              |
4th Grade Unit: Environmental Toxics Lesson 1: Lead
Students read and analyze a case study about a child with lead poisoning. The class meets a lead expert and tests objects found in the child’s house. The students make hypotheses and test substances for lead using home testing kits. Lesson 2: Test the Alternatives
Students analyze the warning labels on toxic cleaning products and discuss health consequences. They use their observations and inferences to design and test formulas for non-toxic cleaners using safe, household ingredients. The students ask their own questions and practice following written instructions with careful measurements. Groups work together to compare results from multiple trials. The students analyze a case study about a young boy with mercury poisoning and work in teams to read profiles of other patients with similar symptoms. They use sugar solutions and urine test strips to simulate a blood mercury test, and they discover that eating fish can lead to mercury poisoning. The presenter explains how mercury travels from the smokestacks of coal burning power plants to the ocean. The students work in groups to organize marine organisms into food chains. The class then creates a pyramid representing a food web and discusses how mercury becomes more concentrated at the higher levels of the pyramid. Lesson 4: Air Pollution 1
The class interviews a patient whose health is affected by local air pollution. The students discuss observations and inferences about local air pollution. They conjecture about causes of air pollution around the school and follow a set of written instructions to begin an experiment. Groups of students attach pieces of clear scotch tape to particle collectors that they station around the school for one week. Lesson 5: Air Pollution 2
Students observe the particle collectors from Lesson 4 under the light of small, handheld, microscopes. Groups compare results and make recommendations for school administrators. Finally, the students compose letters to government officials asking for action concerning air pollution.
|
The Environmental Toxics unit for the 4th grade covers a wide range of household and environmental toxics that threaten the health of the community. Over the course of five weeks, the class investigates lead, mercury, household toxics, and air pollution. The student follow case studies, analyze test results, solve mysteries, invent non-toxic products, and take political action.
Lesson plan
Lesson 3: Mercury Poisoning