Category: Fifth Grade

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.

The entry event into the newest fifth grade project was an engaging watch-party featuring Ridley Scott/20th Century FOX studios’ The Martian.  Students’ interest was peaked when Mark Watley (Matt Damon) was left for dead on Mars after his suit was breached in a storm and he awoke to realize he had survived, but perhaps not for long. With a food supply of about 9 months, but four years before a rescue mission arrives, Mark has to put his botany skills to the test if he is to survive.  Munching potato chips, students watched Mark cultivate one dozen potatoes NASA had sent with them for Thanksgiving dinner (which NASA actually does for the ISS Astronauts), and create a water cycle to help his crop grow.  

In this unit, students will call on their prior learning of hydrology and the water cycle, as well as the planets and solar system, as they design and create their own ecosystems that cycle hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, to germinate and grow an edible plant for at least 35 Sols (and they’ll do the math to figure out how many Earth days that is).  Along the way, students will learn about food chains, food webs, producers, consumers, decomposers, photosynthesis, the carbon/oxygen cycle, and a total system collapse, in seven milestone lessons. Math, language arts, scientific illustration and history/social studies are all threaded through the project, alongside games such as the “food chain game” which students enjoyed playing last week.

A PBL Unit kicks off with an entry event, otherwise known as a “hook,” that engages students’ curiosity.  In fifth grade, students study USA history and geography, and so for an entry event into their latest PBL unit, the fifth grade class examined a 3D map of the USA, and noted the flat center that makes up the Great Plains region. Students examined photographs and personal accounts from the early 1930s; the “chocolate-rich soils” that drew many to profitable wheat, corn, and livestock farming during the Great Depression, creating the area’s nickname as “The Breadbowl” of the nation.  

Students then examined photographs and heard personal accounts of the 1939-1949 Dust Bowl Disaster. What caused the year-upon-year sand storms that killed livestock, buried crops, and drove farmers off their once-fertile lands?  The class charted initial ideas, and will collect “clues” in the form of a growing body of knowledge and experiences each week, and then try to answer the complex question (that puzzled scientists for years) at the end of the unit.

Milestone One

Learning steps necessary to reach an end goal is a “milestone” in PBL.  The first milestone in the fifth grade unit is for students to understand the value of water as a precious natural resource.  After defining “resource,” students wrote their answers to the question, “What is the most precious resource in the world?” They posted these on a chart that remains on the classroom wall throughout the unit.  Food, water, and shelter made up the top responses.  Sleep, and being healthy were other thoughtful answers; the 5th graders knew that gold, diamonds, and X-boxes were not it!

Next, students learned about fisherman Jose Alvarenga, lost at sea for 438 days after a storm flooded the engine of his fishing boat. Using buckets to collect fresh rainwater, and his bare hands to catch any sea life he could, Jose was able to get just enough fresh water and food to survive for fourteen months. Students learned that people can survive just three weeks without food, and only three days without water! To conclude, students revisited their thought-board and refined their “…most precious resource” answers, reflecting how we refine and rethink things as we grow in knowledge, skills, and experiences in a lifelong learning process.

With this, the fifth grade Earth Science PBL Unit “Water doesn’t just fall from the sky, you know” was underway. Students will learn about the interconnected nature of the earth’s four spheres, with emphasis on the hydrosphere and an application of learning at the end.

Stay tuned to learn about the next milestone in the fifth grade hydrology PBL unit!

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