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Comic - Ocean Pollution is No Laughing Matter

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Comic - Ocean Pollution is No Laughing Matter

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Media: Visual - Comic
Summary: This is a comic that illustrates how whales ingest trash that ends up in the oceans.
Theme Connection: This comic is a humorous image of how marine life is affected by waste. The students will find the humor in this comic, as most of them are familiar with cats, and how they cough up hair balls.
Complexity: This photo is not very complex and the students will understand that it is both humorous but also dangerous for marine life.
Instructional Uses: The students will view this comic with a partner after doing some research on water pollution. The students will then determine what might be a possible cause for the pollution that affected these whales. They will share their thoughts with the class after viewing the comic.

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Media: Non-traditional - poem
Summary: This poem is about mother nature and all it does to help keep our planet clean and beautiful. It talks about how we make it a mess, and how we need to pollute less for the future generations.
Theme Connection: This poem is connected to the theme as it relates to pollution. It discusses how we need to pollute less to help keep the Earth green for all living things here.
Text Complexity: This poem is not very complex, and it includes traditional features of poetry. There are stanza breaks, rhyming, and rhythm. Those features would need to be practiced before reading this poem, in order for students to be successful in reading it.
Instructional Uses: This poem would be read aloud by the teacher first, in order to show students the rhythm that the poem is supposed to follow. After the first read, students will then re-read the poem with a partner to identify the key components of the poem. This poem will be displayed in the classroom on an anchor chart for continued reference in relation to mother nature.

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Stopping Pollution, Let's Preserve Our Nature, Nature Poem for Kids

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I am only a kid. I really like to write poems, and I thought I'd make a nice little poem about nature for our school magazine. It's one of my best poems. Thanks for reading this poem!

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Media: Video
Summary: This video is a kid friendly video using clip art and other images that are easily understood by children. This video is about the different causes of water pollution, the effects of water pollution on humans, animals, and plants, and some steps to help control water pollution.
Theme Connection: This video is important for students to watch because it briefly and explicitly shows students the causes and effects of water pollution.
Complexity: Although this video is not very complex, some science processes will need to be explicitly explained prior to watching the video. The process of acid rain, and the food chain will need to be taught first. This video is also appropriate for 3rd grade students because of the use of images that match the words being spoken. This connection helps decrease complexity.
Instructional Uses: This video will be used near the beginning of the research phase of water pollution, so students understand in a kid friendly way what causes pollution. Students will fill out a cause and effect chart while watching this video.

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Water pollution | Water Contamination | Video for kids

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Bill Nye the Science Guy Pollution Solutions 

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Bill Nye the Science Guy Pollution Solutions 

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Media: Video - television
Summary: The episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy is about pollution and where it comes from. Most of pollution comes from humans, and non-point source pollution. He also discusses how the Earth is a closed system, which means that everything that is here stays here and is reused. He offers solutions to each form of pollution in a fun and engaging way.
Theme Connection: This television episode is connected to my theme because it discusses all the forms of pollution that affect our planet and the living things on our planet. It also offers some solutions to the pollutants.
Text Complexity: Although this text is not very complex, there are many different parts related to pollution. The words that Bill Nye is saying match the pictures very well. He also explains some of the concepts very well through repetition of the language and explanation. He portrays the issue in a kid friendly way.
Instructional Uses: This episode can be used to engage students in the various ways that they can help clean up our planet. This episode is very long though, so portions of it would be used to express all the little ways that we can make a difference and be part of the solution.

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Media: Audio
Summary: This audio is all about the different noises that we here in our everyday life. Noise pollution is a pollution that affects our planet as well. Some of the noises that are included in this audio are cars, cell phones, animals, people, and machinery.
Theme Connection: This audio is connected to the theme because it relates to noise pollution, which is also a pollution that humans have a strong impact on.
Text Complexity: This audio is mildly complex, as it includes some noises that students may not be familiar with. Depending on their background, they may or may not know the sounds of certain animals or machinery.
Instructional Uses: Due to the fact that some students may not know some of the noises included in this audio, those noises will need to be explicitly taught to students.

