3rd Grade

Ecosystems and Human Modifications Unit

Suzanne Hansen

Table of Contents
Cover
page..................................................................................................................
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Table of
Contents............................................................................................................
................2
Outline
.3
Rationale...........................................................................................................
..............................5
Objectives
.6
Lesson Plan
1........................................................................................................................
..........8
Lesson Plan
2........................................................................................................................
........11
Lesson Plan
3........................................................................................................................
........15
Lesson Plan
4........................................................................................................................
........19
Lesson Plan
5........................................................................................................................
........23
Closure
26
Assessment
27

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Unit Outline
This unit will be centered on the relationship between communities and the ecosystems that they
live in. This content area is third grade, Standard one, objective two. The students will be learning about
the different ecosystems in the world, including the desert, plains, tropics, tundra, mountain, forest, and
wetland. We will be examining the impacts that humans have had on modifying the environment to
accommodate their needs, as well as adaptations humans have made in ecosystems for survival. Students
will be researching what makes up specific ecosystems, and discussing harmful modifications humans are
responsible for. I will encourage them to think about whether some adaptations that humans have made
are necessary for survival, and whether humans have taken advantage of our natural world for things that
we dont necessarily need. We will be discussing what our modifications have done to animal and plant
populations, including endangered species. Students will also be encouraged to think about what we can
do to protect our ecosystems from more human caused harm, and how communities can live in their
ecosystems comfortably with less environmental impact.
To introduce the unit, there will be a lesson on what is included in an ecosystem, which will also
tie into science with food chains and living and nonliving things. Students will receive a booklet with
seven tabs: one for each ecosystem. We will be working as a class to fill out the first one (desert). We will
be writing the components of an ecosystem that we discussed earlier, but specific to deserts: What is

the climate in a desert ecosystem? Give six examples of living things that live in a desert: two
carnivores, two herbivores, and two plants. What are some adaptations that these animals have
that allow them to live in this environment? Give two examples of nonliving things in a desert.
What is an appropriate outfit to wear at night in a desert? Is the desert a desirable place for
humans to live? During the day? Night? What are the names of some popular deserts and where
are they? Some other facts you found interesting? There will be plenty of books about the desert for
us to research, as well as laptops for students to do additional research. Students will draw a picture in
which I ask them to include a picture of a desert ecosystem with two desert plants, two desert

animals, one being a herbivore and one a carnivore, two nonliving things, an oasis, and a person
wearing appropriate clothes for the climate. After this introduction, students will be doing their
own research and a jigsaw to cover the other ecosystems. They will follow the same outline that
we did with deserts. We will also be watching several Brainpop videos of each ecosystem to start
each day. After a few days of research and presenting to small groups, we will be focusing on the
effects that human modifications have on the ecosystems. First, we will discuss how humans
have modified their environments to be able to survive, and what they have had to adapt to.
I will then begin to discuss with the students how some human modifications have
become very harmful to our ecosystems. I will start with reading the book, Oil Spill, by Melvin
Berger. We will then do a class experiment in which I get a bucket of water, some trash,
vegetable oil, tongs, and a strainer. We will mix in all of the ingredients to create a mini body of
water that is polluted. We will then try to clean the water by removing the trash using the strainer
and the tongs. This will show students that it is impossible to clean out all of the pollutant from
the water. We will discuss oil spills, and what ecosystems are affected by this human caused
disaster. Students will then research how other human modifications to the environment have
affected the ecosystems. We will come up with a list of certain modifications and which
ecosystems they are specific to. Students will create flyers, dioramas, posters, news reports, or
brochures that advocate for a certain ecosystem. They will be given criteria of what to include in
a rubric, including components of the ecosystem, man-made modifications that are harmful to
the ecosystem, and what we can do to protect the environment from further harm and how we
can help living things in the ecosystem that have already been effected. This will be their
assessment for the unit.

Rationale
It is important for students to understand the concepts covered in this
unit because it encourages them to look at the bigger picture rather than
whats merely right in front of them. When students are aware of the real
source of their products, they are more likely to realize the importance of
protecting the environment. The first step to helping to protect and preserve
our ecosystems is recognizing that there is a problem, and what the
consequences of our actions are as humans. These realizations will
encourage students to become citizens who are critical of their own actions
and how they can help. When students discuss these concepts with each
other, they are opening their minds and recognizing the connections
between our actions and the environment. If students realize the impacts
that their everyday routines have on the environment, they are more likely to
consider more eco-friendly paths and advocate for habitats that are
endangered.

