STEM 2015 Make Every Day Earth Day! Sample Plan for K-3 rd graders

General Process  Climb the STEM tree of integrated knowledge.  Use age-appropriate skills, art, music, and technology to own a problem.  Ask many questions!  Explore, read, write, measure, predict, draw, explain and help solve a problem.

STEM Process  Identify a problem such as harm caused by irresponsible use of plastic products.  State the problem clearly to seek a solution.  Explore the topic in small groups.  Ask questions.  Gather, sort, talk and explain information.  What tools will you need to solve a problem?  What sort of charts, graphs, apps, websites, other tech tools may be needed?  Who could help you solve the problem?

Generate ideas!* We care about our community! *Kids label pictures with help of an adult. Share a few personal stories. Read some stories about Earth Day activities that families may want to do.

Problem Pictures Teacher-led discussion talking about how to care and celebrate every day as Earth Day!

Irresponsible uses of plastic products hurt us and our environment.  Plastic ring holders hurt animals.  Plastic bottles/BPA and BPA-free hurt kids.  Plastic waste gets caught in plants, trees, fences and needs a tough clean-up job.  Plastic chemicals can hurt humans.  Plastic does not break down easily or quickly.  Plastic toxins leak into water resources.

Explore uses of plastic.  Kids use phones or a digital camera to take pictures of plastic objects in classroom, lunchroom, gym or hallway. (plates, bottles, straws, pipes, plastic notebooks, counters)  Kids use a phone at home to take pictures of items made with plastic. (dishes, containers, waste cans, bags, shavers, appliances, soap dish)  Kids pictures to teacher, assistant or parent volunteer.  Adult prints pictures, kids cut them out. Form small groups of kids to sort them in 3R categories. (Reduce, reuse, recycle, throw away)  Object is to create a math graph/chart with category, object labels and numbers of each type.  Kids paste the pictures on chart. Discuss results. Add totals of objects. Study the graphs/charts. In small groups, draw conclusions about pictures. ( How many? What kinds? Any problems with any of the information gathered?)  Kids connect information to “Every Day is Earth Day” celebrations.  Kids may start coming up with more problems/solutions. Tell them to write ideas or draw ideas in journals.

ASK QUESTIONS  Teacher-led group discussion resulting in each group writing three questions about the oral, visual and written “Make Every Day Earth Day” data.  Kids write three questions about pictures. Example:  Lots of pictures of plastic bags lead one group to conclude the problems of fly-a-way bags, trashy areas, people throwing lots of plastic bags away…or one more example…  Almost all of our pictures show people using plastic drinking bottles and re-usable ones. What happens to the bottles that get thrown away? What happens to the bottles that get recycled? What happens to re-usable bottles? How do these bottles help and hurt the environment?

Answers to Questions  Kids write down where they will search for answers. Examples: (experts, books, internet search, teacher-provided links, websites, self-knowledge, parents, older friends/family)  Kids record answers in journals, print responses, draw pictures and credit where they found the answers.  Possible links provided by teacher:  infants-and-toddlers/ infants-and-toddlers/   ‬ ‬  environment/ environment/   legislation.aspx legislation.aspx

Original Solutions  Kids use journals, pictures, graphs, each other to sketch designs for original solutions* to identified problems.  Break up into groups. Review the written problem. Teacher makes sure the groups each have a clear statement of problem.  Teacher reviews the process of class work towards a solution.  Spend a few minutes talking about what has been done by other people and organizations in the community.  In groups, kids attempt to create other original, workable solutions.  Sketch, write a speech, a story, a song, an ad, a sign.  *If no originals, then kids choose one solution already in place that is working for the Earth Day community.

STEM 2015 “Make Every Day Earth Day” Taking care of our earth is as much fun as singing about an old pot SPRINGING with green bubbles!