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Media: Informational Trade Book
Summary: This is a chapter book that focuses on the different parts of climate change including, what it is, what causes it, and where it occurs. The chapter that I focused on for this text set is about the different gases that are in the air in our atmosphere. It discusses the cycle between oxygen and carbon dioxide and how the carbon dioxide levels have risen causing our planet to become warmer.
Theme Connection: This text is connected to the theme because it discusses the air pollution that causes our atmosphere to be negatively affected. It also discusses the way humans impact the rising of carbon dioxide.
Text Complexity: 830L
This book has a Lexile level that is slightly above 3rd grade reading level. Due to the level being more complex, the students will only read one chapter of this book. There are also two graphics in that chapter that strongly support the writing of the different layers of our atmosphere, and how humans impact the air.
Instructional Uses: The students will partner read this book because it is a complex text. The students will also only read the one chapter of the book, which focuses on the human impact on our atmosphere.

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Media: Literary Trade Book
Summary: This book is about a little boy named Walter, who like any typical boy enjoyed watching TV, playing games and not worrying about the future. One night though, he went to bed and went on a journey through the future. In this journey, he did not see amazing things, he saw dry deserts, smokey stacks from factories, empty forests, and stranded ducks looking for water and food. That dream made him realize that he needed to make a change in what he valued, and so he did.
Theme Connection: This text is connected to the theme, as it relates to how our pollution today will affect our planet in the future. It also shows simple ways, like recycling and planting trees, that each and every person on our planet can help.
Text Complexity: 550L
This text is not very complex, and the words are not very challenging. This text is made even less complex by the vivid illustrations that match the words very closely. This text is a little bit long, but it follows a repeated pattern and structure, which decreases complexity even further.
Instructional Uses: This text will be read aloud to the class to build background knowledge about the theme. This text can also be used to build empathy relating to how pollution affects our planet.

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Media: Non-traditional - website
Summary:  This text explains the different types of pollution that affect bodies of water. Water pollution is when chemicals or foreign substances enter into a body of water. Thermal pollution is when water is artificially heated, warmer water holds less oxygen, and less oxygen means life might die. Nutrient pollution occurs when nutrients like nitrogen are added to a body of water.
Theme Connection: This text is important for students to read as it shows the different types of pollution that can occur in the water. It is not just as simple as throwing garbage or waste into the water.
Complexity: This text is very complex as it uses many Tier 3 words related to biology. Many proper nouns are also used throughout the piece. Names of organizations and people responsible for providing the data are also used throughout the text.
Instructional Uses: Due to the complexity of this text, only the section on water pollution will be used. Also because of the complexity of the text, the teacher will read this text aloud to the class. Prior to reading this text, the teacher will provide student friendly definitions to the key biology terms. Students will the be able to draw pictures/graphics, re-write the definition in their own words, and add it to the themed unit word wall for reference.

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The environment can get contaminated in a number of different ways.

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Media: Informational Trade Book
Summary: This book is broken up into different problems related to clean air and water. The problems are polluting the air, polluting the water, fresh drinking water, acid rain, and overuse of water. These problems are explained and then possible solutions for a sustainable future are provided.
Theme Connection: This book is connected to the theme of the unit because it explicitly discusses the different types of pollution to the air, water, and earth; and it provides solutions to maintain a sustainable future.
Text Complexity: This book is very complex, as it uses many different text features such as graphics, captions, bold print, headings and sub headings. These features are essential in understanding the text. Due to the complexity of the text, we will just be using the last section entitled "What can you do?" This sections provides many options for what children can do to help keep our water and air clean.
Instructional Uses: This book will be used towards the end of the unit, as a way to address some simple things that students can change in their daily routines to help make our future sustainable. The students will read the last section with a partner. They will then choose 3-5 things that they are willing to change about their everyday lives that will ultimately help save the water and air of our planet.

