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For this lesson, I first taught a science lesson about coastline erosion to the students and then transitioned into a social studies lesson that addressed the roles of citizens in communities. We had a short discussion about different human caused environmental issues, we discussed who the responsibility belonged to when it came to these problems, and then the students worked together in pairs finding their own solutions to coastal erosion. Students were told that there were no wrong answers as long as they could explain their reasoning behind their solutions. Students were to write the problem and the human impact, then write about and draw their solutions. Below are three samples from the activity.
Grade: 4

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* Recognize the types of erosion humans cause and the effect of increased erosion on our environment.

*Think of solutions to a human accelerated problem that enable them to see themselves as an active participant in their community.

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Students building windmills to counter wind and water erosion on coasts. 

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Students building windmills to counter wind and water erosion on coasts. 

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These students identified that one of the ways people accelerate coastal erosion is through sand mining. They said that when there is less sand,  the wind and water on the coast can erode the land faster. Unlike a lot of other pairs, they pointed out a consequence of accelerated erosion, which is that homes on the coast have more of a likelihood to be flooded. Their solution to this was to build windmills along the coast that would counteract the wind and push back if it got close to homes or roads. I feel as though these students met the learning objectives. While they didn't address the sand mining issue, they tried to find a way to negate the negative impacts humans have had on our coastlines by coming up with a unique solution.
Hypothetical Feedback:
Comments- You guys did a great job identifying how humans have negatively impacted the coastline. Your solution shows that you saw an issue in your community and tried to address it.
Potential questions- Since part of the problem is humans removing sand, do you think putting sand back would help? Why or why not? Where would we get the replacement sand from? Are there currently any structures in place now that resemble your solution? Would it be possible to put these windmills all along the coast? How many miles is the North Carolina coast?

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These students struggled with this assignment. Both the students are below the expected reading level for their grade and they couldn't explain what they had wrote when it was time to discuss.
Hypothetical Feedback:
Comments- You guys put a lot of effort into your drawing. It looks like you have a good start to a solution. Let's take a step backward so we can organize our thoughts so we can express our ideas a little bit better.
Potential questions- What's the main problem that you and your partner addressed? Can you remember what you drew in the picture? Do you want to draw a graphic organizer to help you organize your thoughts?

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Students addressing littering near waterways in their area. 

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Students addressing littering near waterways in their area. 

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These students came to me before beginning the activity and asked if they could find a solution to littering near rivers. They apparently were at a park near a river and saw people littering and that was the human impact they wanted to address. These students said that the problem they were addressing was littering and their solution was to gather volunteers to clean up the area, put up signs asking people not to litter, and to put in additional trash cans along the river. I feel that these students met the learning objectives for the lesson even though they chose to look at an issue other than erosion.
Hypothetical Feedback:
Comments- You guys did a great job thinking like problem solvers. You identified a problem on your own and looked for ways to solve it. I think your solutions could help clean up areas of our community that are located near lakes and rivers.
Potential questions- For these students, I would ask them why littering near waterways is an issue? I would ask them why people aren't using the trash cans that are already in place at the river? Are the trash cans full? Do people not know they are there? I would also ask them to look up programs that are already in place to combat littering. Are these programs effective? Would they work in our area? Who can we contact to get these programs put in place in our area? These are also questions that could peak the curiosity of the rest of the students in the class,  which could become a whole group community project.