The fifth graders recently learned about imbalance in the Earth’s cycles. Peta shared her love of camping and kayaking at the Russian River, and how this year, she observed a massive algae bloom at the river. The class then learned that harmful algae blooms have been seen in lakes, ponds, rivers, and estuaries all over the world in recent years.
Thinking about causes, and their learning so far this year, the 5th graders brainstormed possibilities: pollution, global warming, too much carbon dioxide, oxygen, chemicals, overeating, or waste/poop… students’ ideas were great, and reflected engagement, thought, and understanding of the topics they explored within The Martian Project (even the poop idea, which turns out to be true!).
Learning that algae is normally a healthy food for fish and turtles, the students discovered that too much of a good thing isn’t always good; it chokes out oxygen, rots and gives off harmful chemicals. Fifth graders wondered if this trend was catastrophic, or if it could be reversed and how, and wanted to learn about solutions. With the stage set for the learning objective, students learned about engineering solutions from simple “quick fixes” such as treating ponds with chemicals, at a high environmental cost, to longer-term solutions such as adding clay or plants to reduce runoff. Solutions were modeled through small-group “save the lakes” games, with teams working through solutions until all had saved their lakes by returning balance to their ecosystems.
The goal? To obtain and combine science ideas through models, in order to help a community plan how to respond to, prevent, and protect the Earth’s resources.
FRIDAY BLOG 