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Media: Literary Trade Book
Summary: This literary text is about how all of the water on the Earth is connected. This story starts with a little boy who's finger is wet with water from a brook. This brook is connected to a larger stream and pond that animals and fish use for both food and water. This book shows the water cycle in a delicate way.
Theme Connection: This book is connected to the theme as it shows the water cycle, which is affected by pollution of both air and water. If the water is polluted then the animals would not have a source of food or water. It does a great job of showing how all the water is connected and how every plant and animal is affected by the water cycle.
Text Complexity: Although the words of this book are not very complex, this book requires a great deal of inferencing to understand the ways in which the animals and the water are connected. It also requires inferencing to understand how the little boy plays a role in the story. The illustrations are complex in the fact that there are many different components to each picture, but the illustrations match the text very well so that enhances the comprehension of the text.
Instructional Uses: This text will be read aloud to the class during the unit as a way to build background knowledge on the water cycle and how the water cycle affects the plants and animals of the Earth.

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Media: Literary Trade Book
Summary: This book is about Noah and his family moving to a new planet that had fresh air and water. He built the space ark and took all of the plants and animals and his family to this new planet. It is a kid friendly version of the story of Noah's Ark.
Theme Connection: This literary text is connected to the theme because it discusses how our planet is becoming extremely polluted. It shows how that pollution affects the animals and plants.
Text Complexity: This book is moderately complex because of the meaning and cultural themes  behind the content in the book. Students will gain more insight from this book if they are familiar with the biblical story of Noah's Ark. The graphics that are present on each page help decrease the complexity because the illustrations match the words closely.
Instructional Uses: This story can be read independently or with a partner to gain inspiration of how we might be able to better take care of our planet. Prior to reading this book, a brief explanation of the biblical story Noah's Ark will be provided to the students.

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Media: Literary Trade Book
Summary: This is a fiction book about an animal called the Lorax, who spoke for the trees to help protect them and all the animals that lived off of the trees. A greedy Once-ler cuts down all of the Truffula trees to make his business grow, but there were many harmful effects on the life that lived near his factory.
Theme Connection: This book is connected to the theme of pollution because it shows all the ways that factories can cause pollution. It can cause air pollution and water pollution.
Complexity: 560L
This book has complex parts and parts that are not so complex. The words are not very complex, even though many of them are nonsense words. The words make sense for the text. The illustrations are quite complex though. The illustrations have many moving parts, like the factory which keeps getting bigger, and the animals that end up leaving throughout the story.
Instructional Uses: This book will be read aloud to the class. During the read aloud students will make predictions about what they think the Once-ler will do as he begins cutting down the Truffula trees. They will also make connections to the pictures and the text, to see how the story progresses. At the end of the story it says "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." This quote will be a quote that we will reference throughout this unit, to ensure that what we are doing is going to help make things better for our planet.

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Media: Visual - Photograph
Summary: This is a photo of where the ocean meets the beach. It is clear from the beach, that plastic and other materials have been polluting that beach and ocean for quite some time.
Theme Connection: This photo is important for students to see because it shows all of the possibilities of trash that can be polluting our oceans. It also shows them that it washes up onto the beach and creates a very unpleasant sight for people as well.
Complexity: This photo has multiple aspects that their attention would need to be drawn to. The students would need to be thinking about what materials are shown, the quantity, and the possible causes that create this amount of waste to be washed up onto a beach.
Instructional Uses: This photo is an extreme photo that shows just how bad ocean waste is and can be. It will be used as the students end their research about ocean pollution. The effect should be powerful, as the students will see just how bad the oceans may look.