Unit Objectives

Social Studies Objectives

Standard 1
Students will understand how geography influences community location and development.
Objective 2
Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments and how other communities
have modified the environment

Describe the major world ecosystems (i.e. desert, plain, tropic, tundra, grassland, mountain,
forest, wetland).
Identify important natural resources of world ecosystems.
Describe how communities have modified the environment to accommodate their needs (e.g.
logging, storing water, building transportation systems).
Investigate ways different communities have adapted into an ecosystem.

Objective 3
Analyze ways cultures use, maintain, and preserve the physical environment.

Identify ways people use the physical environment (e.g. agriculture, recreation, energy,
industry).
Describe ways to conserve and protect natural resources (e.g. reduce, reuse, recycle).
Make inferences about the positive and negative impacts of human-caused change to the
physical environment.

Science Objectives
Standard 2
Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their
environment.
Objective 1:
Classify living and nonliving things in an environment.

Classify living and nonliving things in an environment.

English Language Arts Objectives

Reading: Informational Text Standard 2
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

Reading: Informational Text Standard 3

Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical
procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect

8
Reading: Informational Text Standard 5
Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given
topic efficiently.

Writing Standard 2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding
comprehension.

Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

Writing Standard 3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details,
and clear event sequences.

Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds
naturally.

Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or
show the response of characters to situations.

Provide a sense of closure.

Writing Standard 7
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

Writing Standard 8
Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on
sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

Writing Standard 10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a
single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Speaking and Listening Standard 1

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Speaking and Listening Standard 2

Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media
and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Speaking and Listening Standard 4

Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive
details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

9
Lesson Plan 2
Length of Lesson: 60 minutes
Grade Level: Third Grade
Name of Social Studies Lesson: Source Race
Utah Core Curriculum Objectives:
Standard 1
Students will understand how geography influences community location and
development.

Objective 3
Analyze ways cultures use, maintain, and preserve the physical environment.
o Identify ways people use the physical environment (e.g. agriculture,
recreation, energy, industry).

Common Core Objectives (ELA or Math):

Speaking and Listening Standard 1: Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their
own clearly.
b. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in
respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about
the topics and texts under discussion).
d. Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.
Preparation:

Forty laminated pictures of products

Four baskets labeled natural resource, farm, store, and factory
Tape
Smartboard
Ecosystems video from Brainpop

TIME:

LESSON:

MANAGEMENT:

10
minutes

Introduction:

Students will be
sitting on the rug in
front of the smart
board. When the
Brainpop is over,
students will do a

Students will watch a Brainpop on Ecosystems

and will be encouraged to brainstorm what key
components make up an ecosystem. We will
then review on the board some key components

10
that make up an ecosystem. (producers,
consumers, living, non-living, predator, climate,
etc) We will also list off the seven ecosystems of
the world. Students will be able to recognize
what makes a living thing from past lessons. I
will also encourage them to begin thinking
about natural resources that we use every day
found in various ecosystems.

think-pair-share to
describe the different
components of an
ecosystem.

40
minutes

Content/Activity:

We will go to a large
space or move the
desks aside in the
classroom. I will
remind students how
to act as a team, and
ask them if arguing
and yelling is
productive and
helpful. I will remind
them that they cannot
start running until the
person before them
has returned and
hand-tagged them.
This will prevent
students from running
into each other. I will
remind students that I
will not tolerate
talking out and that
everyone will get a
chance to speak, they
just need to raise
their hands.

10
minutes

Closure:

We will play a sorting game in which students

get into two teams. The name of their teams
will depend on the color of sorting pictures.
They will be sorting the goods that are pictured
into baskets labeled factory, store, farm, or
natural resource. They will be racing as teams
to sort the goods into the correct source basket.
Half of the pictures will be placed in front of
each team. The teams will line up single file,
and one player will sort at a time. The first
student of each team will run to the pile of
pictures, place the products in the basket that
they think it belongs in, race back to the team,
and hand-tag the next person to run to the pile
of pictures. Whichever team sorts every picture
first wins the relay part of the game, and then I
will go over every product in the baskets and
we will be discussing the real source of each
product and whether they were placed into the
correct basket. After several discussion
questions, students should now realize that the
source of each product is either the farm or
natural resource. We will also be discussing how
we would get our products if there were no
farms. We will discuss how different our lives
would be if we had to collect and produce
everything ourselves for survival. We will
discuss how this is a modification humans have
made to their environment.

