Unit 6: Human Impact on the Environment

Instructional Resources

OAS-S: 1.ESS3.1

Bundled Standards Analysis: Human Impact on the Environment

Driving Question

• How do people’s choices impact the local environment?

Essential Questions

• How can people reduce their impact on the environment?

• How can people protect the Earth?

• In what ways can people reduce, reuse, and recycle materials?

Examples of Student-Developed Initial Questions

• How does trash hurt the environment?

• What happens to trash when it leaves my trash can?

• What things can be recycled? 

Prior Knowledge

Each dimension in the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science grows in complexity and sophistication across the grades. To learn more about the prior knowledge and skills students have developed in previous grades associated with the standards in this bundle, check out the links below.

Science and Engineering Practices 

Disciplinary Core Ideas 

Crosscutting Concepts 

Science and engineering practices (SEP) in Grade 1 build on prior experiences. This bundle of standards engages students with the following SEPs: 

• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
  

Disciplinary core ideas (DCI) in Grade 1 build on prior experiences. This bundle of standards explores the following areas:

• Human Impacts on Earth Systems
• Developing Possible Solutions

Crosscutting concepts (CCC) in Grade 1 build on prior experiences. This bundle of standards leverages the following ways of thinking about science ideas: 

• Cause and Effect
  

Launch Task: Phenomena Ideas

Phenomena are observable events that occur in the universe and that we can use our science knowledge to explain or predict. Engineering involves designing solutions to problems that arise from phenomena and using explanations of phenomena to design solutions. Instructional sequences are more coherent when students investigate phenomena or design problems by engaging in science and engineering practices. Read this STEM Teaching Tool Brief #28 to learn more about the characteristics of a good phenomenon or design problem for anchoring student learning.

Each phenomenon below includes teacher information resources (e.g., information about the phenomenon, data resources, videos, simulations, etc.). Due to the length or accessibility of the content, teachers should screen the resources and pull sections, photos, quotes, and data that are appropriate for Grade 1 students to ask questions, investigate, analyze, describe, evaluate, etc. 

Phenomenon: The use of insect poisons can affect other living things.

In the springtime, many Oklahomans plant gardens in which they grow fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately insects are also attracted to the fruits and vegetables which can damage the crops. Many gardeners then make use of insect poisons to protect their plants. What might happen to the living things in the garden if  insect poisons are used? Insecticides will help reduce the damage from the insects, but will also kill the beneficial insects (e.g. pollinators, Bees in Oklahoma, Butterflies in Oklahoma and effects of pesticides on bees). Sometimes human impacts can cause unintended harm to other living things. Humans can also reduce their impact on the environment.  Oklahoma garden solutions that might reduce the impact of humans on the environment  include ladybugs, lacewings, and spiders to help keep damaging insects under control.

Phenomenon: Animals living in parks are affected by humans.

Raccoons can often be found in local parks in Oklahoma. What might happen to the raccoon and the area it lives in if visitors and people who live nearby throw trash (e.g., plastic bottles, fishing lines and hooks, aluminum cans, cigarette butts) out on the ground? Educators can discuss the impacts that litter and trash can have on parks and animals using resources such as Visitor's Interactions Affect Wildlife (e.g., wildlife can get tangled in the debris, ingest the litter, become ill, or get intestinal blockages. Litter can also increase the number of invasive species or unwanted wildlife such as raccoons that then change the environment). This image shows the effect of littering. What are some possible solutions? One solution is to recycle. Educators may wish to give students information on recycling using resources such as this PBS interactive recycling lesson. Students could sort the recycling to create picture and bar-type graphs to demonstrate one-to-one correspondence of each type of material. What other things could humans do that might affect the environment? Educators can use this image or other media to allow students to communicate solutions to reduce the impact of humans on living things.

Engagement Strategies 

• Educators can leverage the Student Actions and Teacher Actions found in the Human Impact on the Environment bundled standards analysis for specific ways of engaging students with these science ideas.

• This example of an elementary science cycle of learning can support educators in developing coherent sequences of learning. 

• Educators can use the S-I-T (surprising, interesting, troubling) for students to share things that they find surprising, interesting, and/or troubling about the phenomenon. More strategies that support students with figuring out science ideas can be found within the Science Engagement Strategies section of the Framework. 

What It Looks Like in the Classroom

In science and engineering, evidence-based effective instruction focuses on students engaging in science and engineering investigations and design to explain phenomena or develop solutions to a problem. This section reflects a science cycle of learning that supports implementing the identified standards within this unit.

"What It Looks Like in the Classroom" is broken into Narrative Parts, written around the different Essential Questions listed at the top. Each Narrative Part includes examples for how to integrate the science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts for each standard, and includes examples of evidence teachers can gather from students that provides information about what they do and do not understand.

Narrative Part 1 of 1

Essential Question: How can people reduce their impact on the environment? How can people protect the Earth? In what ways can people reduce, reuse, and recycle materials?

OAS-S: 

 3-Dimensional Narrative

Evidence of Understanding 

Introduce a phenomenon and ask students to observe and record their observations.

Educators can present students with a phenomenon (e.g., Animals living in parks are affected by humans) and use an I Notice, I Wonder strategy to support students in making observations and asking questions about the phenomenon. Educators can support students in developing a simple drawing and/or model that provides details about what they observe and understand. Information relating to how humans impact living things in a local environment could be obtained by utilizing age-appropriate media and/or texts or real life scenarios.

• Observations and questions are relevant to human impacts on the environment.

• Information obtained is accurate and relevant.

• Drawing and/or models reflect initial understandings.

Assist students in identifying and describing human impacts on the environment.

Educator’s could engage students with the S-I-T strategy for students to communicate things that they find surprising, interesting, and/or troubling about human’s impact on the land, water, air, and other living things. Educators can leverage the park phenomenon, as an example and provide opportunities for the class to explore other ways that humans have impacted local environments (e.g., Examples of human impact on the land could include cutting trees to produce paper and using resources to produce bottles).

Educators could facilitate a “Building Understanding Discussion” to help students use their drawings or models to communicate and explain the human impacts that have caused a positive or negative effect on the environment. 

• Communication is used to explain how human impacts have caused a positive or negative effect on the environment. 

Provide students with opportunities to communicate solutions to the problem.

Educators can support students in communicating information about solutions that can reduce the negative impacts and the effect those choices have on the local environment. Solutions can include examples such as reusing paper and recycling cans and bottles.  Educators can support students in understanding that choices people make can reduce the negative impacts and/or negative effects on the local environment. Educators can extend the learning so that students have time to explore and communicate ways in which  humans reduce their  impact on land, water, air, and/or other living things. Students can share their solutions by communicating through oral and/or pictorial forms such as drawings or models. 

• Solutions communicate information on how humans can reduce their impact on the land, water, air and/or other living things in the environment.