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Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing But Nonstop Plastic' 

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Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing But Nonstop Plastic' 

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Media: Non-traditional - website
Summary:  Blatchley, a marine biologist discovered eighty-eight pounds of plastic waste in a whales stomach. That waste included rice sacks and plastic bags. The plastic was causing the whale to suffer for days, months, maybe even years, and it caused its death.
Theme Connection: This text is important for students to read as it shows the severity of the plastic pollution as it relates to whales and dolphins deaths.
Complexity: This text is not very long or complex, but it does have some Tier 2 words like ingest, and forefront, and many proper nouns that would need to be explained further while reading.
Instructional Uses: The students would be partnered to read this text. While they are reading it, they would be answering a couple of comprehension questions to enhance their understanding of the text.

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Updated at 5:44 p.m. ET
Darrell Blatchley received a call from the Philippines' Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources early Friday morning reporting that it had a young Cuvier's beaked whale that was weak and vomiting blood.

Within a few hours it was dead.

Blatchley, a marine biologist and environmentalist based in the Philippine city of Davao, gathered his team to drive two hours to where the whale had washed up.

When the necropsy was performed, Blatchley told NPR, he was not prepared for the amount of plastic they found in the whale's stomach.

"It was full of plastic - nothing but nonstop plastic," he said. "It was compact to the point that its stomach was literally as hard as a baseball."

"That means that this animal has been suffering not for days or weeks but for months or even a year or more," Blatchley added.

He noted that among the 88 pounds of plastic were 16 rice sacks - similar to potato sacks - and plastic bags from local Philippine grocery chains, Gaisano Capital and Gaisano grocery outlet.

Blatchley is the founder and owner of the D' Bone Collector Museum, a natural history museum in Davao. In the coming days, the museum will post a list of all the items found in the whale's system, the museum said in a post on its Facebook page.

Blatchley and his team work with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and other organizations to assist in rescue and recovery of marine animals.

"Within the last 10 years, we have recovered 61 whales and dolphins just within the Davao Gulf," he said. "Of them, 57 have died due to man - whether they ingested plastic or fishing nets or other waste, or gotten caught in pollution - and four were pregnant."

In 2019 alone, Blatchley said, he and his team have found three whales or dolphins with plastic waste in their systems.

The Philippines has been deemed one of the " world's leading plastic polluters."

According to the U.N. Environment Programme, some 9 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year. According to a 2017 study from the environmental group Ocean Conservancy, more than half of that waste comes from just five countries in East and Southeast Asia - China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The study found that more than half a million metric tons of plastic waste from the Philippines makes it into the ocean each year.

Blatchley said he hoped that the latest incident with the Cuvier's beaked whale would launch the issue of plastic pollution in the Philippines, and across the globe, to the forefront.

"If we keep going this way, it will be more uncommon to see an animal die of natural causes than it is to see an animal die of plastic," he said.

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Stomach Of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing But Nonstop Plastic'

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In the Philippines, marine biologist Darrell Blatchley recovered the body of a young whale that showed signs of emaciation and dehydration due to the 88 pounds of plastic it had ingested.

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Media: Audio - podcast
Summary: This is a podcast about what's in your water. This podcast focuses on one particular contaminant in water, lead. This podcast focuses on lead in Flint, Michigan. Flint changed their water source, which changed the flavor of food, created stomach aches, etc. Families went to using bottled water for everything, which showed how much water they actually used. The kid on the podcast created a device that tested lead in water, and the podcast ended with the possibility of this device being used in production.
Theme Connection: This podcast is connected to the theme because it discusses how water can be contaminated. That contamination is usually caused from pollution in various forms.
Text Complexity: This text is relatively complex in the fact that it switches between perspectives. It is also complex because there isn't writing that matches, so the students will need to listen to the podcast, and possibly replay certain parts if they need clarification. It is also relatively long, which might cause some loss of focus from the students.
Instructional Uses: Due to the length of this podcast, students may listen to it in more than one session. The beginning of the podcast discusses the problem of the polluted water in Flint, Michigan. The ending of the podcast discusses a possible solution to testing lead in water. So this podcast works well to be broken up into those two parts. It will be listened to as a whole class to ensure pausing for understanding throughout.