We will then complete another source race

using only the natural resource and farm

11
baskets. The same rules apply.
Evaluation:
I will evaluate students learning by going
through the last relay race sort to determine if
students were able to distinguish the original
sources of each product.

Adaptations:
Students who have special needs will benefit from the group work and the safe
environment of partner sharing during the introduction. The pictures of the items
will benefit ELL students because they will know what the items are in order to sort
them without the added difficulty of figuring out what a word is. Slow starters will be
encouraged by their team members to be on have a high level of engagement
during the race.
Integration:
This lesson involves integrating PE into social studies. Students must move as
quickly as they can, using skills they learn in PE to stay safe while moving around. I
have also integrated technology into the lesson by using the Smartboard to present
a quick video on ecosystems. Students could write a short description of how they
get ready in the morning and highlight each product they use that is a natural
resource and each product they use that comes from a farm. They could use
different color highlighters for each source. They could also choose to write how
different their mornings would be if there were no farms, and it was up to them to
take care of their survival needs.

Lesson Plan retrieved from: https://utah.agclassroom.org/teachercenter/index.cfm?

controller=main&action=lpsearch&lpID=409&searchGrade.gradeID=4&searchSub.s
ubjectID=3

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Lesson Plan 2
Name of Teacher Candidate: Suzanne Hansen
Length of Lesson: four days, 60 minute sessions
Grade Level: 3rd grade
Name of Social Studies Lesson: Ecosystems Research
Utah Core Curriculum Objectives:
Standard 1
Students will understand how geography influences community location and
development.

Objective 2
Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments
and how other communities have modified the environment.
o Describe the major world ecosystems (i.e. desert, plain, tropic, tundra,
grassland, mountain, forest, wetland).
o Identify important natural resources of world ecosystems.
o Describe how communities have modified the environment to
accommodate their needs (e.g. logging, storing water, building
transportation systems).
o Investigate ways different communities have adapted into an
ecosystem.

Common Core Objectives (ELA or Math):

Writing Standard 2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to
aiding comprehension.
Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

Writing Standard 7
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

13
Writing Standard 8
Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief
notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
Writing Standard 10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
Speaking and Listening Standard 1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Preparation:

Foldables
Crayons/colored pencils
Smartboard
Various books on each ecosystem
Laptops

TIME:

LESSON:

10 minutes

Introduction:

4 days

Students will watch a Brainpop on Deserts and will

be encouraged to give examples of components of
the desert ecosystem. We will then review on the
board some key components that make up an
ecosystem. (producers, consumers, living, nonliving, predator, climate, natural resources, etc).
The next day, students will be watching a Brainpop
on Tundra and Grasslands. The next day will be
plains and mountains. The next day will be tropic
and wetland.

45
minutes
4 days

Content/Activity:
Students will receive a blank foldable with
7 tabs. We will be filling out the first tab
together as a class. The first tab will be
focusing on the elements of the desert
ecosystem. After the warm up, we will
have written several different components
of ecosystems on the board. Give six

MANAGEMENT:

Students will be sitting on the rug

in front of the smart board. When
the Brainpop is over, students
will do a think-pair-share to give
examples of each component of a
desert ecosystem.
The same format of management
will be used for the following
days of this lesson.
I will have students come
to the classroom library to
listen as we research
deserts using the books
that I have collected on
deserts. I will be modeling
how to pick out important
information to include in

14

examples of living things that live in a desert:

two carnivores, two herbivores, and two plants.
What are some adaptations that these animals
have that allow them to live in this environment?
Give two examples of nonliving things in a
desert. What is an appropriate outfit to wear at
night in a desert? Is the desert a desirable place
for humans to live? How have humans modified
or adapted to this ecosystem to meet their
survival needs? During the day? Night? What
are the names of some popular deserts and
where are they? Some other facts you found
interesting? We will use those components
on the board as guidelines for what to
research. There will be several books on
deserts that we will be skimming as a
class. I will be modeling the research
process for the students. I will also model
researching on the internet using the
SmartBoard. As we are doing our
research, we will be taking notes, and
copying them onto our foldables at the
end of the lesson, as well as drawing
pictures with the following criteria: two
desert plants, two desert animals, one
being a herbivore and one a carnivore,
two nonliving things, an oasis, and a
person wearing appropriate clothes for
the climate
The next day, I will assign students an
ecosystem to research. Students will work
in their expert groups to answer each
question that we completed as a class the
previous day with deserts. They will then
get into their jigsaw groups, (one student
from each ecosystem) and teach their
peers about their ecosystem. I will write
on the board which ecosystems need to
go first. Students will be filling out their
foldables as they are being taught by
their peers. I will grade their specific
ecosystem in their foldable more strictly

our notes. Students will be

bringing their notebooks
to the rug to write down
important information to
answer the questions. We
will then go back to our
seats and I will be
modeling how to find
information on the web
that we couldnt find in
the books, such as
information on what
humans have changed in
their environment to make
living there easier and
contribute to their
survival. I will expect
students to listen carefully
and raise their hands.

Students will receive their

foldables after we have
found all of our
information. Their first
instruction will be to write
the names of the
ecosystems on each tab.
They will then copy their
notes into their foldables
and draw their pictures.

I will number the students

by sixes. All of the ones
will research plains, all of
the twos mountains, and
so on. I will discuss with
the students that they will
be working as teams, and
what teamwork should
and shouldnt look like.
The jigsaw should take a

15
than the ones that they are being taught
by their peers.
5 minutes

Closure:

4 days

Each day, we will wrap up using a thinkpair-share about what we have learned
through our research. At the end of this
four-day lesson, students will share
something they learned from an
ecosystem other than their own.

about two days.

Evaluation:
I will have students turn in their foldables
at the end of the four days. I will be using
the criteria listed before to grade them on
the ecosystem that they specifically
researched.

Adaptations:
For ELL students, I will use their pictures in their foldables as an assessment of their
understanding, and make sure that they label each component in the criteria that I
will have posted on the board. Slow workers will be able to bring their foldables
home with them to finish research, and the presentation of their research will be in
a safe environment using the jigsaw format. This assignment lends itself to
differentiating for early finshers because there is always more that students can
research about an ecosystem.
Integration:
I have integrated research skills into this lesson using technology and various
books. I could integrate art more concretely into this lesson by requiring students to
do more complex pictures in their foldables.

16

Lesson Plan 3
Length of Lesson: 1 hour
Grade Level: 3rd grade
Name of Social Studies Lesson: Is a Thneed what Everyone Needs?
Utah Core Curriculum Objectives:
Standard 1
Students will understand how geography influences community location and
development.

Objective 2
Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments
and how other communities have modified the environment.
o Describe how communities have modified the environment to
accommodate their needs (e.g. logging, storing water, building
transportation systems).
o Investigate ways different communities have adapted into an
ecosystem.

Common Core Objectives (ELA or Math):

Speaking and Listening Standard 1: Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their
own clearly.
b. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in
respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about
the topics and texts under discussion).
d. Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

17
Preparation:

Mural of countryside with no harmful human modifications

Pictures to add to the mural
Tape
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Smartboard
Modification Pros and Cons Handout

TIME:

LESSON:

MANAGEMENT:

15
minutes

Introduction:

Students will tip-toe in

slow motion to the floor
area so that they are not
too excited when they get
to the floor. I will use the
cue classity-class!
Yessity-yes! to get their
attention if they are
talking. I will be strict
about using hands when
they want to speak, and
give them one minute to
talk to their partners when
I instruct them to do so.

40
minutes

Content/Activity:

I will have students come to the reading rug

and bring up the concept of human
modifications that are made to the
environment to adapt. I will tell the students
that there are some benefits to these
modifications, and some very harmful
consequences. I will prompt students to
raise their hand and tell me how humans
have modified our environment to get
places faster. Possible answers will include
roads, trains, etc. I will bring students back
to the first lesson on farming and natural
resources, and how we have modified the
environment by mining and farming in order
to provide humans with needs and wants. I
will then read The Lorax and stop sometimes
to ask students about what modifications
are being made to the environment in order
to produce Thneeds. Has the production of
Thneeds gone too far? Was it worth it to
sacrifice keeping the environment healthy
for these Thneeds? Do humans really NEED
Thneeds? I will then have students turn to a
partner and discuss how the Onceler could
have prevented the destruction of the entire
habitat.

I will have a picture of a beautiful

countryside that is untouched by human
modifications on the SmartBoard. I will have

I will have students tip-toe

in slow motion back to
their seats and tell them
the what we will be doing
as I bring up the mural on

18

5
minutes

students tell me what it would sound like,

smell like, and feel like to be in this
countryside pictured. I will then put all of the
cut outs into a bowl and have students come
up one by one and tape a cut out onto the
mural. We will discuss the benefits and
consequences of each modification to the
environment. Students will then be given a
handout to work on in pairs which provides
modifications and a description of each.
They will list the pros and cons of each
modification.

the SmartBoard. I will

expect students to raise
their hands and be
respectful to their peers
when it is their turn to
talk. When I hand out the
modifications handout, I
will select pairs from the
magic sticks and instruct
pairs to bring a clipboard
one colored pencil each
with them that is a
different color than their
partners so that I can
make sure both students
are writing and
participating. They will
need to write their names
on the handouts and can
choose a spot in the room
to do their work.

Closure:

I will have students to a

think-pair-share about
different ways we can help
the environment by
regulating the
modifications.

We will wrap up by going over each

modification as a class, and brainstorming
ways that we could make the consequences
of the modifications less harmful to the
environment. I will reiterate that some
modifications were made for survival due to
undesirable conditions in certain
ecosystems. We will also go over the
difference between wants and needs for
survival, and when the wants go too far like
in The Lorax.
Evaluation:
I will know that the students have learned
what I wanted them to learn by the class
discussions as well as their pros and cons
worksheets that they will fill out with a
partner. I will be able to determine how to
better serve students by recognizing how
well they learn in a collaborative setting,

19
and how to adjust for students that do
better independently. I will take a before and
after picture of the mural and bring it back
for students to remember when they are
working on their final projects in a later
lesson.

Adaptations:
Students who have special needs will benefit from the safe interaction during pair
work, as well as minimal pressure during whole group instruction while placing the
cut-outs onto the mural. ELL students will easily be able to follow the concept of the
lesson with the visuals and the picture books, as well as pair reading. Early finishers
during this activity will be asked to brainstorm other modifications on a new sheet
of paper, listing the pros and cons.
Integration:
This lesson could be integrated into English Language Arts through writing a letter
addressed to the city persuading them to reverse the harmful effects of one human
modification, and offering reasons as well as possible solutions.

Lesson Adapted From:

http://www.midlandisd.net/cms/lib01/tx01000898/centricity/domain/3308/grade_02_
social_studies_unit_10_exemplar_lesson_03__changing_the_environment.pdf

20
Lesson Plan 4
Length of Lesson: 90 minutes
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Name of Social Studies Lesson: Oil Spill
Utah Core Curriculum Objectives:
Standard 1
Students will understand how geography influences community location and
development.

Objective 2
Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments
and how other communities have modified the environment.
o Identify important natural resources of world ecosystems.
o Describe how communities have modified the environment to
accommodate their needs (e.g. logging, storing water, building
transportation systems).
Objective 3
Analyze ways cultures use, maintain, and preserve the physical environment.
o Identify ways people use the physical environment (e.g. agriculture,
recreation, energy, industry).
o Make inferences about the positive and negative impacts of humancaused change to the physical environment.
Common Core Objectives (ELA or Math):
Writing Standard 3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an
event sequence that unfolds naturally.
d. Provide a sense of closure.
Preparation:

Oil Spill! by: Melvin Berger

Small bucket or container
Some small trash items
Strainer
Vegetable oil
Coffee grounds
Tongs
laptops

21
TIME:

LESSON:

MANAGEMENT:

15
minute
s

Introduction:

Students will tiptoe

silently to the carpet to
listen to the story and
engage in discussion.

55
minute
s

Content/Activity:

I will bring the students to the carpet and

remind them of some of the modifications
humans have made to the environment. We
will briefly review some examples from the
previous lesson. I will then tell students that
we will be reading a book called, Oil Spill, by
Melvin Berger. I will prompt the students to
think about what human modifications caused
this devastation in the book. I will stop
periodically to ask questions and discuss with
the students.

I will tell students that we will be spilling oil

today, and cleaning it up. I will have students
go back to their seats and discuss how oil
spills are harmful to the environment, and
which ecosystems it could effect as well as
which components within the ecosystem as I
gather materials. I will tell students to move
desks so that there is a large area for us to sit
in a circle. I will ask students if they would
mind swimming in the water in the bucket.
They should say they wouldnt mind because
it is clean. I will dump some trash into the
water and ask them again. Then I will dump
the vegetable oil and coffee grounds into the
water and ask students if they want to swim
in the water still. After discussing how this
waste could affect the ecosystem and what in
the ecosystem it could harm, I will attempt to
clean the water using the tongs to pick up
trash and the strainer to scoop up the loose
debris. The water will still appear to be dirty. I
will ask students if it is easy to clean water
after an oil spill, or if it is even possible to
completely clean it. We will talk about how we
can prevent this from happening in the future
so that we can protect our ecosystems. I will
ask the student what modification of the

Obviously, clear
expectations need to be
set before the experiment.
Students must use their
inside voices. I will count
down from 15 for the
desks to be pulled to the
side and everyone sit in a
large circle. I will use
magic sticks to select
partners for stories, or
allow students to select
their own partners if they
are well-behaved
throughout the lesson.
They will need to use
colored pencils that are
different colors so that I
can make sure everyone
was participating.

22
environment caused this disaster. The
students should make the connection that the
modification is drilling for oil. We will discuss
the positive outcomes of drilling for oil and
the negative, and discuss whether the
consequences outweigh the benefits.
Students will get into pairs and research
another modification of the environment.
They will write a short story with a beginning,
middle, and end, including a problem and a
solution. The story will be about an animal in
a specific ecosystem that has been affected
by a human modification to the environment.
The story needs to include aspects of the
ecosystem, what the modifications purpose
was, and how it harms the environment within
the ecosystem. I will demonstrate an outline
using the oil spill example.
20
minute
s

Closure:
Students will get together with another pair
and read their stories aloud to them. They will
compare and contrast each others stories.

Evaluation:
I will know that students have learned the
concept from their stories that they turn in, as
well as comments during discussion. During
and after this lesson, I will be able to better
understand my students strengths in regards
to their ability to write collaboratively, as well
as any challenges they face while doing their
brief research on the modification that they
will be writing about. I will keep these writing
samples as selections that we can edit and
revise.

Adaptations:

Early finishers will be told

to edit their stories as
they wait for another pair
to finish. They will go to a
corner of the room and
read their stories quietly
when they have another
pair to reflect with.

23
Students who have special needs will need to be paired with a student that loves to
help and motivate others. ELL students will benefit from the safe nature of partner
writing. ELL students must be placed with students who are also willing to help him
or her with writing skills. Early finishers will be instructed to edit their papers
together.
Integration:

This social studies topic has been integrated with language arts. Students will be
writing a narrative as a way to demonstrate their understanding of the harmful
effects as well as the benefits of human modifications to the environment, and what
aspects of certain ecosystems call for certain modifications.

24
Lesson Plan 5
Length of Lesson: may vary
Grade Level: 3rd
Name of Social Studies Lesson: Final Project Scavenger Hunt
Utah Core Curriculum Objectives: (Compilation of all objectives covered
previously)
Common Core Objectives (ELA or Math): (Listed in Objectives section)
Preparation:

TIME:

Bowl of sand
Jug of water
Globe or map
Laptops
Various materials for projects
Various books on ecosystems
Various books on modifications to the environment
Handout for Gallery Walk at for the closing of the unit
LESSON:

MANAGEMENT:

Introduction:

Students will have

opportunities to talk to
their groups using a thinkpair-share format.

