Air Pollution: What Can You Do?
Grade Level(s): 3-5
By: Jennyfer, Preschool Teacher

This lesson is about air pollution awareness. It will help students to understand what air pollution is and how students can communicate their feelings about it.

Materials:

• Air Pollution by Gary Lopez
• journals
• pens & pencils
• air pollution vocabulary words (chosen by the teacher)

Plan:

1. The teacher will introduce the lesson by walking in with a bike and asking the students why they think the teacher rode to school on a bike.
2. The teacher will then explain why he/she rode to school on a bike because they were helping fight air pollution.
3. The teacher will then announce to the class that today they are beginning a unit on air pollution.
4. Next the teacher will ask the students to get out their journals (they can be pre-made or the teacher can make them in class).
5. The teacher will show the students pictures from the book "Air Pollution" and ask them to write words in their journals that describe how these pictures make them feel.
6. The teacher will then have the students share, and together the class will come up with a definition for air pollution. This word will be first to be added to the word wall.
7. The teacher will then introduce 3 more vocabulary words relating to air pollution. (Mine were Homo Sapien, connectedness of nature, global cooperation and air pollution. These words seem big, but if you break them down the students understand them) The students will then define the words, with the teacher's help, and use them in a sentence.
8. After writing the words and definitions on the board, the teacher will have the students write down 2 sentences in their journals. These sentences must contain at least 2 of the new vocabulary words in the appropriate context.
9. Now that the students have a general idea of what air pollution is, they can finish their daily entries with one new fact they learned about air pollution.
10. The lesson will be wrapped up by asking the students how they think they can help fight air pollution.

Comments:

A good extension to this lesson is to have students get into groups and create posters about air pollution using one of the new vocabulary words. I used this lesson to start off a week long unit on air pollution. I also made a air pollution solution word wall where I posted all of the new vocabulary words that were introduced. I introduced 2 or 3 each day, and made sure the students reviewed the old ones. I found the children loved this lesson because they could really get involved.