Green Chemistry

Strategies

In this unit, I will be using several ways to teach the skills. The most important skill is scientific investigation. Since this is a science unit, the basic skills of science will be used. Scientific investigation refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge or integrating previous knowledge. For it to be a scientific method of inquiry, it must be based on gathering information that is measurable. This method consists of their activities such as collecting data, observation and experimentation. The student environment will be filled with objects to touch. They will have opportunities to experience and explore the material that is in the unit. They will have an environment where the atmosphere will foster creativity. They need to explore and take part in meaningful experiences. These experiences can be through play, experimenting and inventing. They can also learn through social interaction. The skills that they need to learn are predominantly observing, collecting data and communicating. My scientific strategy will go like this:

• Free exploration - I will provide the material or organism with the opportunity to freely explore. This part involves active engagement of both of us. I will be taking note of what the conversation is about so that I may address it later.
• Discussion- This is where they shares their ideas and observations are shared. They will answer questions that are posed. The teacher should ask the questions that were noted in free exploration.
• Now this is when a question should be posed as in the scientific method. See if the students can answer the question. The questions should be answered well after an experiment. They should also state facts about their observations. Talk about the data they collected

These strategies have been included to involve diverse learners. Students with different learning styles such as multisensory will benefit from this unit. This includes the culturally diverse population. I want to make this unit assessable to all learners. Now I would like to talk about the components individually and how I plan on teaching them.

Components in the Unit

This unit's flow depends on how well it is delivered to the students and I have learned in chemistry, which you teach in steps. There will be a language development and vocabulary lesson with each topic introduced. The language will build communication skills. The new word will be defined, used in context and put on the word wall. The unit will also be accompanied with interactive websites that will assist with teaching the comprehension of the green chemistry principles.

Ecological Foot printing

This is a measuring tool that measures the demand a person places on the ecosystems. It compares your need with the capacity of earth to regenerate it. This is an assessment tool that was developed by Mathis Wackermackel -Wikipedia. (Accessed August12, 2009). ⁴ I intend to use this as a tool throughout the unit to motivate my students to take ownership of what they use in the environment. The things that are used are energy, food, homes, water and resources. This tool will be used by giving my students footprint-writing journals. The first thing is to discuss the things we use in the environment. Give examples and show visuals of things people use in the environment. Then show ways to calculate your footprints. For my class, it will be a picture of the things we use. During this exercise the environment and green chemistry should be introduced. It will illustrate why it is important and why we as a classroom or individual should care about what happens in our environment. The story by Rachel Carson - "Preserving a Sense of Wonder," will be read. This book talks about the environment and the harmful effects of pesticides and generally just taking care of the environment. This is time to talk about taking care of the environment and how if you do certain things the environment will be safe for everyone.

Talk about the principles of green chemistry that this unit supports.

• *Prevent Waste: design chemical syntheses to prevent waste, leave no waste to treat or clean.
• *Design safer chemicals and products: design chemical products to be fully effective, yet have little or no toxicity.
• *Design chemicals and products to degrade after use: design chemical products to break down to innocuous substances after use so that they do not accumulate in the environment.

Trees

The students will have already learned about the basic parts of a tree. This part will discuss a tree as a functioning ecosystem. The story that will be read is "Are Trees Alive". This story tells about trees and the parts and their function. Trees have general functions to provide habitats for animals. Also, those trees provide food for insects and fruit for us to eat. They also bloom flowers that provide pollen for bees and nectar for humming birds. The bark of the tree is like our skin and protects the tree. Also, insects can put their babies inside a tree. This book describes the characteristics that are similar in a tree to a human. This is a comparing book. One example is that roots anchor a tree just as our feet help us to stand. Trees use stomata to breathe and we use our noses. The veins in a leaf are like veins in our hand. This can give you a picture. My strategy is to make my students see what they and the tree have in common. This similarity will make them have compassion for the tree. The basic intro to photosynthesis has been done. They will draw in their foot journals their responses to this informational text. It also introduces a variety of trees to the students: Baobab, Banyan, Weeping Willow, Kapok, Sugar Maple, Ribbon Gum Tree, Sequoia, Paper Birch, Bristlecone Pine, Cherry Tree, Major Oak and a Quaking Aspen. Seeing all of these different trees should get the students on the right path of curiosity. As I said, this unit will have a language development component as a way of building communication skills in the students. The stories are just that. The next strategy is to read the "Giving Tree." This is a fictional story about a boy and a tree. The tree gives the boy fruit and shade and the boy loves the tree. This light-hearted story will take us to the very serious one. The next story that I will introduce will be - "Living Sunlight - How Plants Bring the Earth to Life". This story will introduce the technical terms for and process of photosynthesis. To understand the breathing, we will do two activities; one will be mirror breathing and the other a Windmill Party. These activities are twofold; one is to show breath the other is to show air. Several vocabulary words have already been introduced and this story will have many of them.

The photosynthesis cycle will be introduced by using posters. I will use the visual aids as well as the experiment with planting two seeds. In this experiment, start by providing moisture for the seeds to grow quickly, and then, after they have grown, deprive one of them of sunlight. One source that I used was: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/plants-gardening/plants.php. (Accessed July 10, 2009). ⁵

The next story will be "I Am a Leaf". This story tells what a leaf does and how it functions. It is a level one reader so the students that know how to read can read this in the classroom library. It names the important steps in the process but uses the word chlorophyll. Now I will introduce the chemical names for the words such as O ₂ for oxygen. Each compound will be introduced as it goes in the photosynthesis order. Although these reactions are working at one time, I need to teach it as if it is a machine. This would be the perfect time to read the "Very Hungry Caterpillar". It shows the cocoon all the way through to a butterfly. This is a wonderful way of showing a cycle. I will also have an experiment on time of day which also is a cycle. I will provide an energy center so they can explore a hands-on energy manipulative and an interactive web site: www.touchstoneenergykids.com. (Accessed July10, 2009). ⁶ this center will have pretend energy saving products that can be used for dramatic play. In this section of the lesson, it will be highly expressed about the breathing in of CO ₂ and breathing out of O ₂ related to the cycle of a tree.

Air Pollution

The strategy for teaching about this will be to explain how it affects us. Our cause for becoming green will reflect on this. Air pollution is a problem for everyone. There are 137.2 million Americans and 29.8 million children that suffer from asthma attacks (American Lung Association (Accessed July 14, 2009.) ⁷ Air pollution is known to trigger these attacks. Smog in the inner city is the most familiar to see as air pollution. Although air pollution can be visible or invisible, we will look at both. Introducing pollution, we will do a shared writing activity and make a list of pollutant causing things. Also after this list is done, we will have a discussion on how important it is to have clean air. I will review the photosynthesis and talk about how important it is to have clean air. This is called making a cause and effect visual. "The Lorax" will be read at this time. This is a good time to introduce the game that accompanies this story. The story is basically about saving the trees and also saving an ecosystem. The experiment for this lesson will be called Clean Air. This lesson will take distilled vinegar and a container with a lid. The containers can be decorated. It is called Clean Air because it takes odors out of the air. This is to give them an example of invisible pollution and the vinegar is strong. Often times you can smell a pollutant but cannot see it. Also, there are plants that are natural air fresheners such as aloe vera, English ivy, peace lily, golden pothos, spider plant, and mum. These plants act as filters taking toxins out of the air. These indoor pollutants are benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. These are also things my students will not see, but will be told about. The names will not be used; they are for the benefit of the teacher.

Composting

Teaching my students to take care of a composting bin will be interesting. First of all, we do have a school garden and a farmer that comes to the school. We will get a school demonstration of composting and also visit Rachel Carson's Homestead and look at a composting activity. The composting chemistry of it all is that decomposition takes place for all living things. A well-managed composting system is nature's way of continuing the cycle. The elements of having a successful composting system are to have a composting team. This will have to be maintained and monitored at all times. It has to have support material and this is what this unit does. This is a hands-on learning tool. A comparison can be made to plant growth by planting some in compost and planting some irregular soil. I will tell my students that compost is wasted matter. We will be using leaves to do this process. I will discuss some of the benefits of composting. You can compost a great deal of things. The good reason for composting is that it enriches the soil. It cleans up contaminates that may be in the soil. It also prevents pollution and is economical. A big activity will be with the family connection. The students will get a gallon milk container and with their families create compost that they can use to fertilize their home plants soil.

Assessments

Portfolios

My focus will be on portfolios of my students' work rather than discussion. The portfolios will show comprehension skills. My students' portfolios will take many forms, as discussed in the paper, so it is not easy to describe them. A portfolio is not the pile of student work that accumulates over a semester or year. Rather, a portfolio contains a purposefully selected subset of student work. "Purposefully" selecting student work means deciding what type of story you want the portfolio to tell. For example, do you want it to highlight or celebrate the progress a student has made? Then, the portfolio might contain samples of earlier and later work, often with the student commenting upon or assessing the growth. Do you want the portfolio to capture the process of learning and growth? Then, the student and/or teacher might select items that illustrate the development of one or more skills with reflection upon the process that led to that development. I would like for both of these variables to be in place. I want the portfolio to showcase the final products or best work of my students. The portfolio would likely contain samples that best exemplify the student's current ability to apply relevant knowledge and skills. All decisions about a portfolio assignment begin with the type of story or purpose for the portfolio. The particular purpose of this footprint portfolio is to get a collection of the unit.

Conferencing

This part of the assessment is in three parts. The first is conferencing with the teacher. This is in an informal format where I may meet at a table with several students or individually with a student at their desk. The other way to do this, which I would prefer, is to meet during the class time with the student one-on-one. This will let the student ask questions and address that student's particular need. The conference only takes a few minutes but it will help with recapping progress. The second part is a small group conference. This conferencing is important because some students may need more examples of an activity than others. They may have also been absent during a key presentation. This is also a time that a reflection can occur across student conversation. The last part of conferencing can be with peer-to-peer conferencing. This will help with conserving time and will give the students the opportunity to learn how to provide feedback along with receiving it. This can be a structured teacher-directed activity, for example, discussing what you learned from a story that was read. Conferencing was chosen because it provides a personal connection to the unit and an oral method for modeling of the information. A small area can be designated as a conferencing area and to let the students know it is conferencing time.

Rubric

A rubric assesses the knowledge that you want your students to have. I have included a participation rubric. This is to evaluate the scientific inquiry practices.

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(Accessed July 12, 2009.)