ALEX Learning Activity

  

Overfishing

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Emily Fogleman
System:Hoover City
School:Brock's Gap Intermediate School
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 1628
Title:
Overfishing
Digital Tool/Resource:
Restoring Our Oceans YouTube Video
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

This video explores the problem of overfishing, its impact on nearshore fishers, and one possible solution that can turn the tide of overfishing and protect near-shore fisheries for the future. It can be used as an introduction to a lesson on human impact on the environment or embedded within a lesson on the topic.

This learning activity was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science University, GEMS-U Project.
  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 5
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).

NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
E4.10: The supply of many Earth resources such as fuels, metals, fresh water, and farmland is limited. Humans have devised methods for extending the use of Earth resources through recycling, reuse, and renewal.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth and Human Activity
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Combine information from two or more sources to provide and describe evidence about: the positive and negative effects on the environment as a result of human activities as well as how individual communities can use scientific ideas and a scientific understanding of interactions between components of environmental systems to protect a natural resource and the environment in which the resource is found.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Natural Resource
  • Scientific idea
  • Individual
  • Community
  • Terracing
  • Erosion
  • Soil
  • No-till farming
  • Fertility
  • Emissions
  • Pollution
  • Recycling
  • Landfill
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life can have major effects, both positive and negative, on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space.
  • Individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth's resources and environments.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Obtain and combine information from books and/or other reliable media to explain how individuals and communities can protect Earth's natural resources and its environment.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Individual communities interact with components of environmental systems and can have both positive and negative effects.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.16- Identify a human action that can help the environment.
Learning Objectives:

Students will define overfishing. 

Students will analyze possible solutions to overfishing. 

Students will generate additional strategies to slow the effects of overfishing. 
  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
Before/Engage, During/Explore/Explain
Activity:

*This video can be used to teach solely about overfishing or within a broader topic of the many impacts that humans have on the environment. This activity captures students' natural interest in life sciences. 

1. Show the linked video in order to engage students and capture their attention of the problem of overfishing. 

Questions to discuss after watching:

  • What is overfishing and why does it matter?

  • Describe the overfishing solution of TURF + reserve. How can this strategy help to solve the problem? 

  • Discuss other possible solutions to the overfishing problem. 

  • Overfishing is not the only problem faced by the ocean. Can you think of others (plastic pollution, waste dumping)? How can you reduce your impact on the oceans?
Assessment Strategies:

Use informal assessment strategies such as exit tickets or questioning to check for understanding after viewing the video. This video should be used to bring awareness of the issue and a general understanding, but students may not necessarily understand the specific details of the ways in which overfishing harms the environment long-term. 

Possible exit ticket questions:

  • Explain overfishing in your own words. 

  • Describe some solutions to overfishing that were discussed in the video or that we talked about in class. 
Advanced Preparation:

Computer with internet access will be needed to view this video. The teacher should view the video beforehand to ensure its appropriateness for the classroom content and to generate additional discussion points. 
Variation Tips (optional):

Additional extensions to this lesson/discussion would be to have students research additional human effects on the oceans and design strategies to prevent harm to marine life (this could include bringing awareness to those in the community on the harmful effects of plastic, etc.). 
Notes or Recommendations (optional):
 
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: