ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 15 :

15 ) Analyze evidence (e.g., databases on human populations, rates of consumption of food and other natural resources) to explain how changes in human population, per capita consumption of natural resources, and other human activities (e.g., land use, resource development, water and air pollution, urbanization) affect Earth's systems.

In this lesson children will investigate 6 major pollutants in our world and how they can be eliminated or limited.

This lesson is a continuation of the other Are We Our Own Worst Enemy? lesson plans. It can stand on its own but if you haven't taught the others you may want to show the World Population Over Time video before starting this lesson.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 15 :

15 ) Analyze evidence (e.g., databases on human populations, rates of consumption of food and other natural resources) to explain how changes in human population, per capita consumption of natural resources, and other human activities (e.g., land use, resource development, water and air pollution, urbanization) affect Earth's systems.

This lesson deals with human growth and our consumption of land resources. This lesson can be used in conjunction with other Are We Our Own Worst Enemy? lessons, although this should be first since it has the video of population growth.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 15 :

15 ) Analyze evidence (e.g., databases on human populations, rates of consumption of food and other natural resources) to explain how changes in human population, per capita consumption of natural resources, and other human activities (e.g., land use, resource development, water and air pollution, urbanization) affect Earth's systems.

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 16 :

16 ) Implement scientific principles to design processes for monitoring and minimizing human impact on the environment (e.g., water usage, including withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or construction of dams and levees; land usage, including urban development, agriculture, or removal of wetlands; pollution of air, water, and land).*

Students will examine how they use water daily and calculate their daily water consumption. In addition, students will analyze how the changing human population will affect water consumption globally. Lastly, students will develop methods to decrease their personal water consumption, and/or design a product or policy that could help citizens decrease their water consumption. 

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] LSC7 (7) 7 :

7 ) Use empirical evidence from patterns and data to demonstrate how changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem (e.g., deforestation, succession, drought, fire, disease, human activities, invasive species) can lead to shifts in populations.

[SC2015] LSC7 (7) 5 :

5 ) Examine the cycling of matter between abiotic and biotic parts of ecosystems to explain the flow of energy and the conservation of matter.

a. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how food is broken down through chemical reactions to create new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as it moves through an organism.

b. Generate a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 7 :

7 ) Use models to construct explanations of the various biogeochemical cycles of Earth (e.g., water, carbon, nitrogen) and the flow of energy that drives these processes.

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 14 :

14 ) Analyze and interpret data (e.g., tables, graphs, maps of global and regional temperatures; atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane; rates of human activities) to describe how various human activities (e.g., use of fossil fuels, creation of urban heat islands, agricultural practices) and natural processes (e.g., solar radiation, greenhouse effect, volcanic activity) may cause changes in local and global temperatures over time.

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 15 :

15 ) Analyze evidence (e.g., databases on human populations, rates of consumption of food and other natural resources) to explain how changes in human population, per capita consumption of natural resources, and other human activities (e.g., land use, resource development, water and air pollution, urbanization) affect Earth's systems.

Students will explore greenhouse gases, how they effect the carbon cycle and the human role in climate change.  

This lesson was created as part of the 2016 NASA STEM Standards of Practice Project, a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 16 :

16 ) Collect and organize scientific ideas that individuals and communities can use to protect Earth's natural resources and its environment (e.g., terracing land to prevent soil erosion, utilizing no-till farming to improve soil fertility, regulating emissions from factories and automobiles to reduce air pollution, recycling to reduce overuse of landfill areas).

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 15 :

15 ) Analyze evidence (e.g., databases on human populations, rates of consumption of food and other natural resources) to explain how changes in human population, per capita consumption of natural resources, and other human activities (e.g., land use, resource development, water and air pollution, urbanization) affect Earth's systems.

[DLIT] (1) 20 :

14) Discuss the purpose of collecting and organizing data.

[DLIT] (3) 23 :

17) Describe examples of data sets or databases from everyday life.

Examples: Library catalogs, school records, telephone directories, or contact lists.

Steve Trash teaches kids about science with fun and magic. The show is filmed in Alabama.

Water pollution is never good. It’s even worse when your neighborhood cow is making it. Steve discusses the many ways that farmers and ranchers work to keep streams and ponds free of pollution as one example of how everyone can play a role. Then Steve delves into how scientists collect and use data.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 15 :

15 ) Analyze evidence (e.g., databases on human populations, rates of consumption of food and other natural resources) to explain how changes in human population, per capita consumption of natural resources, and other human activities (e.g., land use, resource development, water and air pollution, urbanization) affect Earth's systems.

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can introduce students to the concept of how human activities and resource consumption affect Earth's climate, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson.