Polluted Display Jars

Background Information

The following information may be beneficial to briefly go over before starting this activity

Biosphere:
A biosphere is composed of all the parts of Earth where life exists. This means it includes all ecosystems, from oceans to forests to wetlands and more.

Atmosphere: An atmosphere is all of the layers of gases surrounding a planet, like the Earth, or a celestial body, which is any planet/star/etc. outside of the Earth. The Earth’s atmosphere has five layers of gases, which are separated by differences in temperature, pressure, or other unique features.

Hydrosphere: A hydrosphere is all of the water on a planet. This means that any water in the Earth’s air, on its surface, or even underground would be a part of its hydrosphere.

Earth's Resources: A resource is any physical material that is made up part of the Earth, that is valued or needed by people. These can be renewable or nonrenewable. Renewable resources are resources that renew or replenish themselves, such as water or wood. Nonrenewable resources are those that do not renew or replenish themselves and will be used up in our lifetime, such as coal, natural gas, and oil.

Environment: An environment is the surrounding or conditions in which an organism lives and operates. There are many different types of environments on Earth. For example, a shark’s environment would be the ocean.

Conservation: Conservation is the care and protection of our environment, really referring to our biosphere. It involves maintaining diversity in organisms, ecosystems, and functions of the environment, such as the cycling of nutrients.

Ohio's Learning Standards

This activity is created for grades 3-5, although it can be modified for further grades.

3.ESS.3: Some of Earth’s resources are limited
4.LS.1: Changes in an organism’s environment are sometimes beneficial to its survival and sometimes harmful
5.LS.1: Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem

Activity

Before:
For this activity, students will be able to observe and identify various effects of pollution on the Earth. To begin, make sure all necessary materials are set up. This includes the different ecosystem bins: Water, Air, and Land. Using 3 plastic bins, demonstrate a model of each of these. Make sure all plastic bins are clearly labeled for differentiation.

Fill one bin up with water - this will represent the various ecosystems of water sources (oceans, wetlands, rivers, lakes, etc.). Add marine and aquatic life plastic figurines and plants.

The next bin will be dedicated to what goes on in the air. Add white cotton balls to represent clouds and various birds that fly.

The last bin is going to represent areas on the actual land (such as forests, residential areas, jungles, etc.). 2/3 of the bin will be filled with soil (or fake soil if this is not available to you). Add small plastic trees and animals on the soil portion and add small plastic homes and humans on the other side with nothing.

Part 1:
Have the students split up into teams of two and hand each of them a clear plastic cup (also referenced as their "jars"). Each team will have their own topic coordinating to the different bins set up (ex. Team 1 will be Air, Team 2 is Water...and so on until all the teams have a topic). There will be multiple teams that have the same topic, since there are only three bins, but each team will be able to make their jars unique. Have the teams take one of their cup to their designated bin and work together to create their own ecosystem using the materials inside of the bins. After they have their ecosystem in a jar, have them return to their seats and simply observe/discuss what they notice with their partners. Some things to consider: “What is included? How is the quality of life here? Is everything pure (clean)?”.

While they are doing this, go to the bins and modify them to simulate how they are affected after pollution.

For the Water bin, take out the plastic figurines left over, if any. Mix together olive oil and various food color dye to represent oil spills, and add that to the water in the bin. Add some garbage (soda tabs and plastic from water bottle) and plastic boats as well.

For the Air bin, take out all of white cotton balls and and color them with a grey or light brown marker- to simulate dirty air/smoke. Add them back too the bin along with the plastic plane.

For the Land bin, take out some of the plastic trees and animals. Add some of the colored olive oil mixture from before to represent pesticide or chemical runoffs. Place garbage (soda tabs and plastic from water bottle) around in different areas. Add toy cars.

Part 2:
After the teams finish their observations, have them come up once again to their bins. This time, they will take the second clear, plastic, empty cup that they have. Same as before, they will create their ecosystem again, but this time, with the materials in their polluted bins. When they finish, they will return to their seats. Have the teams group themselves with the other teams of the same topic (all Water groups get together, all Land groups get together, all Air groups get together) and compare their jars with each other. Then, have a whole-group discussion with all the groups about their ecosystems before and after pollution and what the possible causes and solutions to them could be.

Assessment:
The next part of the activity will be the main assessment. Have the students return to their seats. Pass out paper and colored pencils for them to use. Each student will create a visual representing all three areas: land, water, and air, and how they all can be affected by pollution. They can create three separate pictures, or have one picture representing how they all interact with each other. You can leave that up to the students. After they finish, collect their pictures and analyze them to see what they learned.

Assessments

Quick Observations - teacher can take note of each student, as they complete the activity, in their head or write them down as anecdotal records.
Whole-group Discussion - teacher will listen to the answers, thoughts, and questions the students bring about after completing the hands-on portion of the activity.
Art project - teacher will collect all pictures created by the students and analyze them to see what they attained from the activity.

Supply List

The following materials are to be included in this Curriculum Kit. Although it looks like a lot, keep in mind many of the materials are very small and others can be fit into each other for space.

10-30 clear, plastic 20 oz. cups with lids
3 clear, plastic, shallow bins
Olive oil
Food coloring dye pack (any color)
10-pack of small plastic marine life figurines
5 small, fake aquatic plants
2 plastic boats
Pack of cotton balls
1 grey/light brown marker
1 plastic airplane
10-pack of small plastic bird figurines
Soil/Fake soil
10-pack of small plastic trees
5-pack of small plastic human figurines
5-pack of small plastic animal figurines
3-pack small plastic homes
3 toy cars
Plastic water bottle (deconstructed into small pieces)
7 pop can tabs
Paper
Colored pencils

Materials, Resources, Books

This is where we got the idea for our activity. It is based off of Activity 5:
10 Hands-On Science Projects to Teach About Pollution. Retrieved from https://www.plt.org/educator-tips/science-projects-pollution/
The facts we included for the background information section was derived from here:
National Geographic Society. Education. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/
Where we located the CCSS:
Ohio's Learning Standards and Model Curriculum for Science. Retrieved from http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/Science/Ohios-Learning-Standards-and-MC
Majority of our supplies are from:
Amazon: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel ... Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/
Kids books to include:
The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle: A Story about Recycling by Alison Inches. Found at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/adventures-of-a-plastic-bottle-alison-inches/1100489368
One Plastic Bag by Miranda Paul. Found at http://oneplasticbag.com/explore-the-book/
One World by Michael Foreman. Found at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2827234-one-world
Adult books to include:
Pollution : Problems and Solutions by National Wildlife Federation. Found at https://www.thriftbooks.com
Pollution by Harriet Brundle. Found at https://www.thriftbooks.com
Posters:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ff/04/bc/ff04bc0caec3e010599f1cfac4360594.jpg
https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/4FNF5_AS01?$mdmain$
https://www.unicef.org/vietnam/sites/unicef.org.vietnam/files/styles/hero_desktop/public/Poster%205_Solution%20for%20Air%20Pollution-01.jpg?itok=WPQ1hSPj

Kit by:

Alex Mangano

Kelly Young

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