I will have a globe or a map of the world and

ask students where would be ideal places for
humans to live, and where would be
undesirable for humans to live. I would ask
them why. Possible answers will include
deserts and tundra. I will remind students that
people do live in these ecosystems. I will tell
students that humans have adapted to these
ecosystems by modifying their environment
for survival as well as comfort. We will
brainstorm some examples and compare and
contrast wants and needs for survival.
Content/Activity:
I will have students come to the rug for an
activity. I will have a bowl of sand and pour
some water into it. I will tell the students that
this sand represents the desert. I will ask the

Students should know the

expectations while on the
rug during a discussion. I
will have them tiptoe to
the rug silently. I will
enforce hand-raising.

25
students what they noticed about the water.
They should note that the sand did not hold
the water effectively. I will ask students if a
rainstorm in a desert would be enough to
provide water to a large human population.
They should answer that it would not be. I will
ask them to turn to a partner and discuss why
it isnt, and how people that live in deserts get
enough running water. We will then discuss
dam building, wells, irrigation, etc. I will then
have students discuss in pairs the harm that
these modifications cause the environment
within the ecosystem, and how we can reduce
the damage.

Students will form a circle

so that everyone can see
what I am doing with the
bowl.

Students will then select an ecosystem that

they will be researching. They will be
researching specific modifications that have
been made to that environment that have
made living there possible and more
comfortable for human. This is what they will
be doing for their final project of the unit. I will
provide criteria and information they must
include, as well as provide an outline guide
that they will fill out as they research.
Students will create flyers, dioramas, posters,
news reports, or brochures that advocate for a
certain ecosystem. They will be given criteria
of what to include in a rubric, including
components of the ecosystem, man-made
modifications that are harmful to the
ecosystem and our natural resources, and
what we can do to protect the environment
from further harm and how we can help living
things in the ecosystem that have already
been effected. This project will be due after a
couple of weeks and students will be given
time throughout the following week to work
on their projects. They also have the option to
work on it at home. This will be their only
language arts homework that week.
Closure:

I will set a timer for 20

minutes for this scavenger

26
Students will present their projects two weeks
later using a gallery walk format. Students will
be required to write notes on two other
ecosystems that other students have done
their project on. This will be done with
clipboards and a paper with specific
information to find. I will call this an
ecosystem scavenger hunt.

hunt, and put on music as

long as the voice level
stays low. We will arrange
the desks into a U shape
so that students can easily
move from desk to desk.

Evaluation:
Students will be showing me their
understanding of the entire unit through their
final projects. Students will also have
additional exposure to other ecosystem
modifications with the gallery walk and turn in
their scavenger hunt notes.

Adaptations: Same adaptations as lesson 2

Integration:
I have integrated various technological components into this lesson using laptops
for research as well as pulling up visuals. Science has also lended itself to this entire
unit through the research of living and nonliving things included in ecosystems as
they are analyzing the importance of natural resources and protecting the
environment.

27
Unit Closure
To close the unit, we will be doing a gallery walk in which we arrange the desks into a U shape and
students walk around with clipboards and handouts with instructions on what to look for in two different
students ecosystem projects. They will be walking around to each students project, and reflecting on the
concepts covered in the unit, and how we can help to protect the environment as individuals. We will also
be watching the movie, Walle and reflecting on what the theme of the movie is as a class and what it has
to do with human modifications to the ecosystems of the world. I will bring in cookies and juice for the
gallery walk, and students can bring blankets and pillows to class for the movie. The movie will be an
incentive that they need to earn.
Assessment
Students will have various formative assessments throughout the unit which I have included descriptions
of in each lesson plan. Their summative assessment will be their final projects, which will be graded
using a rubric that the students will have created with me.

28
Bibliography
Seuss, D. (1971). The Lorax. New York: Random House
Berger, M., & Mirocha, P. (1994). Oil spill! New York: HarperCollins.
https://www.brainpop.com/

Stanton, A. (Director). (2008). WallE [Motion picture]. Wei sheng.

https://utah.agclassroom.org/teachercenter/index.cfm?
controller=main&action=lpsearch&lpID=409&searchGrade.gradeID=4&searchSub.s
ubjectID=3
http://www.midlandisd.net/cms/lib01/tx01000898/centricity/domain/3308/grade_02_
social_studies_unit_10_exemplar_lesson_03__changing_the_environment.pdf

*We will be using various other books on desert ecosystems and any other book on human
modifications that I can find in the library as I begin to plan for the unit.