Molloy College

Division of Education

Lesson Plan Template

Student Melissa Torre Professor Maria Esposito

Course EDU 5230 Date 11.28.18

Grade 1st Topic Ocean Pollution Content Area Science

Link to Website: https://scienceiscool15.weebly.com

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES (s) (Lesson Objective(s)*)

After listening to an audio version of The Ocean Story by John Seven and exploring an

interactive website to reinforce knowledge and importance about toxic waste found in our

oceans, students will create their own ocean in a bottle to mimic real life pollution in our oceans

followed by completing a journal entry in which they write 5 complete sentences about the story

and ways we could help reduce pollution.

NYS STANDARDS AND INDICATORS

Standard and/or Key Idea and/or Key Concept (refer to lesson plan instructions for details

Science: K-ESS3-3 Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land,

water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

Indicator: This will be evident when students create their own ocean in a bottle to mock

pollution seen in our oceans and talk about how we could reduce our impact on the environment.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
Standard and/or Key Idea and/or Key Concept (refer to lesson plan instructions for details)

ELA: 1SL6 Express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly, using complete sentences when

appropriate to task, situation, and audience.

Indicator: This will be evident when students complete a journal entry linking

information about ocean pollution learned in the story and their ideas about how we could reduce

them.

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

 The Ocean Story by John Seven

 Journals

 Water bottles

 Sinking and floating beads

 Funnel

 Pollution Mix

 Blue food coloring

 Paper towels

 Markers

 Whiteboard

 Smartboard

 Tablets/Chrome books

MOTIVATION (Engaging the learner(s)*)

Students will be shown a couple of pictures of ocean pollution on the Smartboard, dirty water,

animals covered in oil, and garbage on the beach and in the water. The students will take a
© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571
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*edTPA academic language
minute to reflect on what they were just shown followed by a group discussion in which they

share their thoughts and feelings.

DEVELOPMENTAL PROCEDURES

1. Students will be shown pictures of ocean pollution followed by a minute for quiet

personal reflection. The teacher will then introduce the lesson by asking students

questions about pollution Who here knows why these animals look this way in these

photos? Does anyone know what that brown stuff covering their bodies is? Has anyone

ever seen garbage in the water while they were at the beach?

2. Students will listen to an audio book of The Ocean Story by John Seven. The teacher will

encourage students to listen to ways in which we could help clean up our oceans. What

are some ways in which we could help clean up our oceans? How does hearing about

pollution make you feel?

3. Students will then participate in a turn and talk in groups of three. Talking about how the

text made them feel, what surprised them the most, if they had ever heard of ocean

pollution before this? This will help meet level one of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Remember.

Challenging them to recall information from the text to use as support for their answers.

4. Students will then return for a large class discussion in which they share what they were

talking about in their groups. The Teacher will ask questions to help reinforce the second

level of Bloom’s understand. Can you give me an example of ocean pollution you learned

from the story? What ways are we connected to the ocean? Why is reducing pollution so

important?

5. The teacher will then pull up a graphic from National Geographic Kids called Swimming

In It to help teach kids the harmful effects of products we use every day on the ocean

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 (water bottles, plastic bags). The teacher will ask students, Who here drinks water bottles

at home, at school, or both? Who has parents that use reusable bags when they go

grocery shopping?

6. Students will then break into groups to explore the website and list 10 new things their

group found interesting on their tablet/ Chrome book. The teacher will walk around the

room and read each groups lists checking to see if the groups are remaining on tasks and

to see what the students have learned from the site. What thing did you find most

shocking about ocean pollution? Did the numbers and statistics surprise you?

7. The teacher will then pass out tools needed for the ocean in a bottle pollution experiment.

Starting with the floating and sinking beads to help represent different organisms within

the ocean; bottom dwellers and animals found on the surface.

8. The teacher will then funnel some pollution mix into each student’s bottle so they can see

which level of organisms it effects. This will help meet Bloom’s level three and four,

apply and analyze. What differences do you notice in your ocean? Do you think the

pollution is only going to affect one part of the ocean?

9. Students will then shake their bottles to represent the constant movement and flow of the

ocean to show how ocean pollution can wind up having a bigger impact than originally

expected. Meeting Bloom’s level five, evaluate. How did the pollution effect your ocean?

What ways can we help stop this from happening?

10. To end the lesson students will complete a journal entry in which they successfully write

five sentences. This will meet Bloom’s final level, Create. Having students take

information they learned from the story and formulate a response to today’s lesson.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES (Learning Strategies*)

Strategy

Scaffolding

Indicator: This will be evident when the teacher pauses the text to reinforce key

vocabulary from the story, and emphasize key pictures throughout the text.

Strategy

Cooperative Learning

Indicator: This will be evident during our class discussion sharing what we talked about

in our smaller groups during the turn and talk.

Strategy

Turn and Talk

Indicator: This will be evident when students break into small groups to discuss different

opollution and ways we could reduce our impact stated within the text.

Strategy

Generating and testing Hypotheses

Indicator: This will be evident when students perform the Ocean in a Bottle activity.

They will predict which beads will float and which ones will sink, they will predict what level of

the oceans they think the pollution solution will effect, and they will predict what will happen if

they shake the bottle with pollution solution in it. Then they will test out these options and see if

their guesses where correct.

ADAPTATIONS (Exceptionality*)

1. I will draw out key vocabulary words on the white board for English Language Learners

(ELLs) along with writing out the corresponding word underneath.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 2. For students with Dyslexia they will have the option of completing as much of a sentence

as possible along with a Venn Diagram to explain their thoughts and feelings towards the

text and how they could work to reduce ocean pollution.

3. For ELLs I could provide the audio book in their native language.

DIFFERENTIATION OF INSTRUCTION

Sample way to differentiate

Struggling Students

Students will be provided a worksheet with sentence starters for the final assessment. I could also

lower the sentence requirement to 3 instead of 5.

Average Students

Students will complete a journal entry of 5 complete sentences in which they discuss what they

learned from the text and ways we could help reduce pollution in our oceans.

Advanced Students

After completing the five sentence journal entry, students will complete a T-chart in which they

list examples of pollution on one side and a possible solution on the other side.

ASSESSMENT (artifacts* and assessment [formal & informal]*)

Informal Assessment: The students will explore the National Geographic Kids website, in which

they will learn facts and statistics about ocean pollution. Students will discuss their findings in

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
groups as well as with their teacher. Sharing what they found most shocking, what they would

like to change, and how they plan on changing it.

Formal Assessment: This will be the journal entry of 5 sentences relating what we discussed in

class and read in the text to possible solutions.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE

Students will draw a picture of “their ocean” along with a written paragraph listing the animals

it’s home to, what rules they would have beach goers abide by, and ways humans could help

keep it clean.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES: DIRECT TEACHER INTERVENTION AND

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT

Direct Teacher Intervention

Students will conduct research on ocean pollution and present a brief five-minute informal report

to the class.

Academic Enrichment

Students will write an informal email to the teacher explaining what they found most interesting

about today’s lesson. Each email must be a minimum of three sentences.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 REFERENCES

Plastic Pollution (n.d.). Retrieved from National Geographic Kids

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/kids-vs-plastic/pollution/

Seven, J., & Christy, J. (2011). The Ocean Story. Mankato, MN: Picture Window

Books.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language