By Miss Akimoto
I cannot say how much I have watched my class come alive during this project! They have dug so deep to get this information, much of which I didn't know either. To learn about how climate change is affecting our county, my students actually read through a draft of a county report which was written at a very high level. We worked together to discover what it meant. I have watched my students research, write, be creative, and work so hard on this project, and I am so proud of them!
Reading Informational Texts
4.RI.1 Key Ideas and Details: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
4.RI.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine the main idea ofW; a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
4.RI.3 Key Ideas and Details: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
4.RI.4 Craft and Structure: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.
4.RI.7 Integrations of Knowledge and Ideas: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
4.RI.9: Integrations of Knowledge and Ideas: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
4.RI.10 Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity: By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Students researched many articles on what climate change is, what causes it, and what could be done to mitigate the effects of it. They als read reports on the effects of climate change on Butte County and made projections using the site Cal-Adapt. They had to synthesize knowledge from both grade level and far above grade level texts and reported what they learned to one another.
Writing
4.W.1 Text Types and Purposes: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
4.W.2 Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
4.W.4 Production and Distribution of Writing: Produce clear and coherent writing (including multiple-paragraph texts) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
4.W.5 Production and Distribution of Writing: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
4.W.6 Production and Distribution of Writing: With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.
4.W.7 Research to Build Present Knowledge: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
4.W.8 Research to Build Present Knowledge: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes, paraphrase, and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
4.W.9 Research to Build Present Knowledge: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
4.W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
As evident from this website, my students ended up writing quite a bit about what they had learned through this project. My students became much more proficient at using research to inform their writing, writing using computers, and at writing expository/ informational passages while citing experts.
Speaking and Listening
4.SL.1 Comprehension and Collaboration: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
4.SL.2 Comprehension and Collaboration: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
4.SL.3 Comprehension and Collaboration: Identify the reasons and evidence that a speaker or or media source provides to support particular points.
4.SL.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Students worked together in groups to accomplish different goals, like creating a recycling program, working through a climate change report to understand, summarizing information and reporting it to peers, and generally working together to accomplish their goals. They also had to be ready to deliver their "elevator speech" about the project at any time. Students had to discuss ideas, compromise, and executing plans.
Language
4.L.1 Conventions of Standard English: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
4.L.2 Conventions of Standard English: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
4.L.3 Knowledge of Language: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
4.L.4 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
4.L.6 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic
Students learned many new vocabulary words while researching about their topics. Every student volunteered for a team, so all students had to read articles and make sense of domain-specific words they hadn't encountered before, and then started using them when speaking to others about, and writing about their topic.
Grade Level Standards Used
Number and Operations in Base Ten
4.NBT.3 Use place value understanding to round multi-digit whole numbers to any place
4.NBT.4 Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.
4.NBT.5 Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations.
4.NBT.6 Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation using equations, rectangular arrays, and. or area models.
4.NF.3 Understand a fraction a/b with a>1 as a sum of fractions 1/b.
4.MD.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), . . .
4.MD.2 Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.
Students used rounding, adding, subtracting, and multiplying to keep track of the costs of our project. Some students even went above the grade level standards and learned how to add decimals to get a more accurate cost. Students also used fractions and measurement to track how much water was wasted by our leaky faucets, and then calculated how much water was being wasted in milliliters, liters, and gallons per minute, hour, day, month, and year.
Mathematical Practices Used
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
Students used the Common Core Mathematical Practices during this project while they were calculating the amount of water wasted by our leaky faucets, keeping track of our budget, and looking up information about our carbon footprint and which actions would create specific amounts of waste.
Earth's Systems
4-ESS3-2 Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth's features.
4-ESS3-2 Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
4-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.
My students had to interpret maps to determine which creeks and rivers were part of our watershed. they analyzed maps of where our water comes from and looked at how our aquifer worked and was filled.
4-PS4-1 Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move
My students who were in the post-production group working on the music video used waves to analyze and change the level of sound coming through the video.
Engineering
3–5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3–5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3–5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
The kids in my class engineered their recycling bins so that students would not confused them for trash cans. They added the use of lids with holes, colors, and signage to both distinguish and teach. They also had to come up with solutions to weigh the garbage that was being collected vs recycling, figure out how to count waste-water in leaky sinks and water fountains.
*Many of the science standards covered were actually 5th grade standards-- students now have front-loaded knowledge for next year.
4.4.7 Trace the evolution of California’s water system into a network of dams, aqueducts, and reservoirs.
We briefly covered where our water comes from and how our drinking water is affected by climate change.
4.MA:Cr1 Conceive of original artistic goals for media artworks using a variety of generative methods such as brainstorming and modeling
4.MA:Cr2 Discuss, test, and assemble ideas, plans, and/or models for media arts productions, considering the artistic goals and the presentation.
4.MA:Cr3
a. Structure and arrange various content and components to convey purpose and meaning in different media arts productions, applying sets of associated aesthetic principles, such as balance and contrast.
b. Demonstrate intentional effect in refining media artworks, emphasizing elements for a purpose.
4.MA:Pr5 a. Enact identified roles to practice foundational artistic, design, technical, and soft skills, such as formal technique, equipment usage, and collaboration in media arts productions.
My students had to consider artistry when creating their music video. they had to consider storyline and flow when storyboarding and make sure that all components were represented when editing all the pieces together.