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"What's in your water?" from Brains On! Science podcast for kids by American Public Media on Apple Podcasts

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What's in your water, and how did it get there? Clean water is a must, but modern living can put a lot of bad stuff in it. Road salt, fertilizer, dog doo-doo, heavy metals - how do these things get...

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Media: Video
Summary: This video is a kid friendly video using clip art and other images that are easily understood by children. This video is about the different causes of air pollution, the effects of air pollution on humans, animals, plants, and the atmosphere, and some steps to help control air pollution.
Theme Connection: This video is important for students to watch because it briefly and explicitly shows students the causes and effects of air pollution.
Complexity: Although the images in this video are not very complex, some of the terminology is. Some of the chemistry terms related to the different gases causing air pollution may be challenging for 3rd graders, so those terms will need to be explicitly taught first. This video is appropriate for 3rd grade students because of the use of images that match the words being spoken. This connection helps decrease complexity.
Instructional Uses: This video will be used at the beginning of the unit so students can understand in a kid friendly way what causes air pollution. Students will fill out a cause and effect chart while watching this video.

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Air Pollution | Video for Kids | Causes, Effects & Solution

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Media: Informational Trade Book
Summary: This is a nonfiction book that discusses in different chapters what the ocean is, how the ocean is being affected by pollution, and how we might save the seas.
Theme Connection: This book connects directly to the theme as it discusses how our oceans are being affected by human choices. It also offers possible solutions to this increasingly important issue.
Text Complexity: 830L
This book is very complex. The Lexile Level is 830, which is slightly above beginning 3rd grade reading level. This text is complex because of the sentence structure and the vocabulary demands.
Instructional Uses: Due to this book being complex, we will only be reading portions of chapter 2 and chapter 3. The students will be reading about what pollution is and the different types of pollution. They will also be reading part of how we can save our planet. This will be done as a whole class, with significant teacher scaffolding. A graphic organizer will also be used to keep information organized.

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Photograph - Sea turtle wrapped in plastic 

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Photograph - Sea turtle wrapped in plastic 

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Media: Visual - Photograph
Summary: This is a photo of a sea turtle wrapped in a six pack ring designed to hold soda cans together.
Theme Connection: This photo is important for students to truly see the direct effects of plastic usage on marine life.
Complexity: Although this image is not vey complex, it will evoke emotion within the students, and scaffolding will be provided to help students understand their impact.
Instructional Uses: This image will be used to begin the unit. It will be shown to the class as a way to evoke questions and build empathy for the marine life that is affected by plastic and styrofoam usage.

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Media: Audio - Music w/Lyrics
Summary: This song discusses all of the parts of Earth including the water flowing, the wind blowing, and the forest breathing. It discusses how we are all a part of those pieces of Earth and we are the voice for Earth. We have the choice to help Earth grow and prosper.
Theme Connection: This song is connected to the theme because it clearly expresses all of the pieces of Earth that are affected by pollution. It also discusses how us humans have a choice to make to help protect and save Earth from those things that would harm it.
Text Complexity: This song is not very complex and it has a very soothing melody to follow the lyrics related. The only thing that may need to be explained while listening to the song, is related to the inference of "I am the water flowing" and so on. That might be challenging for students to understand that it is not literal.
Instructional Uses: This song will be used throughout the unit as a way to engage with music in relation to our theme. This song can be used after reading A Drop of Water as a way to enhance the ideas with the water cycle and our part in the cycle.

