Part 1 - Environmental Impacts Lesson (1 Class Period)
- Students will begin the lesson by participating
in a think-pair-share activity about ways that humans impact the environment
around the world.
- Following the think-pair-share, students will
view a brief video clip about environmental impacts(below)
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Part 2 - Field Trip (1 School Day)
- Morning – Back River Wastewater Treatment
Facility
- Students will tour the Back River Wastewater
Treatment Facility in order to learn how much of our wastewater is cleaned and
returned back to the Chesapeake Bay.
- Students will tour the Back River Wastewater
Treatment Facility in order to learn how much of our wastewater is cleaned and
returned back to the Chesapeake Bay.
- Afternoon – Inner Harbor Trash Collection Water
Wheel
- After a brief lunch in the Inner Harbor, student
will proceed by foot to Harbor East where they will view the recently installed
Garbage Collection Water Wheel. Students will meet with members of the
Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore (owners/maintainers of Wheel) and
Clearwater Mills, LLC (inventors of the wheel) to hear about how they came up
with the idea for the wheel, what problems they had to overcome to get their
project done and how they were able to make it a reality.
- After a brief lunch in the Inner Harbor, student
will proceed by foot to Harbor East where they will view the recently installed
Garbage Collection Water Wheel. Students will meet with members of the
Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore (owners/maintainers of Wheel) and
Clearwater Mills, LLC (inventors of the wheel) to hear about how they came up
with the idea for the wheel, what problems they had to overcome to get their
project done and how they were able to make it a reality.
- Throughout the trip, students will be asked to
take pictures (using their cell phones or digital/flip cameras provided to
them) of anything they see as evidence of human impact on the environment. Upon
their return they will choose two of their pictures and explain how their
picture demonstrates human impact on the environment. Student will then write a
3 paragraph summary of their experience.
- The completed assignments will be posted to the YouthCan
forum.
- The completed assignments will be posted to the YouthCan
forum.
- Long Term Planning Considerations
- This field trip would most likely take place in
late April or early May. Planning should begin in January at the latest to be
safe
- Field Trip must be approved by administration
and may need special approval due to the late date.
- Busses must be reserved
- Back River Water Treatment Facility needs to be
contacted to set up a tour (Contact # - 410-396-9806)
- Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore needs to be
contacted to set up meeting(email on website: http://waterfrontpartnership.org/contact-us)
- Clearwater Mills, LLC must be contacted (Contact
# - 410-952-6370 or email [email protected])
- Reserve/obtain cameras for students to use on
the field trip.
- Field Trip must be approved by administration
and may need special approval due to the late date.
- This field trip would most likely take place in
late April or early May. Planning should begin in January at the latest to be
safe
Part 3 - Action Plan Assignment (3-4 Class Periods)
Day 1 (Classroom)
- We will begin by reviewing the field trip
experience with a focus on the meeting with creators and operators of the water
wheel
- How did they come up with their idea?
- What were some steps they had to go through to
get the project approved?
- What were some roadblocks they encountered along
the way?
- How did they come up with their idea?
- After talking about the water wheel, The Action
Plan assignment will be introduced.
- Student will be split into groups of 3-4.
- Each group will choose an environmental impact
that affects the state of Maryland.
- Groups will brainstorm possible solutions to
their problem and chose what they feel is the best solution to their problem.
This solution will be the basis for their Action Plan.
- Student will be split into groups of 3-4.
Day 2-3/4 (Computer Lab or in classroom with Laptop Cart)
- sing the solution they chose in the last class
and considering what they learned on the field trip, students will create an
action plan to deal with the problem they have chosen. Each Action Plan will
consist of the following sections:
- Explanation of the Problem/Environmental Impact
- This section should thoroughly explain the
problem and the impact it has on the environment.
- This section should also discuss how it is
specifically affecting the environment in Maryland.
- This section should thoroughly explain the
problem and the impact it has on the environment.
- Proposal of Solution
- This section will introduce the solution the
group has come up with for their chosen problem.
- This section should explain in detail how the
solution will address the problem
- This section will introduce the solution the
group has come up with for their chosen problem.
- Action Plan
- This section will describe the steps necessary
to implement the chosen solution.
- This section should deal with things such as
fundraising, approval, organizations that will be involved, etc.
- This section will describe the steps necessary
to implement the chosen solution.
- Letter to Politician
- The letter to the Politician should summarize
all the information above and seek to convince the politician that their
problem and solution are worth supporting.
- The letter to the Politician should summarize
all the information above and seek to convince the politician that their
problem and solution are worth supporting.
- Presentation
- Each group will create a Presentation using the
method of their choice (PowerPoint, Prezi, Poster, etc.) that includes all four
of the sections above.
- Each group will create a Presentation using the
method of their choice (PowerPoint, Prezi, Poster, etc.) that includes all four
of the sections above.
- Explanation of the Problem/Environmental Impact
- Once complete, groups will upload their Action Plan Presentations to the YouthCan forum.
- Long Term Planning Considerations
- Email LMC Coordinator for use of the library computer lab in February/March to reserve lab, or reserve laptops on department laptop calendar.
Part 4(Closure) - Parkville Environmental Conference
- As closure for the Project, Students will
participate in an after school conference where each group will present their
plan.
- Each Plan will be rated by judges and their
classmates and a winning project will be selected from each class.
- Long-Term Planning Considerations
- Cafeteria or Gymnasium must be reserved in
advance for the conference.
- Projector and computer must be reserved for the
presentations
- Cafeteria or Gymnasium must be reserved in
advance for the conference.
Part 5 - Participate in YouthCan Conference
- The top action plans from each class will be
selected and those groups will represent their classes at a YouthCan Conference
- Long-Term Planning Considerations
- Hotel/Travel Accommodations need to be made
based on where the conference is held.
- Trip must be approved by administration.
- Hotel/Travel Accommodations need to be made
based on where the conference is held.