30 lunches.
STANDARDS:
11. Create and present a poem, narrative,
play, art work, or personal response to a
particular author or theme studied in class.
3.0A.7. Fluently multiply and divide within
SCIENCE
OBJECTIVES (AT LEAST ONE FOR EACH: READING &
WRITING)
Student will pick one activity of humans mentioned
in the book and explain in a paragraph how it effects
the environment.
Student will write a letter persuading all humans to
change one activity that is harmful to the
environment, with at least two supporting reasons.
STANDARDS:
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting
a point of view with reasons.
a. Introduce the topic or text they are writing
about, state an opinion, and create an
SOCIAL STUDIES
OBJECTIVES (AT LEAST ONE FOR EACH: READING &
WRITING)
Student will be able to describe a cause and effect
relationship of people living near the ocean in three-four
sentences.
Student will be able to construct a chart of at least three
cause and effect relationships from the book One Well.
STANDARDS:
Describe the relationship between a series of historical
events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical
procedures in a text, using language that pertains to
time, sequence, and cause/effect.
100, using strategies such as the relationship
between multiplication and division
TRADE BOOK CONNECTION
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Graphs by
Suzanne Barchers
Reading Level: Grades 2-3
organizational structure that lists reasons.
b. Provide reasons that support the opinion.
c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because,
therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion
and reasons.
d. Provide a concluding statement or section.
7.1c Humans, as individuals or communities,
change environments in ways that can be either
helpful or harmful for themselves and other
organisms.
TRADE BOOK CONNECTION
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming
by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon
Reading Level: Grades 3-5
D2.Geo.4.K-2. Explain how weather, climate, and other
environmental characteristics affect peoples lives in a
place or region.
D2.Geo.5.K-2. Describe how human activities affect the
cultural and environmental characteristics of places or
regions.
TRADE BOOK CONNECTION
One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle
Strauss
Reading level: R Grades 3/4
STUDENT ACTIVITES THAT WILL DEVELOP
THE SKILLS/CONCEPTS LISTED IN THE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Students will count how many pieces
of trash they had at lunchtime.
Students will then calculate how
many pieces of trash they would have
at lunch over 30 days
Students will think about what they
could change to reduce their amount
of trash and write about it in a
paragraph
STUDENT ACTIVITES THAT WILL DEVELOP THE STUDENT ACTIVITES THAT WILL DEVELOP THE
SKILLS/CONCEPTS LISTED IN THE LEARNING SKILLS/CONCEPTS LISTED IN THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
OBJECTIVES: Class will read the book together
Class will read the book together.
Students will look at the book and pick three
Students will examine the book and pick one
activity of humans mentioned and write examples of cause and effect relationships to
create a chart
about how it affects the environment.
Students will then write a letter to all Students will then create the chart and share with
humans persuading them to change one their peers in their seating groups.
activity that is harmful to the environment
Students will share their letters with the
class