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The Future of Fuel, and the Problem with Exhaust 

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The Future of Fuel, and the Problem with Exhaust 

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Media: Audio - podcast
Summary: This podcast is about how the carbon dioxide that is produced by the burning of fossil fuels is increasing. This rise in CO2 is causes the overall temperature of Earth to rise. One option to help reduce the burning of fossil fuels is to use electric cars that don't burn those fuels. There are other options such as hydrogen powered cars.
Theme Connection: This podcast is connected to the theme because it relates to how the air is polluted from the burning of fossil fuels. It also relates as it offers solutions to help reduce the air pollution.
Text Complexity: This text is moderately complex. It is complex because it is audio, so there are no words to match. Being an audio source, complexity is greater because it is harder to follow, and it may need to be replayed more than once to gain full understanding.
Instructional Uses: Due to the complexity of this podcast, the audio may be broken into chunks to listen to. By chunking the audio, students will be able to understand the parts easier, and it will make the repetition of parts more manageable as well.

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"The future of fuel, and the problem with exhaust (Road trip pt. 2)" from Brains On! Science podcast for kids by American Public Media on Apple Podcasts

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Our planet needs some carbon dioxide, but cars are pumping more into the atmosphere than our carbon cycle can handle. We'll explore what all this carbon means for our planet. And we talk to a scien...

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Media: Visual - Photograph
Summary: This is a photo of land pollution at a possible dumping ground. In the background their are pipes with polluted smoke coming out. These pipes are likely coming from some type of plant.
Theme Connection: This photograph connects to the unit because it shows other types of pollution that occur on our planet.
Complexity: This image is a complex image. This photo has multiple aspects that the students would need to be explicitly shown. The students would need to be thinking about the quantity of materials and what caused those materials to be in the landfill. The students may also need some information about what might create that smoke coming from the pipes.
Instructional Uses: This photo will be used in the beginning of the unit when the students are just learning about pollution. This photo will help students to understand multiple forms of pollution and how they can affect the land and air.

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Stemming the Tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic-free ocean 

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Stemming the Tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic-free ocean 

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Media: Non-traditional - report
Summary: According to the report plastic waste enters the ocean from five different physical locations. It enters the ocean from low-waste-density urban areas, medium-waste-density urban areas, high-waste-density urban areas, illegal dumping of trash haulers, and dumpsites on waterways. These findings were collected in China and the Philippines.
Theme Connection: This text is important to share during this unit, because it shows how even across the world, plastic pollution is an issue. This study explains how certain countries on other continents have even more issues with recycling and reusing.
Complexity: This text is very long and complex, as it is a report from a study that was done. It has many parts, so for the purposes of this unit, the students will only read the section on the five different locations where plastic waste enters the ocean.
Instructional Uses: This text is above 3rd grade reading level, so this text will be read aloud by the teacher. The teacher will use maps to explain where these locations are, and the students will be able to interact with those maps to fully understand where this is happening. This text will bridge the connection between our country and other countries that are affected by plastic waste.

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Media: Video
Summary: This video is of children explaining ways that people can help stop water pollution. "Be the solution to water pollution."
Theme Connection: This video is important for students to watch because it will evoke emotion within the students as these are also students explaining how water pollution can affect you.
Complexity: This video is not complex, and the concepts discussed related to the causes and solutions to water pollution are easily understood by children.
Instructional Uses: This video will be used as an example of persuasion, which will help them begin to write their persuasive letters.

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Media: Informational Trade Book
Summary: This book is about how Earth Day started and all of the good things that people have started to do since Earth Day began. People have become more aware of their habits and how those habits affect the Earth. This book explains a lot about all of the different issues related to Earth Day, including endangered species, invader species, fossil fuels, and forest fires.
Theme Connection: This book is connected to the theme as it relates to all of the things that happen on our Earth that cause pollution. It also discusses possible solutions to that pollution.
Text Complexity: This book is quite complex. It uses many different text features, including headings and subheadings, question/answer sections, and graphics with captions. This book is divided into many different sections all focusing on different aspects of the issues on Earth. Some of the illustrations match the text very well, which helps decrease complexity a bit.
Instructional Uses: This book will be used in parts. Due to the complexity the whole thing will not be read individually by each student. Each pair of students may have one question that they read about to find the answer. There are two pages that answer one question, so the partners will read together to answer that question, and bring the information to share with the whole class.